Destroyer North Coast Red is made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon 20% Merlot 10% Zinfandel 5% Syrah
DESTROYER Red Wine Blend is a whimsical blend of North Coast varieties. We start with Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, and then add Merlot 20%, Zinfandel 10% and finish with Syrah 5%. 65% is grown in Lake County in the Red Hills AVA, the balance is Napa Valley. This wine is aged in French oak for 10 months.
DESTROYER is rich and flavorful. Red and dark fruits are apparent in the nose with Plum, Cherry and Blueberry tones. The aroma is elegant and shows subtle signs of oak nuance. The pallet explodes with deep deliciousness! The finish lingers and invites a second glass or two. Invite your favorite friends to try, and share with your hottest date.
Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Aux Boudots is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Domaine Jean Grivot is among the great names in Burgundian wine. Étienne Grivot and his wife Marielle took over from Étienne’s father Jean Grivot in 1987. The vineyards are densely planted and farmed organically “sans certification” while the aim in the cellar is for balance and clear expression of terroir.
Jean Grivot’s 38.3 acres spread across 22 appellations with vineyards in the communes of Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot, Chambolle-Musigny, and Nuits-Saint-Georges. Besides the three grand crus, there are 8 premier crus including the much lauded Les Beaux Monts and Suchots in Vosne-Romanée. The grapes are completely de-stemmed and fermentation is spontaneous.
Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Boudots 1er cru lies in the “Zone Vosnoise” or northern end of Nuits-Saint-Georges just below Les Damodes. It borders Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er just to its north. Its position slightly lower on the slope with deep soil full of pebbles results in a richer and fuller wine.
The grapes are destemmed and maceration à froid usually lasts just a day or two. The alcoholic fermentation is spontaneous and malolactic fermentation occurs in barrel. Depending on the vintage, the proportion of new oak is around 30-60% for the premier crus.
The wine shows aromas and flavors of red berries, herbs, and purple flowers. The palate is rich with ripe fruit and medium weight with bright acidity and fine tannins. Aging in 30-60% new Burgundian pièce brings notes of vanilla, toast, and baking spices.
Red Burgundy might be the world’s most flexible food wine. The wine’s high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and low tannins make it very food-friendly. Red Burgundy, with its earthy and sometimes gamey character, is a classic partner to roasted game birds, grilled duck breast, and dishes that feature mushrooms, black truffles, or are rich in umami.
Reviews:
‘The 2020 Nuits Saint-Georges Aux Boudots Ter Cru has the best aromatics among Grivat Nuits Saint-Georges with very well defined red berry fruit, briary and lignt sous-bois aromas. The palate is medium-badied with fine-grain tannins, slightly savory on the entry, fresh and saline on the finish. This has real verve and class, though it will benefit from time in bottle
-Vinous 93-95 Points
A wine with the substance and structure to support the generous lashings of new oak used for maturation, and the overall effect is elegant and classic in style. Aux Boudots, where Grivot has 0.85ha, is at the northern edge of Nuits, just over the border from Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts. They began to pick on the 3rd of September – Etienne specified that they are very particular that the tannins are ripe and do what they can to prolong the vegetative cycle. Still, the grapes were picked with an entirely correct pH of around 3.4.
-Decanter 94 Points
Double Diamond by Schrader Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Barrels: 54% new French oak, 46% second-use Schrader Darnajou French Oak
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon offers concentration, lively acidity, and refined tannins that have become the hallmark of the 2022 vintage. The nose holds notes of black raspberry, toasted cedar, juicy plum, and pennyroyal mint—a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon signature. The palate is mouthwatering with intricately woven layers of blackberry compote, dark chocolate shavings, oolong tea, and flint. The dynamic flavors carry across the mid-palate in vivid harmony into a long, floral finish. This wine is ready to drink upon release but will cellar well for years to come.
Double Diamond is sourced exclusively from a complement of prime vineyard estates. Sourced from the same famed vineyards as its beloved inspiration Schrader Cellars in Napa Valley’s world-renowned Oakville AVA, including our To Kalon Vineyard.
Elvio Cogno Cascina Nuova Barolo 2017
Born to satisfy the curiosity of consumers keen to have a more immediate understanding of Barolo, the wine is bright garnet red in color with orange tints. Pleasing and immediate, it offers scents of flowers and light, delicate spices. The mouth is agreeably rounded, juicy and fresh, with just the right balance between pleasantness and elegance. The aftertaste is very harmonious with a mineral, aromatic finish.
Review:
Attractive dried strawberry with cherry and tar on the nose. Full-bodied with powerful tannins that are dusty and intense. Very flavorful and long. Solid as a rock. Needs at least three or four years to soften and come together.
-James Suckling 95 Points
Elvio Cogno Pre-Phylloxera Barbera d'Alba is made from 100 percent Barbera.
Produced from one of the last archaic vines of the Langhe area, an open air museum of viticulture from a time gone by, the plants are over one hundred years old. The vines are not grafted but propagated through cuttings, thus maintaining, over the decades, the original Barbera characteristics.
The vineyard has an excellent exposure and sandy-chalky terrain, situated in Berri near La Morra, which guaranteed the vines a natural protection from Phylloxera and imparts unique and exclusive characteristics to the vines. The intriguing simplicity of the vines and their typical, traditional charm that derives from the microclimate and favorable altitude make a one of-a-kind wine.
The low production per hectare guarantees an intensely rare and rich organoleptic concentration. The wine is refined in oak casks that slowly develop the primary aromas. Pleasant and refined, complex even as a young wine but able to withstand bottle aging, it expresses its solid uniqueness even over the years.
A bright, rich ruby color with intense purplish highlights. The aroma is enveloping, aromatic and deep with noticeable spices on first impression and raspberry, strawberry and ripe cherry notes in background. Finish with pleasant harmonies of wild flowers. On the palate it is well structured, fresh and the acidity is excellently balanced, the tannins texture is embracing and flavors remind you of sour cherries, blackberries and prunes.
Review:
Planted in almost entirely sand, this own-rooted vineyard with some vines over 120 years old is a singular expression of Barbera. Elegant aromas of wild rose and fresh bay leaf mixed with cranberry, sour cherry and underbrush are just some of the notes you will discover in this complex wine. The palate is refined and well-balanced with fresh youthful red fruits, fresh flowers and fine tannins driving the wine home. Drink Now–2035.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
The 2023 Far Niente Chardonnay enchants with a bouquet of citrus, white floral, and hints of honeydew melon and nectarine. Its silky texture and bright, refreshing palate dance with flavors of lemon/lime zest and lemon verbena, culminating in a long, juicy finish that leaves the palate yearning for more.
Review:
The combination of Carneros' maritime climate and the volcanic soils of Coombsville lends a hand in creating one of the most deluxe Chardonnays our team has had the pleasure of tasting. Augmented by sweet vanilla cream, elderflower, and white cherry, the mouthfeel is exquisitely graceful, and notes of key lime, herbed lemon, and luscious ripe pineapple are opulent to the end. Aged sur lie in French oak barrels.
-Tasting Panel 97 Points
Leindl Gruner Veltliner Seeberg Kamptal is made form 100 percent Gruner Veltiner. Medium yellow green. Fine yellow apple fruit, delicate hint of quince and honey, candied orange zest, highly attractive bouquet. Juicy, good complexity, extract core sweet, silky texture, fine acidity bow, fine and salty minerality, great length, secure aging potential, a very finesse Veltliner-style.
Review:
“Inviting nose, with layers of quince and elegant, aromatic herb leading through to a richly textured palate of opulent fruit and a fine acidity.”
- Decanter World Wine Awards 2023, 96 pts
Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is made from Clairette blanche & Rose, Grenache Blanc & Gris, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Picpoul and Picardan.
Gold bright green color. Expressive nose with pear and stone fruits aromas (peach, apricot) with jasmine and roasted almonds notes. The mouth is smooth and fleshy like stone fruit we can smell, with a long a nice finish.
Review:
Always terrific, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc is no exception, and readers who love vibrant, age-worthy Rhône whites can safely buy this cuvée in just about every vintage. Based on 30% Clairette, 20% Grenache Blanc, 25% Bourboulenc, 22% Roussanne, and splashes of Picardan and Picpoul Blanc, the 2023 reveals a medium gold hue as well as textbook aromatics of pear and orchard fruits intermixed with honeyed flowers, chalky minerality, and subtle green almond nuances. This balanced, medium-bodied, vibrant white is very much in the fresh, focused, yet still textured, approachable style of the vintage.
-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points