Specials

Classy Chardonnay for the price! From the winery: The 2020 Willamette Valley Chardonnay is a blend from several of the region’s best vineyards and thus provides complex aromas and flavor. On the nose, this wine begins with an abundance of tropical fruit and floral notes that leap from the glass. Bright acidity and subtle minerality mesh with fresh fruit notes of white peach and Meyer Lemon to provide a complete and balanced palate.

92+ Points! From Buntsandstein and Muschelkalk soils, the 2018 Bollenberg Riesling Neuberg starts with a pretty open, rather low-sulfured (15 milligrams per liter of free SO2), pure and elegant bouquet. Lean, saline and pure on the palate, this is an elegant, fresh and energetic dry Riesling from the eastern part of the Bollenberg. The finish is intense and complex yet also underlines the youth of the 2018. 12.5% stated alcohol. Tasted at the domaine. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

94 Points! Very vibrant and assertive wine with a sense of unhindered power and depth. The palate has such succulent fruit with terrific weight. Moves between citrus and stone fruit with handy acidity driving it through. Will be released in 2021. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - James Suckling

Supple, tangy and fresh. Pure Chardonnay grown in southeast-facing estate vineyard (lieu-dit) ‘Plantelonge,’ just east of villages-level vineyard ‘Les Pierres’ in Chassagne-Montrachet.

92 Points! Delicious falanghina here, with a burst of pear, floral and mineral aromas and flavors that remain clean and vivid on the medium palate. Fresh, balanced finish with some length. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

From the winery: Bone dry. The Dry Dam Riesling 2020 has a delightfully lifted nose, loaded with lemons,
limes, jasmine and Granny Smith. The palate displays wonderful balance between acid and sweetness, giving that Dry Dam hallmark of sherbet like character. Full of flavour yet pristine and refined. Drinks
perfectly well young but promises to age well, developing toasty, marmalade notes for beyond a decade.

A complex and fresh wooded Chardonnay in a Burgundian style made by Philippe Colin. The subtle oak aromas bring to this wine a luxurious mouth feel. Grapes are handpicked early in the morning to keep the freshness of the grapes. The must is settled and the alcoholic fermentation starts with wild yeasts in a stainless steel tank for 1 week, before to be transferred into 450L Rousseau Piano oaks (French). Then, the malolactic fermentation is done naturally during the 12 months ageing. Batonnage are done every 2 weeks.

93 Points! Notes of pastry, roasted pineapple, minerals, cashews and fine lees on the nose. This is a flavorful and round verdejo, but subtle and tactile, with a bright streak of acidity passing through the palate and leaving a broad but fresh-toned mouth-feel. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The grand vin 2019 O Gran Mein is a blend of different varieties and vineyards that represents the best they have in white, fermenting each variety by plot, which gives them a lot of lots to make a blend. The idea is to achieve something that is complex but delicate rather than intense. It achieved 13% alcohol while it kept a pH of 3.34 and 6.29 grams of acidity, blending wines that fermented in stainless steel, concrete, foudre and 600-liter barrel and matured in tank for 14 months. It has aromatic complexity and depth and is elegant and nuanced, with herbal, balsamic and spicy aromas and the inland, river character. The palate is really balanced, and the mouthfeel is terribly stony, with a drying finish. Here they are again looking for potential to create this blend; they talk about wines for 30 years, guided by the first vintages in the 1990s. - Wine Advocate

92 Points! From the early-picked grapes from the single vineyards, Mittelbach’s 2019 Riesling Smaragd Bergdistel offers a pure, fresh, elegant and slightly flinty bouquet of white stone fruits and crushed stones. Round and almost creamy on the palate, this is a juicy, fleshy, textured and mild Riesling with a well-structured, stimulatingly grippy finish and very fine tannins. Good length. 13% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in June 2021. - Stephamn Reinhardt, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2019 Ried Loibenberg Riesling Smaragd comes from three very different spots of this large cru. The wine opens with a clear and crunchy, ripe, concentrated and fleshy stone fruit aroma intertwined with flinty and herbal (woodruff) notes. Very elegant and refined on the palate, this is a complex, fresh and salty, beautifully vibrant, vital and aromatic Loibenberg Riesling with a firm, structured, finely grippy, bitter, crunchy and salty finish. Excellent! 13% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in June 2021. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

91 Points! A blend of Roussanne and Viognier, the 2019 Vin De France Etincelle is an interesting wine that has Viognier-like aromatics of golden fruits and honeyed orange yet reveals more structure and focus on the palate, showing its Roussanne component. With wonderful purity, balance, and length, this is a gorgeous Vin de France that does everything right. It's ideal for enjoying over the coming year or two. - Jeb Dunnuck

Claire Ducrocq Weinkauf, a French native grew up in Auvergne; the land of Volcanoes and fabulous cheeses. Inspired by the power of a Mouton Rothschild, she earned a wine degree in Chile and then embarked for France to work harvest in St Emilion and the Côte du Rhône. While working in South America, she met Paul Hobbs and got a job first at Viña Cobos in Mendoza then in California. Her Claire de Lune Consulting focuses on helping fantastic producers including Matthiasson Wines, Anomaly Vineyards, Morlet Family Estate, Cowhorn Winery and more to grow their businesses. Claire lives in Calistoga with husband Aron Weinkauf-Winemaker at Spottswoode Winery and their two children.