Mordoree Cotes du Rhone Dame Rousse Rose is made from 40% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 15% Cinsault, 5% Carignan, 5% Mourvèdre

Color : rosé, slightly orange (mordorée colour).

Aromas : crystallized oranges and cherries, slightly aniseed.

Palate : very rounded, fresh and long finish.

Ageing potential : 2 to 3 years

Surface : 14 Ha. Yield : 45 Hl./Ha. Vineyard age : 20 years Terroir : clay / chalk,clay / limestone and sandy with pebble stones. Harvest : by hand. Vinification : vat bleeding, temperature control. Estate bottled.

Food pairing: cold meats and delicatessen, fowl, white meats, grilled lamb with Provence herbs, fish soup, fried fish, pastas, pizzas and all Asian dishes.

Morlet Family Vineyards Billet Doux Late Harvest Semillon 2012 (half-bottle) is made from Sémillon (65%) Sauvignon Blanc (31%) Muscat à Petits Grains (4%)

rowing in the gravelly soil of an ancient riverbed in the beautiful Alexander Valley, the old vines benefit from hot afternoons and cool, foggy mornings, favorable for the development of Botrytis (Noble Rot). Extremely small yields in the Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat vineyards lead to the immensely concentrated fruit. Just as one receives a note from one’s sweetheart, we present this wine as a precious ‘Love Note’ or ‘Billet Doux.’

Deep crystal clear gold. Intense and complex bouquet of dry apricot, pêche de vigne and Reine Claude yellow plum intermixed with notes of quince, honey, Muscat and a hint of sweet vanilla. Full bodied, the palate is reminiscent of the nose, with a creamy sweet texture and a great intensity. The large amount of sugar and glycerin creates a highlighted viscosity. Along with the wine’s great concentration, richness and opulence, the classical aromatic complexity reveals a flamboyant yet harmonious ensemble, leading to a very long, complex and smooth finish.

Proprietary name ‘Billet Doux’

Name meaning Love Note 

Type of wine Late harvest white wine

Appellation Alexander Valley

Vineyard singularity 25-60 year old vines Loamy and gravelly soils from an ancient river bed One cluster per shoot ‘de rigueur’

Typical harvest date November Picking Manual, small lugs, refrigerated truck

Sorting Cluster by cluster

Fermentation In barrel through native yeast

Upbringing 16 months French Oak from selected artisan Coopers

Bottling Unfined, filtered to prevent Malolactic

Cellaring time Decades

Serving Chilled and decanted

Review:

Produced from 65% Sémillon, 31% Sauvignon Blanc and 4% Muscat, the 2012 Billet Doux has a medium golden color and profoundly scented nose of beeswax, honeyed nuts, orange marmalade, Manuka honey and preserved lemons. Full-bodied, full-on sweet, rich, concentrated and oh-so-unctuous, it delivers powerful flavor layers and epic length. 175 cases were made.

-Wine Advocate 97 Points

Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta Liebres is made from 100% Tinto Fino. The plot is located on a terraced hillside located at 900 m above sea level with slopes that range between inclines of 30% and 40%. Red cherry color with purple hues. Ripe fruit aromas, vanilla notes. Suave and unctuous in the mouth. A strong and noble character.

The harvest is carried out by hand using small crates and after passing through a refrigerated container it is transferred into tanks via gravity. The alcoholic and malolatic fermentation is carried out in small French “Haute Futaie” Oak casks with unique and original local yeasts and fermenting bacteria from the vineyard itself, to bring out the very best of the terroir, respecting the uniqueness of each and every vintage. Clarified with egg whites and bottled by gravity with natural cork stoppers.

Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta de las Liebres 2019 is a red wine that masterfully blends finesse with a robust flavor profile. Upon olfaction, it unveils a complex array of nuances, with blueberries and blackberries taking center stage, complemented by undertones of sweet spices and hints of graphite and chocolate. On the palate, it is rich and full-bodied. This red wine boasts silky tannins, an extensive and enduring finish, and the exquisite signature of an outstanding vintage.

Prager Smaragd Klaus Riesling is made from 100 percent Riesling. 

Franz Prager, co-founder of the Vinea Wachau, had already earned a reputation for his wines when Toni Bodenstein married into the family. Bodenstein’s passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers.

Smaragd is a designation of ripeness for dry wines used exclusively by members of the Vinea Wachau. The wines must have minimum alcohol of 12.5%. The grapes are hand-harvested, typically in October and November, and are sent directly to press where they spontaneously ferment in stainless-steel tanks.

Klaus sits adjacent to Achleiten and is one of the Wachau’s most famous vineyards for Riesling. The vineyard is incredibly steep with a gradient of 77% at its steepest point. The southeast-facing terraced vineyard of dark migmatite-amphibolite and paragneiss produces a tightly wound and powerful wine. The parcel belonging to Toni Bodenstein was planted in 1952. 

Tasting Notes:

Austrian Riesling is often defined by elevated levels of dry extract thanks to a lengthy ripening period and freshness due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night. “Klaus is not a charming Riesling,” says Toni Bodenstein with a wink. Klaus is Prager’s most assertive and robust Riesling. 

Food Pairing

Riesling’s high acidity makes it one of the most versatile wines at the table. Riesling can be used to cut the fattiness of foods such as pork or sausages and can tame some saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette might.

Review:

  What a stunning example of cool climate riesling. It’s full-bodied and deep, but so cool and delicate, packing in sleek layers of honeysuckle, apricots, lemons and grapefruit married to thyme and crushed rock. So long and seamless, with tension and focus that just keeps going. Sustainable. Try from 2025.

-James Suckling 98 Points

Rombauer Vineyards Proprietor Selection Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay. 

Proprietor Selection is a reserve Chardonnay produced only in exceptional vintages by blending the best barrels from the finest lots. The 2020 represents the 14th vintage in 41 years. Like all of our Chardonnays, this wine comes from Carneros where the cool climate and clay soils offer ideal growing conditions for the varietal.

This wine comes from elite vineyards in the Carneros region owned by the Rombauer family and select growers including the Sangiacomo family, long-term grower partners who have farmed this land for three generations

A beautiful pale yellow, there are multifaceted layers of aromas including caramelized pineapple, lemon rind, baked green apple, toast, and vanilla. The densely concentrated palate features notes of powerful stone fruit, floral honey, baking spice, and vanilla, all building, with a fresh, mouthwatering acidity, to a long and lingering finish.

The aging is as Mounir ages his Burgundies: extremely long, never racked, no fining, no filtration. It would be easy to say that we expected the experience running one of Burgundy’s leading producers, Lucien Le Moine, would show in Mounir’s wines. But the actual results need to be tasted to be believed and understood: a wine with beguiling fruit and savory richness, yet extraordinary finesse and detail.

Mounir Saouma likes to describe Châteauneuf-du-Pape as a mosaic, with all the wild traditions and differences together making for very different interpretations. Omnia, Latin for “all,” is his attempt to encompass the entire region’s terroir and winemaking history (and perhaps future) in one glass. The fruit comes from 9 vineyard parcels across all 5 of the Châteauneuf communes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Courthezon, Sorgues, Bedarrides and Orange (in early vintages, when the Saoumas did not have all the vineyards they have today, they would purchase fruit; today, Rotem & Mounir Saouma is 100% Estate). The wine is then vinified and aged in foudres, cement and 500 liter barrels – a little bit of everything.

2019 was another warm and dry vintage in the southern Rhône, marked by insistent drought and repeated heat waves during the season. With little disease pressure or frost, the crop was close to normal size, but bunch and berry-size was reduced during the growing season by the lack of water. The grapes were thus concentrated and rich in sugar and acidity, although potential alcohol levels were often quite high. Vineyards at higher elevations – Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas in particular — handled the heat better, and the wines from those AOPs are rich yet also remarkably fresh and energetic. Despite the initial concerns about the growing season, 2019 looks to be a watershed vintage in the Southern Rhône, producing rich wines with exceptional concentration and aging potential

Inviting aromas of sliced strawberries, red cherries and rose. Full-bodied with vibrant acidity and succulent fruit. Fine, structured tannins are vertically aligned with the fruit. More dark-fruited than the nose lets on and entirely delicious. I love the subtle spice here.

-James Suckling 94 Points

Very refined, with silky and fine-grained structure carrying alluring bergamot, rooibos tea, incense, dried cherry and lightly mulled raspberry notes along. A long sanguine thread weaves through the finish. Hard to resist now with so much charm, but this will benefit from cellaring. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. 

-Wine Spectator 94 Points

Ruffino Modus Primo Toscana IGT Italian Red Wine is the evolution of Modus, showcasing quality fruit from three Tuscan vineyards on Ruffino's Poggio Casciano Estate, each one representing the best that this centuries-old wine region terroir has to offer. This Ruffino wine opens with a bouquet of ripe cherries and orange zest, followed by layered balsamic notes and spicy hints of sweet tobacco and vanilla.

Review:

Ripe and lively in its sensory profile, it shows notes of black plums, blackberries, sage and laurel. Juniper berries describe the secondary scene. Full body, elegant and relaxed on the palate, it closes modern and captivating. Better from 2023.

-WineCritic.com 94 Points

Sale

Sale price good on website only and wine must be shipped to your home.

Siegel Reserve Red Blend 1234 is made from 50% Syrah, 30% Carmenère, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot.

Deep ruby color. Intense aromas of black fruits, white pepper, spices and a hint of clove. The blend of four varieties gives a complex, deep wine with juicy tannins, good volume and very balanced.

Pre-fermenting cold maceration for five days, alcoholic fermentation at 26-28 C to obtain color and structure. Post fermentation maceration of two to three weeks according wine tasting and then the wine is separated from the skins. The wine ends its malolactic fermentation in tank. Harvest: by hand (30 day harvest window)

Paella, Confit de Canard (duck confit) and pastas.

Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port. 

Verite Le Desir Red is made from 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, 6% Malbec.

The 2018 Le Désir has a dark inky appearance with a violet hue that extends to the rim. The compelling characteristics of Cabernet Franc are expressed on the nose and palate with flavors of crunchy cranberry, ripe raspberry, red currant, dried sage, crushed mint, and cinnamon bark; followed by spice cake, subtle vanilla liquor, and singed toast. The persistent finish and bright acidity suggest the wine will continue to evolve in the cellar for many years to come.

Review:

The Cabernet Franc blend of the trio, the 2018 Le Desir is 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and 6% Malbec, and as with all these wines, it was brought up in new barrels. Ruby/purple and not completely opaque, it offers up a classic Cabernet Franc nose of mostly red fruits, spring flowers, damp earth, cedary spices, and truffle. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shines for its incredible elegance and purity more than outright power, yet it still brings plenty of richness. With ultra-fine tannins, perfect balance, and one heck of a great finish, it's another great, great wine from this estate. 

Jeb Dunnuck 98+ Points

W & J Graham's Vintage Port 2016 is made from 37% Touriga Nacional, 42% Touriga Franca and various others.

Like most parts of the world, the Douro has not been isolated from the effects of climate change, and unusual weather conditions over recent years have often departed from those typically associated with classic vintage years. Fortunately, in 2016 the stars aligned and the year brought superbly structured and balanced wines, allowing Graham's to announce a full vintage declaration.

The 2016 is a classic expression of the Graham's style: concentrated and opulent with layers of fresh, ripe, black fruit flavors. Aromas of mint and eucalyptus with chocolate notes. The Graham 2016 combines superb complexity, structure and balance.

Reviews:

Extremely complex aromas that show the classic Graham character of black-fruit marmalade and burnt oranges. Follows through to a full body with great grip at the finish. Lightly sweet. Chewy and powerful. Such a focus at the end.

-James Suckling 99 Points

This is lush and captivating in feel, with a velvety flow to the mix of plum, blackberry, boysenberry and açai berry compote flavors. A bold streak of licorice runs through the finish, underscored by a brambly note that imparts balance. A stunning display of fruit. Best from 2030 through 2050.

-Wine Spectator 98 Points 

Super-ripe with an expressive plum and dark chocolate aroma. Rich opulence backed by dark chocolate intensity and spicy tannic grip – big and bold on the finish. Voluptuous with fabulous richness, big and bold on the finish. This is one for the long haul but it’s already very impressive.

-Decanter 98 Points

We are delighted to offer our first Beckstoffer Georges III bottling in many years. The spectacular vineyard site with its back to the Silverado Trail is the historic site of the grand old BV masterpieces produced for most of the last century. It is as pure an expression of Napa Valley terroir as is available anywhere, from anyone. Ripe and round black fruits, spice, blueberry, and cedar, and cigar box aromas are echoed on the palate and balanced by a preternatural lift from natural acidity and a swell of earth notes. A stunning achievement.

Review:

Thick in sage brush, dried herb and earth, this wine is powerfully built and unabashedly ripe. Dark black fruit, mocha and graphite notes arise along the thick, intense palate, leading to finishing touches of slate and iron. Cellaring will help to tame the tannins; enjoy from 2028–2035.
-Cellar Selection Wine Enthusiast 94 Points

Early to bud and early to ripen, the 2014 vintage was our third drought year in a row. Dry, even temperatures marched the grapes along at a steady clip all year and created a wine with beautifully integrated fruit, acidity, and tannin.
Dense and dark magenta in color, this is a lithe and energetic vintage with lifted aromatics and a purity of fruit that lights up the medium-bodied tannin structure. The nose promises fresh black fruits, cherries and a touch of graphite, and the palate completely delivers. Juicy blackberry, plum, and bright cherry explode in the mouth, and develop into savory notes of baked black fruit and fresh pencil shavings on the mid-palate. 
Eagle Summit Vineyard’s signature eucalyptus appears on the back palate to brighten the fruit, showing fragrant peppermint and warm, toasty spices through the finish. Whether you open it young or wait a few decades, this vintage does Howell Mountain proud--sophisticated and smart, with a rustic wild side.

Cresta Velia Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Aged in 100% French oak (86% new)

• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Eagle Summit Vineyard on Howell Mountain
• Equal amounts of clone 4 and clone 7
• unfined and unfiltered

Review:

"The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet aged 20 months in 86% new French oak, with the typical suspects in terms of cooperage – Darnajou, Taransaud, and Remond. This opaque purple-colored wine has plenty of mulberry and blackcurrant fruit along with hints of blackberries, camphor and incense. The are some notes of unsmoked cigar and licorice as well. Ripe, medium to full-bodied and luscious, it is a classic to drink over the next 15 or more years. - RP"

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #228, December 2016), 90 pts

Aromatically the wine lifts from the glass with a combination of perfectly ripened red and black fruits, with a graphite smokiness and a hint of mulling spices. On the palate, their is a youthful tannic structure and a floral flavors alongside the fruity notes. 

Spicy cologne lifts from the 2021 Pinot Noir Paul Gerrie Vineyard, with both high-toned and darker notes of sage, menthol, bergamot, and cranberry cocktail. Medium to full-bodied, it’s tightly coiled, with tremendous length, gripping ripe tannins, a bright spine of acidity, and mouthwatering salinity that lasts long on the finish. It offers up great mineral texture and will need 3-5 more years in bottle.

- Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points

DuMOL Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker’s Notes:

Our 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet is a classically built wine typical of this wonderful Napa vintage: deep fruit, enveloping texture, mineral freshness and long supple structure. It’s a harmonious interweaving of four distinct vineyards that intricately balances power and finesse.

With its exceptional farming and rocky volcanic soil, Meteor Vineyard is one of the finest sites in Coombsville. Its fruit dominates the blend and ensures both intensity and delicacy, with soaring aromatics followed by succulent dark fruit. 

True Dog Knoll serves as a new focal point in this vintage, its world-renowned west Oakville deep gravel soils bringing deep texture and mineral focus. 

Layering in a small amount of Petit Verdot from our Roach Estate in St. Helena provides an element of blue fruit and refinement that balances beautifully with the darker brooding power of Ballard Vineyard’s mountaintop muscle and structure.

With its harmonious layers and textures, this wine reminds me of the 2012 Napa Valley vintage. Dark, inky and opaque, it presents aromas of plum, violets and graphite. Beautiful fruit cascades almost immediately to more savory flavors: crushed rock dustiness, cocoa and cedar. A good, firm mineral spine runs through to the long, bittersweet finish. Ever-evolving in the glass, this wine is poised now and will age beautifully over the next 10+ years.

Review:

A ripe, friendly style, with a creamy-textured core of cassis and cherry preserve flavors underscored by anise and apple wood notes that stay nicely

melded with the fruit on the finish. There’s a lingering cast iron note keeping this grounded.

-Wine Spectator 93 Points

Manoir du Carra Bistrot Beaujolais-Villages is made from 100 percent Gamay.

From Granitic and sandy soils, the Beaujolais-Villages carra Bistrot exhibits intense color, with hints of cherry and garnet, and to reveal aromas of red fruit dominated by cassis and strawberry. This Cuvée was specially made for the Parisian Bistrots willing to offer easy drinking wines, with enough body to withstand local Cuisine from the Beaujolais region.

Produced from a selection of old vines (50-70 years old). Manual harvest; selection of the best grapes using a sorting table; semi-carbonic maceration for 10-12 days. No filtration. Egg white fining.

Great with coq au vin (Chicken cooked in a red wine sauce) or charcuterie (garlic sausage, dry sausage).

REVIEW

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Snake Oil needs a little swirling to reveal emerging notes of freshly crushed blackcurrants, blackberry pie and mulberries plus suggestions of tilled soil, cedar chest and Indian spices with a touch of roses. The full-bodied palate completely coats the mouth with opulent black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, supported by velvety tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and perfumed.

-Wine Advocate 93+ Points

The 2018 Priest Ranch Snake Oil is all Cabernet Sauvignon, from a trio of hillside vineyards on the Somerston Estate. It has beautiful blueberry and plum fruits as well as notes of sappy herbs, violets, and bouquet garni. More medium-bodied, focused, and elegant, it shines for its purity, freshness, and length. It’s a classic 2018 that will have 15+ years of longevity.

-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points

Our 2018 Snake Oil was handpicked, sorted, and fermented naturally, then aged for 24 months in 75% new French oak barrels and 25% once-used French oak barrels.

HARVEST NOTES 

The early half of 2018 brought us moderate temperature allowing for a long growing season.   We had a majority of our rainfall in February followed by a mild Spring.  Then summer brought consistent temperatures with little heat spikes.  This weather allowed for longer hang time and for the fruit to ripen at a slower rate.  The 2018 harvest at our estate began in late August and resulted in exceptional quality.

Miso Tahini Bacon

St. James Winery Strawberry  is made from blackberries
11.4% Alcohol by Volume
13.4% Residual Sugar
Fresh picked strawberries never tasted this good. Our Strawberry wine, made from sweet vine ripened strawberries, is excellent served cold especially for dessert with pound cake or milk chocolate.


Select Wine Competition Awards:
2012 GOLD San Francisco Chronicle
2011 BEST OF SHOW San Diego
2011 BEST OF CLASS Pacific Rim
2011 GOLD Dallas Morning News
2011 GOLD Grand Harvest
2011 GOLD Winemaker Challenge International
2011 SILVER Monterey
2011 SILVER Florida State Fair International
2011 SILVER Los Angeles International
2011 SILVER Riverside
 

Aalto P.S. Pagos Seleccionados Tinto  is made from 100 percent Tempranillo.

Climatic conditions

The farming year began with a mild autumn and little precipitation. A very dry winter started with -9ºC reaching at the end higher temperatures than normal for that time of the year. Spring and summer characterized by little rain, only some rain showers in July and late August avoided the hydric stress of the vines. The vegetative cycle of the vine developed with big variations of temperatures, alternating warm and atypical low temperatures of 4ºC for mid-June. The ripening of the grapes happened under very good conditions and the harvest started on 24th September 2019.  

Grape origin

100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) primarily from very old vines – 60 to 90 years old – from selected plots in La Horra and La Aguilera. The harvest was done by hand, in small boxes of 15 kilos that are thoroughly inspected, bunch by bunch, on the selection table.  

Tasting notes

Review:

Color: dark cherry, Aroma: toasty, spicy, fine cocoa, black fruit, Mouth: tasty, toasty, fine bitterness, ripe tannins

Guia Penin 94 Points

It is hard to imagine with the Lithology range receiving 298 points out of 300 for the three single-vineyard wines, that there could possibly be a wine above them. But there is, and it is our Estate wine. Blended several times very intently by masters of their craft Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland, this is the ultimate expression of our house’s work. Positive, full-bodied, and quite powerful, there’s the expected crème de cassis and blackberry from St. Helena Cabernets, with mineral, herb, subtle tobacco and vanilla, plum skins, and pie crust, purple flowers, forest-conifer notes, and very fine tannic structure. It is a magnificent, and magnificently elegant expression of this house, and when asked recently, Monsieur Rolland stated plainly to me, “oh yes indeed – this is the best one, the best yet…”

Review:

Pure perfection in Cabernet, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Alejandro Bulgheroni is all varietal and comes two-thirds from Oakville with the balance from sites in St. Helena and Rutherford. Aged 20 months in 70% new French oak and put together by Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland, it has an incredibly pure, full-bodied, massive yet weightless style that I suspect couldn’t be achieved anywhere outside of Napa Valley. Cassis, blackberries, leafy herbs, lead pencil shavings, and tobacco leaf are just some of the nuances here, and it’s full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate while maintaining an ethereal, seamless, utterly perfect balance between its fruit, alcohol, tannins, and acidity. As good as it gets, it needs just 2-4 years in the cellar and will evolve gracefully for at least 20-25 years.

-Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points