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Double Ripasse
Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre are happy bedfellows from anywhere, and the Vellas family has sites throughout Mediterranean France that allow balance as well as intensity to be achieved. But the curiouser element to this wine is the name. My French is pretty damned elementary and “double ripasse” doesn't appear on any of the slang sites I can find. In wine terms, ripasse is to press or to squeeze, and that typically means someone has made wine from grapes but held onto the skins. Then they dump fresh must onto to those once-squeezed skins, using the new juice to soak more flavor (and often tannin and earthiness) from the skins. But then there is the picture on the label and the Vellas propensity to pun – they’ve a lot of those up their sleeves. So if you know why “double ripasse” somehow translates to burning money, please let us know. Until then, enjoy the rich, earthy character and texture.
Type, Body & Flavor
Escorlada
Spanish wine is a bargain, right? It’s been that way for decades, though it’s only been in the last ten or fifteen years that the wider world has dropped some in their gullets and said, wait, this costs how much? Certainly, less than it should. It doesn't take geniuses to notice it, so we’re not making any claims to our own brilliance. In the case of this Garnacha Tintorera, we’re pretty sure we’ve found what may be the best sub $20 wine we have ever tasted. Spain has done it again!
Type, Body & Flavor
Highland Falls
"Mountain-grown, it’s the richest kind,” as coffee commercials used to say, but it’s also true of Cabernet. Foley Family's pedigree doesn’t hurt either: the guys who bring you Merus, Chalone and Chalk Hill Wines are behind the powerhouse Highland Falls lineup too.
Type, Body & Flavor
Kingstree Cabernet
This is a tasty little gem unearthed by the pros at Banshee Wines. Banshee, started by three guys who just happened to like wine and wanted an excuse to be out west, hasn't been around long but they sure have kicked off righteously during their short career. They’ve always been focused upon cooler climate sites, especially with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and at the prices they offer their wines, it’s no surprise that things have gone swimmingly well.
Type, Body & Flavor
Kingstree Proprietary Red
I'll be honest. Wines of this quality at this price are few and far between as vintners continue to try and stretch their prices further and further. It's a big and bold red from your friends at Pavilion...these guys know what they are doing!
Type, Body & Flavor
La Clef du Recit Menetou Salon
While the estate has been around for decades, Le Clef du Recit is newly helmed by Anthony Girard, whose family are well-known as Loire Valley vintners. His brother runs the family biz and young Anthony had a chance to buy some sweet, sweet soil. What is sweet soil in Sancerre? Think Terres Blanches, meaning white earth, or a lot of fractured limestone. The fancy wine people call it Kimmeridgian marl, which maybe you’ve heard about. If not, no worries. It’s near the town of Récy, so the “key” (clef) to the “story” (Récit) is that the land and exposure are ideal for unlocking the character of nervy, mineral laden Sauvignon Blanc, happy to be in such a special place.
Type, Body & Flavor
La Petite Gargotte
The Comte Tolosan region encompasses famed wine regions: Jurancon, Cahors and Armagnac. Typically, the white wines are based upon neutral grapes like Ugni Blanc, Colombard, and Folle Blanche, or more aromatic grapes like Petit Manseng or Gros Manseng. While few of these grapes have distinctive personalities, if you put them into a harmonious blend, they can be pretty charming.
Type, Body & Flavor
Larme en Rose
If you stick around the wine business long enough, you’ll have seen it all. Where once wine coolers were cooler than Liebfraumilch, now hard seltzer is hot (served cold). White Zin was once de rigeur, though it was never French; it was from the good ol’ US of A. But then that became too sweet and the category died. Or seemed to. Because then rosé rose up like a zombie eager for fresh meat, though the current iteration of the pink stuff is more often French than not. Provence is the epicenter of it and the French have figured out how we like it: dry, pale pink, light and refreshing.
Type, Body & Flavor
Le Cabas Sauvignon Blanc
Gascony ain't just the Three Muskateers, though they have a place in our hearts as well. More than anything, Gascony is foie gras, delicious plums and apricots, rich dinners with Armagnac to follow. But the white grapes grown here are not just for great brandy, they have always been consumed as wine too and the last decade or so has seen an embrace of clean, cold winemaking to preserve the aromas of otherwise neutral grapes like Ugni Blanc or Folle Blanche. It's also seen new plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, a grape that requires no heroic measures to reveal its aromatic riches. Whats fun here is that these same winemaking methods generate something bright and vibrant but without much resemblance to other such Sauvignon Blancs (I'm looking at you, New Zealand), many of which have begun to seem like self-caricature. This one is comfortably itself, needing only an ice bucket and a big glass.
Type, Body & Flavor
Mas de Corasado
A blend of Cabernet, Grenache, Syrah, Monastrell and Carignan, this wine is aged for 18 months in French Oak barrels and then bottled in what may be the heaviest piece of glass in all of winedom :)
Type, Body & Flavor
Double Ripasse
Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre are happy bedfellows from anywhere, and the Vellas family has sites throughout Mediterranean France that allow balance as well as intensity to be achieved. But the curiouser element to this wine is the name. My French is pretty damned elementary and “double ripasse” doesn't appear on any of the slang sites I can find. In wine terms, ripasse is to press or to squeeze, and that typically means someone has made wine from grapes but held onto the skins. Then they dump fresh must onto to those once-squeezed skins, using the new juice to soak more flavor (and often tannin and earthiness) from the skins. But then there is the picture on the label and the Vellas propensity to pun – they’ve a lot of those up their sleeves. So if you know why “double ripasse” somehow translates to burning money, please let us know. Until then, enjoy the rich, earthy character and texture.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Escorlada
Spanish wine is a bargain, right? It’s been that way for decades, though it’s only been in the last ten or fifteen years that the wider world has dropped some in their gullets and said, wait, this costs how much? Certainly, less than it should. It doesn't take geniuses to notice it, so we’re not making any claims to our own brilliance. In the case of this Garnacha Tintorera, we’re pretty sure we’ve found what may be the best sub $20 wine we have ever tasted. Spain has done it again!
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Highland Falls
"Mountain-grown, it’s the richest kind,” as coffee commercials used to say, but it’s also true of Cabernet. Foley Family's pedigree doesn’t hurt either: the guys who bring you Merus, Chalone and Chalk Hill Wines are behind the powerhouse Highland Falls lineup too.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Kingstree Cabernet
This is a tasty little gem unearthed by the pros at Banshee Wines. Banshee, started by three guys who just happened to like wine and wanted an excuse to be out west, hasn't been around long but they sure have kicked off righteously during their short career. They’ve always been focused upon cooler climate sites, especially with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and at the prices they offer their wines, it’s no surprise that things have gone swimmingly well.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Kingstree Proprietary Red
I'll be honest. Wines of this quality at this price are few and far between as vintners continue to try and stretch their prices further and further. It's a big and bold red from your friends at Pavilion...these guys know what they are doing!
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
La Clef du Recit Menetou Salon
While the estate has been around for decades, Le Clef du Recit is newly helmed by Anthony Girard, whose family are well-known as Loire Valley vintners. His brother runs the family biz and young Anthony had a chance to buy some sweet, sweet soil. What is sweet soil in Sancerre? Think Terres Blanches, meaning white earth, or a lot of fractured limestone. The fancy wine people call it Kimmeridgian marl, which maybe you’ve heard about. If not, no worries. It’s near the town of Récy, so the “key” (clef) to the “story” (Récit) is that the land and exposure are ideal for unlocking the character of nervy, mineral laden Sauvignon Blanc, happy to be in such a special place.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
La Petite Gargotte
The Comte Tolosan region encompasses famed wine regions: Jurancon, Cahors and Armagnac. Typically, the white wines are based upon neutral grapes like Ugni Blanc, Colombard, and Folle Blanche, or more aromatic grapes like Petit Manseng or Gros Manseng. While few of these grapes have distinctive personalities, if you put them into a harmonious blend, they can be pretty charming.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Larme en Rose
If you stick around the wine business long enough, you’ll have seen it all. Where once wine coolers were cooler than Liebfraumilch, now hard seltzer is hot (served cold). White Zin was once de rigeur, though it was never French; it was from the good ol’ US of A. But then that became too sweet and the category died. Or seemed to. Because then rosé rose up like a zombie eager for fresh meat, though the current iteration of the pink stuff is more often French than not. Provence is the epicenter of it and the French have figured out how we like it: dry, pale pink, light and refreshing.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Le Cabas Sauvignon Blanc
Gascony ain't just the Three Muskateers, though they have a place in our hearts as well. More than anything, Gascony is foie gras, delicious plums and apricots, rich dinners with Armagnac to follow. But the white grapes grown here are not just for great brandy, they have always been consumed as wine too and the last decade or so has seen an embrace of clean, cold winemaking to preserve the aromas of otherwise neutral grapes like Ugni Blanc or Folle Blanche. It's also seen new plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, a grape that requires no heroic measures to reveal its aromatic riches. Whats fun here is that these same winemaking methods generate something bright and vibrant but without much resemblance to other such Sauvignon Blancs (I'm looking at you, New Zealand), many of which have begun to seem like self-caricature. This one is comfortably itself, needing only an ice bucket and a big glass.
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions
Mas de Corasado
A blend of Cabernet, Grenache, Syrah, Monastrell and Carignan, this wine is aged for 18 months in French Oak barrels and then bottled in what may be the heaviest piece of glass in all of winedom :)
Type, Body & Flavor
Pairings & Occasions