Introducing the ONLY domestic Tempranillo on the wine list of the French Laundry. That’s impressive because it is so cheap for their very pricy wine list. They mark it up to $110 because when they’re going down on you as you drink it, it’s still a great deal, especially if you can get Chris Hoel as your sommelier. This is the finest Tempranillo ever produced in California and if you want a wine that REALLY pairs with food, this is it. Being a new release at seven and a half years of age, this shows no apparent oxidation or deterioration. It’s fresh, red, spicy, and built to last. The barrel and bottle age have merely resolved the wine to where it’s incredibly enjoyable, satisfying, and gives instant gratification to those of us who have a hard time cellaring. It is by no means on the way down, it has a long life ahead of it and promises to deliver for many years. Flavors of spice dried strawberries, pomegranate, cherry, light herbs, and nuances of oak and earth are seamlessly knit together with a few years of age that they don’t charge you for. We taste A LOT of California wines and this is one of the most unique, classy, complex, and true to varietal character wines we’ve ever seen.

This brand new release is the  epitome of “real wine”. Already aged for two years in their cave (not some warehouse in Vallejo) this ’05 Cab is just approaching its drinking window and promises to live for a long time. The complexity and balance of this wine is enough to confuse you and make you fall down. The flavors seem to be a cross of California, Bordeaux, Stag’s Leap District, and Atlas Peak. It’s bold, balanced, big and badass, earthy, minerally, forward, site-specific, unmanipulated, pure, fragrant, flavorful, and is one of my personal favorites. If you’ve never visited this winery, you are really screwing the pooch. We also have 2005 White Rock, Estate Claret, Napa-$34.50

Everyone needs a little vice.

(180 cases produced) This is a real cool and quick story. For twenty years Alan Pierson was the estate manager and helped build Peter Michael winery to what it is today. Robbie Meyer was the winemaker there for five years.  They met and formed this partnership while also starting the Sage label which you are probably familiar with. The Sage wines were so good, Darioush bought the whole project including the vineyards on Mt. Veeder which in result freed these guys up to make the Pierson Meyer and L’Angevin wines full time. These Pierson Meyer offerings are outrageously great and thrilling wines from some of the best vineyards in northern California made by a couple of the most talented vino-eno-viti-gritty people in the world…..Coming from the Versant Vineyard on Pritchard Hill, this dense and extracted wine is a blast of blackberry, mocha, tobacco, and spice ready to drink now if you eat bolts but built to age for a while if you’re not into getting your ass kicked today.  They were nice enough to use only 70% new oak, letting the fruit shine through with only an accent of wood. We had these guys visit our store who have a wine shop in NYC and they couldn’t believe that we even HAD Pierson Meyer Cabernet. They said they thought it was the greatest thing since fake boobs and they charged $150 for it at their shop. There are a lot of wines out there that we’ve all bought for $150+ that are crap compared to this Cab.  And just in time for summer…..

Down from fifty bucks. Sweet price.

Introducing the ONLY domestic Tempranillo on the wine list of the French Laundry. That’s impressive because it is so cheap for their very pricey wine list. They mark it up to $110 because when they’re going down on you as you drink it, it’s still a great deal, especially if you can get Chris Hoel as your sommelier. This is the finest Tempranillo ever produced in California and if you want a wine that REALLY pairs with food, this is it. Being a new release at seven and a half years of age, this shows no apparent oxidation or deterioration. It’s fresh, red, spicy, and built to last. The barrel and bottle age have merely resolved the wine to where it’s incredibly enjoyable, satisfying, and gives instant gratification to those of us who have a hard time cellaring. It is by no means on the way down, it has a long life ahead of it and promises to deliver for many years. Flavors of spice dried strawberries, pomegranate, cherry, light herbs, and nuances of oak and earth are seamlessly knit together with a few years of age that they don’t charge you for. We taste A LOT of California wines and this is one of the most unique, classy, complex, and true to varietal character wines we’ve ever seen.

Here’s one most of you missed. The greatest Merlot in Napa and the greatest bestest wine in the whole world from the 2001 vintage. Get on the stick kids. Pafuckingloma!

There’s a lot of wineries out here that make wine as a “beverage” that won’t really age and has no apparent tannin or anything abrasive because they barely pressed it and made it to taste finished when opened upon release. Those wines are finished. Done. Gone before they got there. M.E.V. makes real wines that really develop as they age. This is awesome cellar worthy Cabernet for people who dig REAL wines.

How could you have missed this one?  Probably the cheapest Pinot Noir Paul Hobbs makes, this is big, full bodied, estate grown wine and is insanely good for $28. Formerly $45.

(185 cases produced)

Over the years people have used Special-K for many purposes such as dieting, breading chicken, knocking out your horse, or to enhance a fun experience and/or take a break from the hectic traumas of everyday life. Bigger and badder than a drunken Clydesdale on a quarter pound of meth, this very “special” wine is composed of their finest barrels of the vintage. The wine is extremely complex showing all the above mentioned flavors with even brighter notes of raspberry, black cherry, cocoa, and a hint of sweet vanilla. When you’re trying to break this beast, decant it for up to five hours or keep it in your wine barn or for 7-10 years from vintage date.

(681 cases produced)

Here’s a wine from Kevin Carriker and winemaking guru Mark Herold of Merus fame. This stuff is as fearless and crazy as the miners that chew cocoa leaves and charcoal in search of the rare blue mineral. There’s a crazy bucking hose on the label warning the drinker to ride another horse and give this wild one some time (2-3 years) to calm down or you might get bucked. The wine is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Malbec from the Coombsville area of Napa Valley. It gets big scores from Parker and the boys and has a great seven vintage track record. The wine is big and dark with colors of black, purple, and blue. Flavors of currant, blueberry, mocha, and black plum are accentuated with nuances of herbs, leather, and oak, all bound to melt together with a few years in the corral…This horse has a big brother that can’t be roped, tamed, or saddled. The only thing that calms it down is…..

I’ve always had a hard time at sleeping at night after I let someone screw themselves over by selling them a case of expensive, crappy Cabernet they asked for and think is good. I get over it when the processing company kicks me the money two days later, but it still makes me feel dirty. Not like “I-screwed-Quagmire’s-dad-dirty”, just good old fashioned “I-can’t-believe-I-just-did-that-dirty.” That is not the case here. You should feel like a dirty lowlife if you have the money and don’t buy this wine. This is, in my humble opinion, the best new winery in California, showing GREATNESS in ALL of their wines. This property is next to the legendary Peter Michael Vineyards which you won’t see wines from unless you’re on their mailing list or in some expensive dining establishment. This spot in Knights Valley is magical and produces wines of incredible quality. These guys aren’t interested in making a lot of wine, just the best wines possible.  While there’s a lot of hype on the 2007 vintage, this uncommonly great 2006 is so damn awesome I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t tell you about it. The grapes are grown in three different types of volcanic soils producing fruit with great concentration and complexity when blended together. The wine is an awesome color of purple-rimmed-ruby-red with a nose of violet, cassis, black cherry, tobacco, bittersweet chocolate, and a reminiscent whiff of the rocks where the stressed vines reside. Like all great wines, the flavors on the palate are a more amplified version of the bouquet delivering the same nuances from beginning to end which can take a while because of the very long and expansive finish. It is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak barrels, with a reasonable alcohol level of 14.5%, and I guarantee, 100% completely awesome.

Haunting the cult wines. 3 Bottle Limit

This stuff is big, dark, fat and rich, with a 2% blend of Petite Verdot for color. If you weren’t in the mood to spend $150 they also offer a wine ½ the price an ¾ the quality called….

You won’t find this at your local shop. From deep within the coveted Emerald Triangle of Humboldt County, only Groezinger’s has the hook up on this rare and unique Pinot Noir. You might be wondering, ”Where exactly is Humboldt County?” That probably means you’re not a big stoner because Humboldt County is where they grow weed and redwoods, north of Mendocino and south of Oregon. While not a California A.V.A., Humboldt County has microclimates that mimic those of Mendocino and Willamette Valley. The palate seems to be a cross of Oregon and California Pinot flavors displaying super bright cherry notes with more subtle flavors of forest floor, pomegranate, strawberry, and delicate spice.  The color is unlike most California Pinot with a bright, fuscha, ruby red hue.

Last call on the 2005 Watermark. It’s the best dang Napa Valley (diamond mtn.) Cabernet you could hope to find for $30.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get brand name drugs at generic drug prices or if you could get a Porsche for the price of a Volkswagen or a $3500 an hour call girl for the standard $300 an hour? John Grant, our buddy from Turley Wine Cellars, has crafted this high performance and oh-so-sweetly-priced Syrah from Santa Barbara that tastes like forty five bucks. The overly fun flavors of blueberry, Rhone raspberry, and earthy spice are balanced with rock solid structure, a gushing mouthfeel, delicately infused French oak, and fuzzy tannins. The wine is phat and persistent on the palate with a long and explosive finish comparable to Star Wars, the Challenger, Die Hard, Peter North, and the health care plan.

What the #@%&$!!?  Remember when this stuff was the best single vineyard Cab you could get for $75? Now it’s fifty bucks with the same incredible quality. Why? Who fucking cares? Just get some. Other winemakers charge up to $150 for wine from this same vineyard while accordion virtuoso, Steve Ventrello, is charging $50. Why? Because he’s hung like a mule and doesn’t need a new accordion, sports car, or Hummer to compensate for a tenny-weenie-peenie and a douchebag personality like the guys at ______ ______ Winery. (fill in the blank, it’s fun) This Cab has beautiful terroir displaying mineralistic earthy nuances rarely found in new world Cabernets. The wine is perfecty balanced, integrated, and built to age if you’re ‘clism* can handle it. Ultra pure and untainted flavors of raspberry, black cherry, olive, wet stone, tobacco leaf, and blackberry will satiate the most hard core Cabernet freaks.  If you haven’t paid attention for the past few years, Atlas Peak has become a superb appellation on par with Howell, Spring, and Diamond Mountain quality.

Scott Palazzo and wine consultant Peter Franus have nailed this one outta the park without performance enhancing drugs… as far as we know.  This unique to California blend, representative of a right bank Bordeaux, is composed of 68% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. IT DOES NOT DRINK LIKE A MERLOT. This wine has the balls of a Cabernet, the nuances and subtleties of Merlot, and the spice of Cabernet Franc. Palazzo’s wines are in almost every fine dining establishment across the country. Why? Mostly because the wine is freaking awesome, and also because Scott Palazzo must not own a stove and eats out A LOT. How does he stay so thin? Diet pills? Hollywood cocaine? Intense physical conditioning? Atkins? Fear of losing his super hot and way younger girlfriend? He says it’s a mix of foie gras, pork belly, braised short ribs, roasted beets with goat cheese, and Palazzo wine. Those items seem to be redundant in almost all the schwankey restaurants out here. With Palazzo Red, you’re just a piece of bacon and beet away from playing “I’m a Yountville chef” in yer own kitchen. I’m Thomas. I’m Richard. I’m Phillipe. We like beets.

Maybe you’re a big hitter, like Manny Ramirez or Tommy Chong. Whether you’re hitting bunts or smoking blunts, this wine is big league chew no matter how you look at it. And it won’t shrink your balls or make you retarded. This extra-strength Pinot gushes with seriously bold flavors of strawberry jam, brambleberry, and black cherry, all framed up in toasted French oak. It’s built to age but can be statutorily consumed if you are a sick and impatient Pinotphile. Give it time to open up when you crack it or you won’t receive the full blessing. It would be like the priest missing your baby’s head with the water or like Jerry Garcia screwing up Franklins Tower. So let the damn thing breath a little. It’s big, intense, concentrated, and perfectly balanced for a Pinot of this weight. Pairs perfect with anything of chronic quality.

The epic 2007 vintage produced some of the best Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir grapes in recent history and winemaking legend, Ted Lemmon, has put the “L” in these truly chronic Pinots. If you were intelligent enough to get some of the 2006 Chronicles you’ll understand the greatness of these wines. As for the rest of you dumbfucks, you’ll just have to take a leap of faith (not quite as severe as a suicide bomber) and hook yourself up with a few of these explosive wines. The Chronicle wines will mercilessly kill the rest of your Pinots as they invade, take over, and control your cellar, palate, and every thought. For a modest price you can score some of California’s best Pinot, and you don’t even need a Chronic card from your “doctor”. It’s bright, lively, and complex with strawberry, spice, clove, cherry cola, and mineral wrapped together by a thin layer of French oak. It’s so good that we might just call you and ask you why the hell you waste your time reading this stupid letter without ordering these wines. Either way, we’ll talk to you soon.

Nile Zacherle of David Arthur and Whitney Fisher of Fisher Vineyards are the proud parents of this mind-altering Syrah. The blend here is 92% and 8% Petit Sirah from a rugged and low yielding vineyard where volcanic soils, cold nights, and warm days result in a longer than average hang time for this typically early ripening varietal. The resulting wine is black-garnet, with monsterous amounts of crushed wild berries, baked cherries and plum jam, with suggestions of forest floor, Szechwan peppercorn, molasses, and wild mountain flowers. Think of this as a top-notch Croze-Hermitage from a very ripe vintage. Drink this now or lay it down for a decade. And remember, April Showers always brings May Flowers. April and May are a couple of strippers I met down in S.F. last week, so if you ever meet April, tell her to bring her friend.

This “Rosé” is actually closer to being a red wine, so we listed it here. Made from dedicated fruit from 120 (!!!) year old Mourvedre vines, this is about as close as you’re going to get to a great Bandol Rosé without a plane ticket to France. This is a truly provocative yet refreshing and spicy wine that pairs with just about anything-especially garlic heavy dishes.

Ever wonder why Fred Flintstone always seemed so happy and why he could only get a license to drive a foot powered vehicle? That’s because he was always plastered off his ass on this wine. These pre-historic vines were originally planted roughly around 30,000 B.C. by one Captain Caveman-Peterson, who later founded the town of Bedrock, now modern day Sonoma. His great to the 263rd power Grandson was Joel Peterson, founder of a tiny winery no one’s ever heard of called RavensWood, and whose son, the very talented Morgan Twain-C.-Peterson, now presides over the production of this wine. Isn’t genealogy fun? Back in Caveman days they didn’t know what red grapes they were planting, but Archeologists now believe this is a blend of 40% Zinfandel, 30% Cairignanne, and 30% Ugh-Ugh (mixed black grapes). Remember when the RavensWood motto was “no wimpy wines” and then after Joel sold the winery the wines got all wimpy? This is where the ass-whippin’ went. Black and bruised in the glass, mega-concentrated black fruit flavors abound, with whiffs of mint, briar, and earth rounding out the flavor profile. This is a young wine that should age until the early Jetson era.

“Les Trois Voix” should be your new by the glass pour as you start playing Yountville Chef at home. As your personal Sommeliers, we’d like to advise you that Cabernet doesn’t pair particularly well with some our other predictable wine country restaurant menu items like roast chicken, bacon wrapped salmon, duck confit, tomato-mozzarella pizza , or pan fried pork chops. So unless you’re on the Atkins diet and eat nothing but raw beef and live baby sheep you are going to need another option, like this incredibly complex and delicious as well as ridiculously cheap blend of 53% Grenache, 29% Mourvedre, and 18% Syrah from a single vineyard on the rocky slopes of Amador county. Wild blackberry, cherry, and boysenberry fruit mingle with dried herbs, lavender, crushed rock and smoked meat, making this a versatile wine that would pair well with any of the afore mentioned dishes. Most people who have tasted this wine in the shop have walked out with a case, so fly on out here and taste it, or just take our word for it and order a box. Also, if you want to get off the Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc turnstile, try the 2008 Tallulah Marsanne Blend White Table Wine for only $22.00!

SMART BUY OF THE YEAR!!Here is one of the best deals on Napa Cabernet Ever! Many wineries these days are making less of their flagship wines and diverting a lot of their top end juice into their more affordable labels. But this is just freakin’ ridiculous!! This tastes like George Hendry accidentally put half of his Block 8 Old Vine Cab into the wrong bottle and just said, “Fuck it, throw the labels on ‘em and sell it.” This wine is going to seriously ruin the party for a lot of wineries trying to hock their $40 & $50 dollar wines. It’s not too hard to figure out. Hendry doesn’t buy any grapes so this is entirely estate grown fruit. The HRW label didn’t exist until the economy took a crap. Soooo. Are you picking up what we’re throwing down? Call us.

Dr. Jerry Seps has your script to get ripped on this explosively aromatic and ultra complex mountain grown Zin. Plush and velvety with massive fruit and just a kiss of oak makes this a wet dream without the combined use of Viagra and Ambien.

Spicey & Swanky Hanky Pank wine for your Spring and Summer chuggin’.

If we told you where this delicious wine came from, they’d kill us.

Declassified fruit from a highly classified super-premium winery.

Only a damn fool would pass on this. Here’s some top rate RRV Pinot that you can drink without the wait. And it also cures impotence. Who knew?

It’s not the price that matters, it’s the Moshin.

This is a bone-crusher of a Sonoma Cab, hand sorted, native yeast fermented, and pressed hard for that old-school-the-way-it-should-be-done weight, structure, perfume and flavor. 110 cases produced. This would pair great with brontosaurus ribeye. Yabba Dabba Do it!

This is, without a doubt, the best Franc in Napa. Limited!

95 W.E.  Ever wish you got in on a “cult” wine while it was still cult? Knight’s Bridge is by far a superior producer of Cabernet from these famed vineyards, and the price is a bargain when compared to KB’s peers (Schrader, Hobbs, etc.). Raw power, structure, depth, balance, focus, elegance, length and purity-all the things that make a truly legendary wine are here.

This is what the Sage Cabernet Sauvignon would have tasted like if they hadn’t sold their vineyards to Darioush. This is a real sleeper for ’07.

96+ R.P.!! We only got five cases . . .

93+ R.P.

94+W.E. When I think about this winery the first thing that comes to mind is, “NONE SHALL PASS!” and “THEN YOU SHALL DIE!” Black, green, or horseless, you should really get some of this in your grail before the swine plague hits. Seriously though, this high dollar winery is bound to wind up with big points from Parker and the rest of ‘em real soon.
This is our favorite To Kalon Cab ever. One of the reasons we love it is because it’s not $250 or $150 like most To- Kalon Cabs. It almost always causes premature olfactory orgasm so I wear a dental dam or use a piece of Saran wrap to make it last longer. Dark purple in color, this wine gushes with blackberry, black currant, huckleberry, clove, sweet French oak, and a whiff of violet. It’ll age for eight more years, but who wants to risk dying of the black swine plague before your Cab reaches full maturity? Even if your arms and legs have been lopped off you should roll over to the phone and call us. This magical wine offers eternal youth, and miraculously heals even the most severe flesh wounds.

If you tried the 1998 Cornerstone NAPA Cabernet last month and thought it was a bit knackered, you might want to give this one a whack at your cow. And….if you thoroughly enjoyed the Cornerstone NAPA Cab then you are GONNA FREAKIN’ LOVE the 98 HOWELL MOUNTAIN Cab. If you like old Cab and weren’t cellaring wine when you were in college or on Dead tour, this is your opportunity to enjoy aged mountain Cab without paying $60 nine years ago.

This is the kind of wine that’ll make you feel like a king when you own a case. On the other hand, if you can’t even afford a half case, it’ll make you feel like a broke-alcoholic-looser-I-feel-like-I-lost-all-my-dough-in-Vegas-no-lap-dance-dribblehead-douchebag. I know the feeling. That’s what credit cards are for…..to put off looserdom until a later date. Like thirty days later according to Doris at American Express. So if you’ve got that down-and-out-I-can’t-buy-more-wine-feeling, get your credit card and say, “Fuck it, I need some O’Shaughnessy no matter what.” Don’t let economics get in the way of your true passions. And if you want to look at it from a religious perspective, money is the root of all evil and Jesus turned water into wine*. As spiritual consultants we advise that you purge yourself of that evil money and get some of this old time religion into your sinful soul. Over the last few years, O’Shaughnessy has gained the reputation as king of the hill, or mountain in this case. Luscious and concentrated, focused and balanced, this wine over delivers in every way possible. Flavors of dark, ripe, black cherry, volcanic loam, blackberry, sweet French oak, and high grade black tobacco are supported by a complex and perfectly integrated structure of fruit covered acidity, super-fine-grit tannins, and unnoticeable alcohol. Like if Moses came down from the mountain with a stack of late ‘70’s Penthouse and a Nebuchadnezzar of B.C. wine made by the Big Guy Himself, this wine can do no wrong and is ready to party now and for years to come. If you’re not a follower or believer of O’Shaughnessy, their 2006 will convert you.

Zinfandel’s Daddy in the Napa Valley, former Chief of Toy Production turned Master Winemaker Jerry “Doc” Seps used elfin’ majik to create this unbelievable wine. Always one of our top picks in any vintage, the 2006 mercilessly beats the hell out of every other Zin from the valley in this vintage. This varietal’s popularity has waned a bit in recent years, but this one will make you want to get up and scream until someone calls the cops on you. Loads of crushed raspberry and currant, black cherry, spring flowers, and a hint of the estates iron laden crushed red rock contribute to a wine that shows the very essence of Zinfandel. Powerful yet elegant, this wine will outlive many Cabs from the valley but also drinks great now. It’ll pair well with turkey, ham, goose, lamb, game, or any other holiday feast.

This one is a mindblower. If you’ve been on our mailing list for a while, you already know that we love wines from this estate, but here we can tell you without that creepy “oh shit we’re telling a lie” feeling that this is without a doubt the best wine that we’ve ever tasted from Fort Ross. Yeah, you could spend an extra thirty bucks on a bottle of Flowers that doesn’t taste as good or spend hours going over the most recent issue of BurgHound trying to find a Chambolle-Musigny that costs less than $120 or you could just call us and pick up some of this juice. This stuff tastes like the best black and boysenberry essence you’ve ever experienced, with burnt orange peel, sliced porcini mushroom, star anise, and crème de menthe thrown in for extra sex appeal. Perfect for stuffin’ in stockings. Speaking of little stockings, the new elf porn studio, “The Pole”, received loads of recognition and success with “Melfs”, “Melfs II”, & “Melf Hunter”.

Here’s the best bang for your buck since the Charbay Cab!! No shit, people. Robbie Meyer, of Peter Michael, L’Angevin, and Peirson-Meyer fame (among many others), has crafted the one of the best red blends we’ve tasted all year, and you need to buy a case or two. We poured a glass, a glass mind you, and let it sit for two days and this sucker didn’t budge. No oxidization, no funk, no bullshit. That’s a well made wine, friends. It is our understanding that Sage Vineyards was sold to Darioush winery a little while back, so a good portion of this fruit will soon be available in a much heftier bottle with a much heftier price tag. Until that happens, we’ll simply have to question both your intelligence and your palate if you don’t stock up on this stuff now. Loads of forward Cabernet flavors are made supple by the addition of Merlot and spiced up by Cab Franc, making this a blackberry and raspberry-jam infused fruit bomb with Mt. Veeder structure, a whiff of campfire, unlit cigar, Asian spices, crushed rose petal, and dried cherry. It’s so good, we could drink it all day. In fact, we have, and so should you. But you’ll have to call us first. 1 800 356-3970.

$165.00 each, or $465 per three-pack (one each of the above listed single vineyards)
Here’s the latest and greatest release from one of the Napa Valley’s most prolific and historic Cabernet producers. As you probably already know, Diamond Creek’s founder, the late Al Bronstein, was among the first to bring smuggled suit case clones from a First Growth Bordeaux vineyard in Paulliac and give them a loving home on the hillsides of Napa. Always big, dark, extracted, elegant, yet old fashioned in structure, the wines show massive cassis and black cherry jam, with nuances ranging from crushed stone, smoldering cedar, mountain under-brush, and dried lavender, with incredible purity and length on the finish. The 2007’s are the best this house has produced in years, and winemaker Phil Steinschriber is adept at accentuating the unique characteristics of these three vineyard blocks, creating wines of a consistent style while preserving the distinct terroir of each site. As always, these wines will age well for twenty plus years. Want to give the ultimate gift this year? Go for the DIAMOND CREEK MAGNUM 3-PACK-$1250.00

As good as it gets from Carneros and not 90 bucks.

Since nobody wanted the Shafer Hillside Cab for $225 we are offering a $50 version from the vineyard on the other side of that hill.

Living legends. These wines kick the crap out of most of our Cabs and still have another 10-15 years of life. Another last call on these almost mature, old vine, mountain grown Petit Sirahs. $360 for any four bottles. Extremely rare.

A Napa classic with a good dose of Howell Mtn. fruit.

130 year old vines. Truly a national treasure, you won’t find these historic flavors on Antiques Roadshow. Awesome old vine Zin.

A Groezinger favorite. Diamond Creek’s winemaker’s personal stash. Wonder where he gets the fruit?? It’s one of the best wines you could find for forty bucks. Drinkable, ageable, limited, hard to find, and downright delicious. 

Philippe Melka’s wine for fifty bucks?? It’s true. And your kids could be the first ones in your neighborhood with the premiere Chardonnay from Parallel…..

Sweet new pricing.

What?@!

This is how Sawyer describes the wine.  “Delightfully balanced between lush fruit and velvety tannins, the 2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is an elegant wine that opens with intriguing aromas of wild blackberries and black currant layered with classic mocha and spice characteristics. On the palate, the dense blackberry is accompanied by cassis, and chocolate, while hints of the signature “Rutherford Dust” linger on the graceful finish. This full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon is enjoyable now and will continue to develop complexity as it ages for the next ten to twelve years.”

What?$?$?  This baby used to be $44.  Expressive of Rutherford in every way except for the price.  Take that Oakville !#$@ And….

What’s the best merlot in California? Probably this one. What do other wineries like Pahlmeyer, Duckhorn, or Amuse Bouche charge for their BIG merlots? Those are ninety bucks and up. Who the hell can afford that except for the lucky few who got bailed out? You don’t have to be two months late on your mortgage to benefit from this stimulus package. Estate grown on the very top of Spring Mountain, this merlot possesses magical powers that are rarely wielded by this usually humble varietal. Five years ago this was Spectator’s #1 wine in the world. I think this wine is better than the 2001, showing stronger structure, deeper extraction, better balance, and brighter fruit. This stellar vintage from Paloma is ageable for up to fifteen years. Aromas of blackberry, chocolate, and tobacco leaf foreshadow the upcoming flavor assault. The flavors are persistent and strong, leading with black fruits, spice, mineral, cocoa and a kiss of very expensive French oak. The mouthfeel is huge and almost doesn’t fit in your face. It pairs great with grilled steaks, mushrooms, lamb, braised shortribs, or almost anything meaty, fatty, and charred.

The best Claret yet from Ramey, this Cab based Bordeaux blend offers up dense, extracted, and ultra-rich spiced red and black fruit flavors. Usually $38! Get a case!

A blend of Zinfandel, cabernet, merlot and petit verdot, this is packed with fresh scents of wild berries, both red and black. There’s density to the wine, its depth sustained by tannins that feel substantial and sweet.

Formerly weighing in at $35, I starved this champ and then beat the crap out of it till it was seven bucks cheaper. Jerry Seps is the current “godfather” of Napa Zinfandel, with over 30 vintages under his belt. This legendary vineyard was originally planted in the 1880’s and then replanted in 1976 by the Sep’s. They have some of the oldest caves in Napa (circa 1889), their estate is beautiful, and you should visit their winery if you haven’t. They also make the best Zinfandel in California. It ages better than Napa Cabernets and goes with a w i d e variety of cuisine from breakfast to bedtime. Blackberry pancakes and bacon in the morning, grilled sausages and kraut for lunch, barbequed ribs and garlic spuds for dinner, with dark chocolate all night long. It could be the only wine you’ll ever need. Storybook Mountain has been served in the Whitehouse multiple times and what could be more patriotic than drinking American wine from a varietal that is not completely native but could be if you made up a good story and lied. Now, that’s the American way. It tastes like wild, wild blackberries, blueberry concentrate, and spiced plum followed by a nice touch of whoop-ass (blood, copper, and fear) with tingling acidity and firm, fuzzy tannins.  Do you like Zin AND Cab???

Everyone likes a good deal, even Robert Parker. He called this wine “gorgeous” and “sexy”, which is what happens when you don’t get laid much and you have to put your affections towards bottles of fine wine. From an estate on the upper reaches of Spring Mountain, this Cabernet shows all the depth, elegance and power of its more expensive sibling without the required wait of ten years for drinkability. In a word, this wine says “now”. You might get hit by a bus tomorrow(especially in D.C.), so you might as well have a glass of wine redolent of cassis, cigar box, mountain sage, and mineral tonight. Do we even need to mention that this is half the price of the Philip Togni Estate?  Yeah. Seriously folks, this is one helluva deal on top-notch Cab from Spring Mountain. Bonus: It’ll age great for ten years.