Platinum Wine Club June 2012
Learn the finer points to many of the wines we offer each month. Our club wines are expertly researched and selected for quality, value and uniqueness and every one has an interesting history. Here are some of the wines we are offering this month:
Once Wines - Santa Maria, California
2008 Sorcerer Cabernet Blend
The "Evening Land" has long been a symbol of the dream quest for the perfect garden. From ancient Greek myth to now, the search for The Evening Land is synonymous with adventure and romance that inevitably leads to the extremes of America's West Coast. From the team behind Evening Land Vineyards, Once Wines is an annual project in which Sashi Moorman, winemaker for Evening Land's wines produced in Santa Rita and Sonoma, collaborates with leading sommeliers to blend exclusive wines for their restaurants. Each year small amounts of these wines are released to retail. Sorcerer is a heady, spicy, blackberry-laden exotic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah, and Petit Verdot. Plenty of deep fruit here but there's impressive balance and focus as well. Inspired by the red blends of Southern France, but very Californian in fortitude, this is sure to be a new favorite for anyone who likes Orin Swift's "The Prisoner" or similar blends. The wine is perfect now and will age gracefully with proper care through 2015 if you can wait that long. Pair with la nice steak.
Tapestry Wines – Australia
2007 MV Shiraz McLaren Vale
Situated right in the heart of South Australia’s premier wine region of McLaren Vale, Tapestry's rich ironstone soils and cool coastal climate provide ideal conditions for producing well-structured and richly flavored wines of exceptional quality. Winemaker Jonathan Ketley produces strict varietal wines using fruit primarily from McLaren Vale, fitting Tapestry's philosophy that wines should be made that truly express their varietal and regional characteristics. Tapestry's award winning range includes the McLaren Vale mainstay Shiraz, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and fortified wines. The Tapestry range also includes a collection of exceptional Reserve wines, which are produced using only the best barrels of each special vintage. Tapestry's commitment to quality has seen this relatively small boutique label receive a number of awards and go on to establish export markets in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, UK, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Tapestry's MV Shiraz is made from 100% Shiraz sourced from Tapestry's own vineyards at Olivers Road and Bakers Gully from vines over 37 years old. After fermentation it was matured for 18 months in a combination of 55% American oak, 41% French and 4% central European oak. Deep dark red black color with deep dark crimson red hue. Lifted aromas of dark chocolate, mocha, dark plum and vanilla. Medium to full bodied with flavors of dark chocolate, ripe stewed plum and mocha with some liquorice, allsorts and spice on the back palate. Fine grained slightly dry-ish tannins but balanced with aftertaste of dark chocolate, spice and mocha.
Drink now or cellar 2-3 years.
Domaine Vincent Gaudry - France
2010 Sancerre Le Tournebride
Since 1993, Vincent Gaudry has been a pioneer and a trailblazer in Sancerre for pursuing his own unique brand of biodynamic viticulture and winemaking. His production reflects his deeply held feelings about the power of the earth and the expression of his terroir. A commitment to biodynamic viticulture in a region not generally known for being at the forefront of the organic, back to the terroir movement does not always endear Vincent Gaudry to his contemporaries but travelling against the current doesn’t much concern this independent minded winemaker. Vincent Gaudry’s domaine is located in the village of Sury-en-Vaux one of several satellite communes which surrounds the hilltop village of Sancerre on the west bank of the Loire River. He farms 9 hectares of vineyards that cover each of the region’s three distinct terroirs: clay-limestone or marl (terres blanches), flint (silex) and stony, rubble-like limestone that come from weathered Kimmeridgian (caillottes). He produces his benchmark Sancerre from these diverse selections of soil rendering wines that express a wide range of flavors, from the exuberant and fruity to mineral and subtly smoky. The 2010 Le Tournebride is 100% Sauvignon Blanc. This pure white shows a porcelain-like texture to its straw, creamed white peach, gooseberry and lemon curd notes, which all sail through the finely tuned finish. Drink now through 2014.
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