Specials

95 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills offers a richer, nicely oaked profile that includes honeyed stone fruits, toasted spice, crushed stone, and salted citrus-like nuances. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, and has a concentrated, mouth-filling profile that's grounded by a beautiful spine of vibrant acidity. It benefits from air, and this is another awesome Chardonnay from this team that readers will absolutely love. - Jeb Dunnuck

From the importer: From 100% Merlot grapes grown at the foot of the inactive Amiata volcano, the San Vito wine exudes an aromatic and intricate character. Sumptuous black fruit aromas unfurl into notes of tobacco, graphite, and oriental spices, enticing the senses. On the palate, it is rich and silky, with well-integrated tannins that linger through a long, persistent finish. Dense in color, the wine showcases a captivating garnet red hue that releases sumptuous fruit aromas to the nose. Prominent notes of blackberries, cassis, and violets stand out, gradually unraveling into more complex nuances of blond tobacco, graphite, and a melange of oriental spices. The sip is impressive yet rich in finesse, with a silky body enriched by well-smoothed tannins that stretch towards a persistent, aromatic finish.

Made with yeast extracted from the Sanuki olive native to the region, this hyperlocal sake showcases the best of Kagawa in a one-of-a-kind bottling.

Juicy notes of musk melon, white flowers and green pear with hints of starfruit, grass and salinity.

Region: Kagawa

Grade: Junmai Ginjo

Seimaibuai: 55%

Nihonshu-Do: N/A

ABV: 14%

Rice: Sanukiyoimai

94 Points! Strawberries with iodine, iron and some terra cotta. Medium body with firm, fine tannins. Orange peel. Bright and focused. Drink or hold. - James Suckling

This Junmai sake from Banshu Ikkon is a beautifully lean structured sake, light bodied and linear, with the distinctive bright and spicy finish unique to brewmaster Yuichi Tsubosaka. While Kita Nishiki is a rice developed locally in Hyogo it is more characteristic of rice grown in the far north, with a firm grain that dissolves more slowly, producing sake of tight structure and clean flavors as opposed to the luscious rice types that made the area famous. It does retain a brightness of character unique to the region, and typical of all Banshu Ikkon sake.

Region: Hyogo

Grade: Junmai

Seimaibuai: 60%

Nihonshu-Do: +10

ABV: 15%

Rice: Kita Nishiki

99 Points! Super smooth and mouth-filling but also lacy and filigreed, the wine combines powerful, broad and ripe strawberries, red plums and cedar on a full body blanketed in soft tannins but with fresh acidity. Aged 18 months on the lees in neutral, large-format barrels. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! It’s really hard to believe that this is a 2020, such is the youthful energy of this extraordinary wine. I love the intense lemon blossom aroma in the nose. Concentrated, creamy and very elegant, this high-end Savennieres isn’t difficult to understand. Less fundamentally mineral than the very best, but still plenty of wet stone at the long silky finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.- JamesSuckling.com

For fans of the fruit-forward, richly-appointed style of the Chardonnays from Robert Talbott! Less oak here, but all the joy. A couple select sites throughout Monterey County. 2021 was a pretty normal year down there. Regardless of where you are the wind and mild, steady coastal temps make for wonderfully balanced Chardonnay. Harvest September 4th-17th. 20% new French oak aging.

From the winery: Our CRU Cabernet is deeply rooted in the vineyards of St. Helena that surround our estate, with about 60% of the fruit coming from neighboring growers. Each year, we hand-select the balance of the blend from different parts of the valley to layer together a delicious, well-rounded and beautifully balanced wine that expresses the nuance and character of the Napa Valley. Fourteen vineyards play a role in the CRU bottling, including valley floor and mountain Cabernet and Malbec, valley floor Petit Verdot and Merlot, and bench land Cabernet Franc blocks, which all contribute to the juicy approachability and great structure of CRU Cabernet. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 1% Petite Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec.

94 Points! Mostly Chardonnay, the 2020 Limoux Blanc is a terrific white that has real class in its aromatics as well as texture. Light gold-hued, with a great nose of poached pears, honeyed citrus, crushed stone, toasted hazelnuts, and white flowers, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness that carries terrific mid-palate depth, bright, racy, yet brilliantly integrated acidity, and a crisp, clean, lengthy finish that brings an undeniable sense of salinity. A seriously good white, it deserves 2-3 years of bottle age (it needs a decant if drinking any time soon) and will evolve for over a decade. Bravo. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! This has very pretty energy and focus with sliced melon, pears, stone and fresh ginger. Dried flowers. Citrus, too. Medium-bodied with a solid density of fruit with white peaches and honey. Tangy and flavorful. Drink or hold. - James Suckling.com

92 Points! Vivid and dramatic, this is really open and giving - an explosively fruity style comprising raspberry, strawberry and violet. It’s rounded and juicy, but not terribly deep. Acidity is well balanced, and the fine tannins gently taper on the finish. Partly grown on the Cone, partly among the Dentelles, with Grenache vines up to 60-years-old. All destemmed. Matured for 18 months, partly in barrel, partly in tank. - Decanter Magazine

From the lieu-dits Paton, Lys de Volan, la Bonnette, Rochecourbe, Les Rivoires, Merlant

93 Points! Ripe tangerines, honeyed flowers, spice, and a kiss of minerality all define the 2022 Condrieu, an elegant, incredibly pure Condrieu delivering classic richness and depth while staying pure, focused, and elegant. - Jeb Dunnuck

90 Points! Aromatic nose with baked lemons, spiced apples, dried herbs, dried leaves and mild spices. Medium body with texture and volume on the mid-palate. Ripe lemons and a positive bitterness dominate in the finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink now. - James Suckling

Notes of Muscat, fresh green grapes and Mandarin orange. Appealing glossy texture, juicy and full with a crisp finish. A great pairing for richer cuisine like fried spring rolls, goat cheese or chicken braised in teriyaki. “Nakadori” is sake that just uses the middle press of sake without blending in the brash flavors of the initial “arabashiri” that first comes off the press or the slightly bitter flavors at the end.

Region: Fukushima

Grade: Honjozo Nakadori

Seimaibuai: 70%

Nihonshu-Do: N/A

ABV: 16%

Rice: Yamada Nishiki

A beautifully modern sake, slightly lower in alcohol with subtle sweetness. Juicy, lush texture, medium full bodied sake. Notes of Muscat grape and honeydew melon on the palate, finishes clean with a slight effervescence laced with bright acidity. Pairs well with sashimi, Sushi, Soy based dishes. Burrata with balsamic vinegar. Also beautiful with bold dishes like grilled lamb and pork tenderloin.

Region: Fukushima

Grade: Junmai

Seimaibuai: 60%

Nihonshu-Do: N/A

ABV: 13%

Rice: Yamada Nishiki

• Practicing organic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• Grapes from all of Mortet’s holdings in Gevrey-Chambertin (village + 1er Cru + Grand Cru)
• Direct press rosé
• Indigenous yeast
• Fermented and aged in stainless steel

From the importer: A south-southwest facing parcel located in Clos du Château de Chanzeaux, all from Coteaux du Layon. Thisparcel used to be part of the cuvee for their Cremant d'Loire, but was identified as worth a single-parcel bottling. Vinified dry, so must be classified as Anjou Blanc. The average age of the vines is 50+ years. Ground coverage alternates yearly between grass and herbs every other row for the health of the vines and nutrients. Schist and red clay soils.

All white wines are pressed whole cluster, which helps to protect the grapes from oxygenation and acts as a natural filter. The grapes are macerated for eight hours, after which the must is lightly filtered. Native yeast fermentation for 2.5 months, with malolactic in barrel. Matured in sandstone amphora for 12 months, and then two months in stainless steel before bottling.

94 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Vie di Romans is a showstopper, rich and floral in the glass, with dried nectarines and apricots lifted by yellow flowers and candied lime. Its textures are lifted, yet this makes quite an impact, with bright acidity enlivening masses of ripe peach and chamomile. Hints of confectioners’ sugar and lemon custard are left to linger as a burst of gingery spice and sour melon adds verve. A minute goes by, and this continues to resonate with hazelnut notes. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

From the winery: Planted in the 1940s, the Stampede Vineyard is an own-rooted Zinfandel planting in the toe-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains within Lodi’s Clements Hills AVA. With soils composed of decomposed granite, the Stampede Vineyard lies on a parcel that overlooks an old riverbed on one side and the Clements Stampede rodeo grounds on the other. Brothers and Lodi-natives Jeff & John Perlegos impeccably farm this vineyard.

On August 19th, we picked our third vintage of rosé from the ancient vines at Stampede Vineyard in Clements Hills. We couldn't be happier with how the wine turned out. Pressed whole-cluster and fermented in stainless steel. A slow, cold fermentation led to a weightier and more textural rosé, but the wine is everything you'd want a California rosé to be. At only 12.5% alcohol, the wine has loads of acidity, but with a density and vivacity you'd expect from old vine Zinfandel.  Drink now and drink often. This wine* is* springtime.

95 Points! The 2021 White Blend, a blend of Albariño, Chardonnay, Viognier and Pinot Gris, has intense aromas of peach, lemongrass, fresh citrus, honey and flint, opening to new aromatic nuances with each return to the glass. The medium-bodied palate is bursting with perfumed fruit, loaded with juicy acidity, and it finishes with a touch of anchoring texture. It's a delicious yet serious white with alluring generosity that keeps you coming back for more. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com