Review Date: 5-22-2013

A delicious little everyday Pinot. This wine really restored my faith in sub $15 California Pinot. Great purity of fruit, good weight on the palate without being over extracted. A little hint of baking spices on the finish gives lift and complexity way beyond its surprisingly low price point! Quaffable Pinot that you can afford to drink every night or break out at a party. Cheers!

Review Date: 5-22-2013

A great rendition of Unoaked Chard. This wine has good brightness and freshness combined with some nice weight and texture from some healthy lees stirring. Crisp apple and ripe pear combine with some grainy, malty notes. The acidity is apparent but rounded off and not abrasive like some stainless chards. A very well thought out wine that is sure to please those who don't go for the big butter bombs.

Review Date: 5-21-2013

Another great little wine from Foxglove. This wine is distinctively less tropical than the 2010 vintage showing more pear, quince and even a hint of lime zest character. Fantastic value in CA Chard!

Review Date: 5-15-2013

I had previously seen releases of Mortlach growing up in the UK but sadly had not yet developed much of a taste for Scotch. Bottlings I have had since then in the USA have been pretty underwhelming yet I remember the distillery being held in high regard by customers in London. Just the other day Mr. Driscoll presented us with this new purchase and announced it was the real deal Mortlach expression complete with heavily sherried color, texture and taste. The bottle does not disappoint. Decadently concentrated, with a rich and saturated texture. It shows alluring and complex flavors of fruitcake, dried figs, baking spices and a beautifully savory sherry induced rancio character with toasted hazelnuts that lingers on the finish.

Review Date: 5-13-2013

As with all Bruno Michel's wines this is very interesting. He works Biodynamically and the wines are generally slightly on the esoteric side. The nose of this wine has an intriguing Pecorino cheese note, a touch of saline character that also shows through on the palate. It has bright green apple and citrus notes wrapped with some more toasty rich hazelnut character showing on the finish. Complex and intriguing, more of a food orientated wine than a simple sipper. Enjoy!

Review Date: 5-13-2013

I don't think there is anything I can say about this wine that Gary or my colleagues haven't already said yet I feel compelled to review it. Hands down my favorite Champagne in the store. Even when you take much more expensive wines into account it's hard to say that considerably more cash gets you any improvement in quality.

Review Date: 5-13-2013

Special wine and not just in name! As with all Special Club bottlings this comes from Launois' top parcels of vines. The wine has extra time on the lees which not only enhances its depth and quality but also gives the wine great oxidation resistance to allow for extended cellaring. The vibrant acidity of the 2004 vintage gives energy and life to this wine that is simply a delight to drink now and will only get better with time.

Review Date: 5-13-2013

Great wine that is a little more reserved than most of Launois' rich, decadent style. From a single vineyard and bottled at a slightly lower pressure. Soft orchard fruits abound, some fleshy peach character and a nice toasty note on the finish with our being overly buttery of nutty. This restraint allows the quality of fruit to show through a little more precisely. Excellent value.

Review Date: 4-30-2013

A beautiful expressive, elegant pinot from Bavard. Has some relationshp to his ever favorite Monthelie Rouge but is a little lighter in weight and I think more approachable as a very young wine. Red fruited with great spice, energy and brightness. Very food friendly with lighter grilled meats.

Review Date: 4-30-2013

Great Pinot from one of my favorite vineyards in CA, Bian Nacido. This wine has a great balance of rich fruit and concentration but has an element of restraint from its cooler climate origins. A touch of spicy oak rounds out the tannins and makes this wine a great early drinker.

Review Date: 4-9-2013

The Earth Smoke is my preferred bottling from the Home Vineyard offerings. I love the depth and intrigue this wine brings to the table. The fruit, especially aromatically, is more reserved than the Angel Flower block; however the wine has awesome layers of detail and interest. Dense earthy tones and the rich limestone soil show through in this wine. The whole thing is more guarded and veiled yet within that subtlety there is so much finesse and character. A really soulful bottling that will truly engage Burgundy drinkers and shows the depth and subtly that New Zealand Pinot can have.

Review Date: 4-9-2013

An enchanting wine, very floral nose of dried rose petals and lavender. Bright high-toned red fruits on the nose lead to slightly richer sappier dark red fruits on the palate. This wine has compelling energy and vibrancy. Crisp acidity and grainy tannins mean this wine will hold in the cellar. This is definitely more a Burgundy drinker’s wine that a modern fruit forward style. The wine has great texture and authentic sense of place. This is a very interesting bottle that deserves some reflection and consideration if it is to be fully appreciated.

Review Date: 4-9-2013

The Calvert vineyard is shared between three of NZ’s leading Pinot Noir producers: Pyramid Valley, Craggy Range and Felton Rd. The vineyard is farmed Biodynamically (by Felton Rd) and each partner gets an equal split of the fruit to craft the way they wish. Pyramid Valley’s philosophy is based around as little intervention as possible to let the site speak for itself. This wine shows classic Central Otago power and muscle without compromising balance and elegance of texture. I found the wine to be quite black fruited but with raspberry high-toned notes peaking through. The wine has quite compact layers of flavor that I suspect come from its schist soil origins. It really unfolds in the glass showing spice and sweet crushed herbs with more air. The wine finishes with remarkably fresh acidity despite the dark fruit succulence and ripe tannin structure. This is great wine especially for those seeking to try some New Zealand Pinot whilst transitioning from more dense California styles.

Review Date: 4-9-2013

This Pyramid Valley Growers Collection bottling comes from one of my favorite sites within the region of Marlborough. The Cowley vineyard is nestled into the hills rising away to the south of the Wairau plains that make up most of Marlborough’s wine country. Here on the north facing slopes the soils turn from alluvial gravel to mixes of clay and decomposed bed rock, glacial deposits and volcanic uplift. The site produces complex pinot of real depth and character. The 2009 bottling has quite a rich dark fruit edge that illustrates the ripeness of the vintage. A seductive silky wine showing crushed plums, and red berries mingling with some freshly ground spices. Very drinkable and crowd pleasing in style, whilst retaining that authentic vibrancy that Pyramid Valley wines have in abundance.

Review Date: 4-9-2013

Fromm is well known for their spectacular Rieslings. This wine is made in a Spätlese style at 7.5% Alc and 94g/L of Residual Sugar. The wine is so concentrated and powerful. Tons of honeyed apricot and tangy preserved lemon is punctuated by lime zest acidity. Some subtle river stone mineral notes and citrus peel linger on the very long finish. This wine is very young, forward and primary right now, despite it being super moreish and drinkable at present, experience with older bottles from this great estate tells me this wine will continue to develop as only great Riesling does for another 10yrs+. This is a spectacular value and a must try for all Riesling lovers!