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  1. Seavey Vineyards 2001 vs. 2007 Taste Off!

    Posted by Winestore about 5 hours ago

    2001 vs. 2007 Seavey Taste Off!
    Saturday May 19th, 2012
    11am - 8pm

    http://www.chelseawinevault.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/280x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/3/8/38707.jpg
    Featuring:
    2001 Seavey Merlot (Read about it from the winery by clicking HERE)
    2007 Seavey Merlot (Read about it from the winery by clicking HERE)


    Rarely are we able to pick up a large quantity of wine that has been aged, at the winery, for roughly 10 years. That being said, we recently were able to buy a giant chunk of 2001 Seavey Merlot at a killer price - and it landed just a few weeks ago. While brainstorming fun and new tasting ideas we thought "How cool would it be to taste a 2001 vintage Seavey against the exact same wine from the equally heralded 2007 vintage?" Well, after some digging we were able to get some 2007 Seavey Merlot to put right up against its 2001 counterpart.

    Many of us don't have the patience to hold onto wine for 10 years (let's be honest, most of the wine I buy is consumed within hours of purchase :) so here is a chance to see what maybe we have or have not been missing. Maybe we will love a wine with some age and complexity on it - or maybe the young stuff is right in our kill zone. There will be so many things to look for between the two wines and we are pretty pumped up to see your reaction.

    So swing on by this Saturday to taste these beauties on the machine, and don't be surprised when we have some extra treats on there for you to try as well!

    See you Saturday and Happy Tasting!

  2. Last Call!!

    Posted by Winestore 1 day ago

    One of the Rarest Pinots in the Country

    Back in October we let you know that we bought every last bottle of T. Solomon Wellborn Pinot Noir that we could get our hands on. That amounted to roughly 125 cases and that was all we were going to receive until this Fall. After that announcement, we left T. Solomon alone, letting all you die hard fans gobble it up a little here and a little there. Well, the time has come for us to tell you we are down to our last 20 cases. Yes, just 20 cases. That being said, we are going to run a special on this wine for $19.99 per bottle through this Sunday so you can grab some before it goes bye bye.

    What is the story behind the T. Solomon label? Well, as you may know, Tantara Winery has an impeccable reputation as being one of California's premier Pinot Noir producers. Its flagship wine Evelyn’s Cuvee, priced at a not so friendly $80 per bottle is cherished by Pinot Noir aficionados around the nation. After selecting the barrels that go into its single-vineyard Pinot program – Pisoni, La Colline, Rio Vista (bottlings that range in price from $40 to $70 each) -- there will be a small number left over that just don’t quite make the "cut". If there are enough of them to make a few hundred cases, winemaker Jeffrey Fink bottles them under the T. Solomon Wellborn label. Director of Sales Ernie Vandegrift, over the last four years, has allowed winestore. to be the only retailer outside of California to sell this wine (and one of only two in the USA).

    So there you have it...enjoy this last little bit of one of our absolute favorites! Hopefully we'll get some 2010 T. Solomon this Fall!!

    2008 T Solomon Wellborn Pinot Noir
    Winestore Price $24.99
    Sale Price: $19.99 (net) per bottle!
    Save 20%

    SALE runs Wednesday May 16th - Sunday May 20th


    To order yours you can:

    Order ONLINE by clicking HERE!

    Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024

    Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944

  3. Rose Extravaganza This Saturday!

    Posted by Winestore 7 days ago

    Rosé Tasting This Saturday!
    Saturday May 12, 2012
    11am - 8pm
    ALL DAY LONG!


    http://www.cowboysindians.com/content/articles/2009-07/wine/wine.jpg

    Including:
    2011 Charles and Charles Rosé

    2011 Mas Donis Rosato
    2011 Meyer Family Cellars Rosé
    2011 Puech-Haut Prestige Rosé
    2011 Puech-Haut Tete de Belier Rosé
    2011 Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir Rosé
    2011 Odisea "Cochon"
    Rosé

    Over the last several weeks the request has been loud and clear - it is now rosé season! No, not your father's rosé, or that pink stuff you drank in college (let's be honest, it wasn't pretty but we've all been there). You asked for refreshing, dry, aromatic and lovely rosé. The stuff that is going to go well at the beach, on the back porch, by the swimming pool, and with great friends. So we're opening up the floodgates this weekend for a rosé extravaganza! We'll load up our white wine machine with that magical pink elixir we all love so much.

    Rosé has been growing in popularity over the last several years as people begin to realize that these wines are not "starter wines" or the "white zinfandel" that they remember from their younger years. While we do have a few higher priced rosé wines that we love, you will find that most of the rosé we carry is around $10-$15 - perfect for everyday sipping and outdoor cookouts in the neighborhood.

    So swing on by this weekend and taste some wonderful
    rosé. We'll also have a host of great reds on the machine for those of you who are not white wine drinkers. As always, thank you for your support and enjoy all of the wine!
    Renegade winemaker Charles Smith puts a bumper sticker in every case of Charles and Charles rosé. It reads:

    http://www.creamwine.com/site_images/roseBadAss-sticker2010.jpg

  4. Killer Spanish Vale for $7.99 per bottle!

    Posted by Winestore 8 days ago

    2010 Altos de la Hoya Monastrell
    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21bpzj9vmWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

    Release Price: $12.99
    Winestore Price: $9.99
    SALE Price: $7.99 (net)

    Only 40 cases available at this price!


    Nothing wrong with loving on some crazy good wine at extremely silly prices. The Monastrell grape has, in the last four decades, become an important component of many great Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but there has been no interruption in its dominance in southern Spain for centuries. Hoya’s Monastrell is powerfully red berry flavored with black cherry and plum and a fantastic bargain. It is also fun to point out that some of the vines used in the production of this wine date back to...gulp...1872.

    It gives us pause when we occasionally think how awesome it is that a winery can harvest the grapes, ferment the juice, bottle the wine, pack it in a container, ship it across the ocean, pass it through importers, then distributors, and then it can sit on the shelf for only $8. All those guys in Napa need to get with the program!!

    To order you can:

    Order ONLINE by clicking HERE

    Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-443-2944

    Call BLAKENEY @ 704-442-4024

  5. Taste The Best From The Rhone (Even One From 1997!)

    Posted by Winestore 14 days ago

    Rhone Extravaganza!
    Friday May 4th - Sunday May 6th
    The Wines Will Be Available to Taste All Weekend Long!


    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qkf9tcgO3uY/TrVAS15b_fI/AAAAAAAAAfM/7HjxIPdnzqc/s1600/so_you_think_you_can_rhone.jpg
    http://cache.wine.com/labels/86223d.jpghttp://img.1855.com/etiquette/vin/10187515.jpghttp://www.cellartracker.com/labels/170274.jpg

    Featuring:
    1997 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
    2009 Renee Rostaing Ampodium
    2009 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Hostellerie"
    2010 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Romaine"
    2010 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages
    2005 La Peira en Damaisela
    2010 Puech Haut "Cuvee Prestige"

    2009 Domaine de la Janasse "Terre D'Argile"
    2009 Domaine Charvin "Le Poutet"


    Value is such a subjective notion. I suppose there are many such terms in wine, terms too subjective to define. Quality is another. My quality may not be your quality; my lovely, elegant wine might be your dull, boring wine. Your powerful, intense wine (I’m looking at you, Mr. Parker) might seem overwrought, over-extracted and out of balance to me.

    But none of this is pre-ordained, and none of it is universally true. I’m no relativist; there are morals that are universal, even if some cultures have believed that women’s rights are wrong. Those cultures are wrong, period. But wine isn’t the same as civil rights. It’s more like art: it’s about taste, quite literally. So we should all never be expected to think the same wines are great, and as a result, we will never all agree about the greatest wine values in the world.

    Yes, but...

    Yes, but can you really not see that the Rhone Valley has made utterly delicious wines in the last several decades, and that those wines are cheap in comparison to utterly delicious wines from other places? Perhaps you can’t. Perhaps you believe that I was sincere in maintaining above that wine is subjective.  Yes, but.

    As a judge in many different wine competitions, I believe that there is nothing objective about wine evaluation; we all find the wines we like, and those wines adhere to a personal notion about wine that is based upon unique, physical responses to flavors and aromas. We like what we like because our bodies tell us to do so. We will never all agree because our bodies are different and so we are receiving differing stimuli when we smell and taste a glass of wine.

    Yes, but. A good judge ascertains (as best he or she can) what style of wine is in front of them – in other words, I might not like this wine, but this wine wasn’t made for me to like it; it was made for someone else. So the idea is: if you’re a good judge of wine, you ask yourself what sort of wine is this supposed to be? And as an example of said wine, is it a good example?

    You do what you can: the best judges have no axe to grind, stylistically speaking. A good wine judge says things like: I don’t like oaky Chardonnays, but as oaky Chardonnays go, this is a damned good version. I can’t make any great claims to veracity in this, but I hope I am sometimes capable of that. And so when I say to you that the Rhone Valley has offered the best values in French wine for decades and that the Rhone has done so especially in this past decade, I hope you will believe me.

    Yes, but…you may say, so I beg you to taste these wines and judge for yourself. That is the merit of Winestore. (among other assets); you can often taste for yourself. In truth, you should have always done so (people like me and Parker be damned) and you should be doing it this weekend.

    Somebody loves these wines and others might disagree; it’s up to you, dammit:

    1997 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle – one of the greatest vineyards on the planet that some say is under performing right now and others argue is simply in need of more time. Hmm. I’m still buying it but I’m not sure.

    2009 Renee Rostaing Ampodium – Rostaing kicks ass, period.

    2009 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Hostellerie" – these guys make amazing Grenache based wines: they are not rustic but they are nonetheless capable of showing earth elements and a sense of history and place.

    2010 Domaine la Garrigue "Cuvee Romaine" – see above :)

    2010 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages – yes, the Perrins make successful commercial wines but since when is that a sin? And 2010 is pretty amazing as Rhone vintages go.

    2005 La Peira en Damaisela – Universal acclaim for this Languedoc producer, but think Rhone intensity and structure.

    2010 Puech Haut "Cuvee Prestige" - rocking new wine from Eric Solomon

    2009 Domaine de la Janasse "Terre D'Argile" – remarkable, focused, brilliant wine year after year

    2009 Domaine Charvin "Le Poutet" – it seems like everyone loves Charvin: guys like me, that want gentler wine, and guys with big, important names, who want big, important wine.

    Happy tasting and we hope to see you this weekend!

    Cheers,

    Doug Frost MS MW
    Master Sommelier & Master of Wine

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  1. Seavey Vineyards 2007 vs. 2001 Taste Off! - http://t.co/10ltneQq #winestore
  2. One of the Rarest Pinots in the US - http://t.co/2iFt2QI6 #winestore
  3. FREE Tasting Featuring Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs - http://t.co/kX2TZnRt
  4. Rosé Extravaganza This Saturday! - http://t.co/VLkr1GVn #winestore #rose #sinskey #puechhaut #charlesandcharles #masdonis
  5. Killer Spanish Value for $7.99 per bottle! - http://t.co/YDXbjtsL #winestore
  6. FREE Tasting Featuring Trefethen Harmony Chardonnay - http://t.co/kOe0qqa6
  7. Taste The Best From The Rhone (Even One From 1997!) - http://t.co/54A7BOUV #winestore
  8. @calljanettv Janet - it is pretty epic wine!! Glad you enjoyed it!!
  9. Tutored Tasting Featuring Tantara Winery - http://t.co/mMgdVFXz
  10. Taste Napa Merlot that is 55% off for FREE! - http://t.co/gDdB5s61 #winestore