Winebuys Guy Blog

Naia Rueda Verdejo 2006 - A Spanish White That Over-delivers!!

We used to go ga-ga over Sauvignon Blanc (and don’t get us wrong, we STILL indulge in a good glass or two whenever the opportunity arises), but lately, we’ve been smitten with a dry Spanish white that takes things to a whole ‘nother level. Verdejo is the traditional wine grape grown on the left bank of the Duero River in the Rueda region northwest of Madrid since the Middle Ages. It exhibits much the same kind of citrus character as does Sauvignon, yet with a distinctive personality all its own. (Interestingly, many Ruedas, such as Las Brisas, the delightful little sister of our featured wine here, are actually blends of Verdejo, Sauvignon and other white grapes. For a more in-depth report on Verdejo and Rueda, see Eric Asimov’s March 5^th New York Times article, Emerging, in Spain, to Warm Applause.)

The current Winebuy of the Week has been our go-to everyday white for a few years now, and for good reason. It’s consistently delicious and it’s very hard to beat for the money.

Naia Rueda Verdejo 2006 750 ml, 13% alc., $10.98: Medium straw in color, this gives a big hit of citrus right up front, with lots of grapefruit and lime, along with some kiwi and green apple to round things out, and good minerality to provide a solid anchor.  Showing excellent concentration and intensity, with racy acidity to keep everything moving right along through the nice long finish, this little lovely delivers far more than one has any right to expect for so few dollars. For food pairings, think seafood or grilled chicken, but it also serves admirably as a warm weather sipper on the back deck. Another glass, please!

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

 

Super Buy in Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc

One of the advantages to reading this blog is that on occasions such as this, I intend to “spill the beans” (or grapes, as it were) regarding upcoming Winebuy of the Week specials.  Even though we won’t post our latest selection until Wednesday, we already have this terrific buy in white Chateauneuf du Pape listed in our inventory, as one sharp-eyed customer who just ordered up a case has already noticed.

Domaine Berthet-Rayne is located right next to the famous Chateau de Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape, the most prestigious appellation in the southern Rhone valley.  I’ve had the good fortune to meet and taste their wines with Dany and Christian Berthet-Rayne, and I’m an unabashed fan of everything they make, so when their local importer-distributor brought by a sample of their 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc and told me that it was deeply discounted for closeout, I had no doubt as to my course of action.  You simply don’t find wine of this quality for this kind of money very often, so I jumped on it, both for my cellar and for yours, dear reader.  Here are my impressions of this delicious libation:

Domaine Berthet-Rayne Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc 2005, 35% Clairette, 35% Bourboulenc, 20% Grenache Blanc, 10% Roussanne, 14.5% alc., $19.97: Pale to medium straw in color, with flavors and aromas of pungent white stone fruit, lanolin and mineral.  Thick and viscous, yet finely balanced, with enough acidity to keep everything moving right along through the lingering finish.  Drink it now with fish, scallops and hors d’ oeuvres, or lay it down for three to five years of further development.

Get it while it’s here, because it’s not likely to be around for long!

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

Wine, Headaches, Sulfites & Histamines

For some years now, I’ve been fielding questions from folks who tell me that they get headaches from drinking wine and want to know what causes them. Many people are convinced that the main culprit is sulfites, which are added to wines to stabilize them for extended shelf life. I have pointed out to some of these people that their problems might be just as likely caused by histamines, and in fact, I’ve just read a most interesting blog on just this subject by Jason Haas, General Manager of one of my favorite California wineries, Tablas Creek Vineyards. It’s one of the most incisive reports on this misunderstood issue that I’ve read, but rather than summarize here, I’d suggest that interested readers go directly to Jason’s Tablas Creek Vineyards Blog, this particular entry entitled “Sulfites in Wine - What's Causing my Headache?"

PS: If you’ve never tried any of Tablas Creek’s wines, you owe it to do so, they’re terrific!

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

Recent Samples

Now that the holiday madness is past us, we’ve had a chance to spend some time with our distributor reps to see what’s new and exciting. Here are some of the things we’ve sampled lately that have caught our attention.  As you might expect, these are all available from Winebuys.

2005 Paso Creek Merlot Paso Robles, 13.8% alc., $14.40: Attractive garnet color, with equally attractive flavors and aromas of red plum, berry and cherry, all kissed with just enough sweet oak. Rich, not quite fat, almost sweet, certainly ripe and altogether enjoyable; if it were any riper, sweeter or oakier, I wouldn’t like it, but it balances these elements very well. Works well both with food and all by its lonesome, and offers excellent value for what’s in the bottle.

2003 Corte alla Flora Vino Nobile de Montepulciano Riserva, 13.5% alc., $23.90: Deep, dark color, with flavors and aromas of rich dried cherry and black cherry shaded with some animal and “sticksy” elements; zippy acidity and solid tannic structure. This opens so nicely with just a little air, and cries out for a fine cut of veal or lamb. Most impressive and enjoyable, and a solid value for the price.

2003 Juve y Camps Brut Nature Cava Reserva de le Familia, 40% Macabeo, 40% Parellada, 20% Xarel-lo, 12% alc., $13.80: Medium straw color; chalky, stony minerality dominates the character of this Cava, with some smoky, under-ripe apple being the only “fruit” component, and that’s a good thing in this case. Bone dry to the point of being austere, with good presence, zippy acidity and a wealth of tiny Don Ho-like bubbles in the mouth. An excellent Spanish sparkler that drinks even better than its price point might lead one to expect.

2006 Torres Vina Esmeralda Catalunya, 85% Moscato, 15% Gewurztraminer, 11.5% alc., 14.04: Medium straw color with a tinge of gold; dry, yet fruit forward with slightly chalky white peach and yellow apple shaded with some mineral and just a hint of litchi. Has a bit of the viscosity of good gewurz, with good presence, depth and acids; it’s fresh, refreshing, light (but not too light) and lively, and it not only makes a great match for seafood, but also serves admirably as a warm weather quaffer.

2006 Almira Grenache/Syrah Los Dos Campo de Borja, 93% Grenache (35-50 year old vines), 7% Syrah, 14% alc., $6.88: We quite enjoyed the previous vintage of this QPR All Star, and the current model is just as good as the last. It sports an attractive ruby red robe, with rich berry, cherry and dark chocolate flavors and aromas underscored with a subtle earthiness. It shows good structure, depth and balance, and the fruit gives you everything it has without any oak influence whatsoever. The perfect choice for an inexpensive everyday red.

2003 Chateau Pierredon Bordeaux Superieur, 13% alc., $9.60: Good dark color, with dark chocolate and cassis on the nose and flavors that echo with some added old wood. Drinks well now with some air, but the sturdy structure wants some time in the cellar, so patience will be rewarded. We liked this well enough to pick up a case for the house.

2004 Cave Bel-Air Bordeaux Superieur, $10.80: Good color, with flavors and aromas of cassis, black currant, old wood and a note of toasted bread. Well structured; all in all, a solid, straightforward everyday Bordeaux that's good now and will be better in a few years.

2005 Chateau Lavison Bordeaux, 12.5% alc., $9.90: Rich dark color, with cassis and lead pencil on the nose, which echoes and expands on the palate with a decidedly dry, almost austere personality; perhaps surprisingly, a note of decaying vegetation doesn’t detract. Good structure and presence, with promise for development and improvement over the next five years and beyond; good value and a good food wine.

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

Gamay and Morgon

If there were ever a Rodney Dangerfield of a grape out there that “don’t get no respect,” it would have to be Gamay, and for good reason, I suppose.  A red wine grape, it doesn’t produce big, long lived wines that score huge numbers and win awards, and although grown in various far-flung regions around the world, in only one of those is it the preeminent variety by which the appellation is known, and that is Beaujolais.

Beaujolais is a satellite region in the southern part of Burgundy, France, and Gamay is a member of the same family as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the red and white Burgundian stalwarts.  Most Gamay is light, fruity and innocuous, perhaps best exemplified by that party-in-a-bottle released every third Thursday of November, Beaujolais Nouveau, as well as oceans of ever-present lightweight Beaujolais Villages.  Not all Beaujolais is created equal however, as there are 10 sub-appellations, or Crus, that produce more serious wines of various weights and strengths.  One of those that produce some of the biggest and most substantial wines is Morgon, whose Gamays can sometimes resemble Pinot Noir and perform similarly when paired with food.

I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy two very nice Morgons recently, both of which are imported by noted Wine Merchant Kermit Lynch.  Lynch has a small stable of Morgon producers whom he playfully refers to as his “Gang of Four;” whether a reference to the Chinese Cultural revolutionaries or the ‘70s-‘80s post-punk rockers, I cannot say.  Two of the four are Guy Breton and J-P Thevenet, and their 2005 efforts are both excellent and rather different from each other.

2005 Guy Breton Morgon Vieilles Vignes, 13% alc., $25.52: Ruby red, almost light enough to read through, with an earthy red currant and cherry nose shaded with a hint of red licorice; the pretty, almost perfumed flavors echo and expand on the promise of the aromatics on a medium to medium full bodied frame. Deceptively well structured for at least three to five years of development and improvement; silky textured, almost delicate and exotic in character, unlike any Cru Beaujolais we’ve had before and quite different from Breton’s earthy 2002 Morgon.
 

2005 J-P Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes, 13% alc., $26.34: Ruby red, with a smoky tinge; very Gamay in character, with attractive earthy cherry and cranberry flavors and aromas and just a hint of the barnyard on the nose. Medium to medium full bodied, with fine balance, silky tannins and good acids. I’m not sure I’d want to age this more than a few years, because it’s pretty much right there right now.   

If you’ve never had Gamay, or better yet, Cru Beaujolais, these two would make great starting points, but don’t wait too long.  As of this writing, there are 6 bottles of the Thevenet and a little over a case of the Breton still in stock, and there’s no more at the distributor, so it is what it is.

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

QPR All Star – Capcanes Mas Donis Barrica 2004

I’ve always made it a point to search out the best QPR (quality-price-ratio) wines I can find, both for my customers and for my own personal consumption, and frankly, they continue to become fewer and more far between in availability.  It seems as though prices continue to rise without a corresponding increase in quality, and so one has to be ever vigilant in locating those special bargains that offer exceptional value for relatively few dollars.  Tonight, I had the pleasure to enjoy one of the finest bargains I’ve run into in a long time, and in truth, I’m probably a little late picking up on it, but better late than never, as the old cliché goes. 

Celler de Capcanes Mas Donis Barrica 2004 is from the Eric Solomon/European Cellars stable of Spanish wines, and is, quite simply, brilliant for only $10.37 per bottle.  It offers deep, dark color and rich, ripe (but not over-ripe) plum and cherry flavors and aromas, with solid depth and a soft, smooth, almost opulent texture in the mouth.  Happily, this is not a manipulated mess (what some people would refer to as “spoofalated”) like more than a few of the highly rated reds coming out of Spain these days, and you might want to pick up a few bottles or even a case of this before I do, because it’s going to be our house red for at least the next month or so.  It pairs very nicely indeed with grilled/smoked leg o’ lamb.   

I just can't say enough about this little beauty, but if you need a second opinion, here’s what the Wine Advocate’s Jay Miller had to say about it last February:

Celler de Capcanes Mas Donis Barrica 2004, 750 ml: 90 Pts., Jay Miller/Wine Advocate. The 2004 Mas Donis Barrica is 85% Garnacha from 80+-year-old vines and 15% Syrah aged for 8 months in French and American oak. Opaque purple, it has a wonderfully expressive nose of spice box, pencil lead, pepper, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate the wine is full-bodied with layers of ripe, spicy black fruits, nicely concealed tannins, and a long, pure finish. It is an outstanding value for drinking now and over the next 4-6 years.

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

4 From Joseph Swan Vineyards

Joseph Swan Vineyards is one of the legendary wineries of California, and Joe Swan was one of the pioneers of great Left Coast Pinot Noir (which he grew and made in arguably the finest region in the state for that variety, the Russian River Valley).  Although Mr. Swan is no longer with us (he passed away in 1989), his daughter and son-in-law Lynn and Rod Berglund carry on his tradition most admirably. (You can read more about Joseph Swan’s history here.) These are wines that are made to age gracefully and enjoy with food, rather than win tastings and garner 90+ point ratings. That’s not to say that they aren’t worthy of high ratings, it’s just not their intent. We’ve enjoyed some of these in the past, and when I sampled the first two of the following four at a recent tasting, I was so impressed, I just had to get my hands on more to get to know them better, and I’m glad that I did.  We carry all four of these at Winebuys.com, and I’d rather drink them than many wines that cost two or three times as much.  Here’s why.

2005 Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Trenton View Vineyard, $36.60: Slightly murky smoky garnet in color, with an earthy cherry and mushroom nose; the rich flavors echo and expand, showing some added forest floor and rhubarb over a ripe core of fruit. Medium full bodied, with silky tannins and balanced acidity, and while obviously youthful, with its best days well ahead of it, it is already drinking pretty well, especially with a Thanksgiving turkey roulade. This wine takes me back to those Pinot Noirs that first captured my imagination back in the early ‘90s (Kalin Cellars sticks out in my mind for good reason), with their mushroom-like character, and if ever a Left Coast specimen could be described as “Burgundian,” this would have to be a prime candidate.    

2005 Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Cuvee de Trois, $30.50: Ruby red color, not too dark, not too light; fragrant perfume of smoky black cherry and plum shaded with a bit of cola. All of which echoes and expands on the palate with a certain spicy character and a hint of rhubarb.  Medium to medium full bodied, with nice length, a silky texture and adequate structure for at least three years of further development, and just as likely five.  This has a slight green streak that in another wine might detract, but in this case, adds to the complexity, especially as it opens with air.  Very nice indeed.

2001 Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Zinfandel Mancini Ranch, $23.18: Ruby red in color, with a dust red raspberry and cherry nose; these impressions follow through on the palate with a pretty core of rich fruit laced with a subtle undertone of earthy mushroom, not unlike the ’05 Swan Trenton View Pinot Noir. Full bodied without excessive weight or extraction, this is graced with balanced tannins and acids and nice length on the finish, making for a distinctive Zinfandel made much more in the style of the ‘70s and ‘80s than those of the steroidal ‘90s and beyond, and that’s a plus in my book.

2001 Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Zinfandel Frati Ranch, $27.38: Clean dark color, with rich raspberry and cranberry flavors and aromas; like the ’01 Mancini, this has a slightly Pinot Noir-ish quality to it, but this time, it owes that to the cranberry-like element rather than any mushroom-y quality.  This is pure Zinfandel, with no frills or pretensions; it features fine balance and structure and it’s hitting on all cylinders right now.  Just one more example of why we love these wines.

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

The State of Wine – Michigan

There was a time not so many years ago when the mere mention of Michigan as a legitimate wine-producing region elicited little more than raised eyebrows and derisive snickers.  Back then, it was common to describe our better wines as being “pretty good,” with the qualification “for Michigan.”  Happily, those days continue to recede into the past, as the state of wine in the Winter Water Wonderland continues to improve dramatically and more and more of the wines can be characterized as being delicious on their own merit, and without reference to or apologies for their place of origin.  And perhaps no other Michigan winery better exemplifies this than Chateau Grand Traverse. 

Chateau Grand Traverse (CGT) is a family-run winery, founded in 1974 by CEO Edward O’Keefe, Sr..  These days, his two sons are his chief aides; Edward O’Keefe III serves as President and head of Marketing and Sales, while Sean O’Keefe is Vice President and Specialty Winemaker (at right).  These are heady times at CGT; we’ve long been fans of their wines, which have ranged from good to very good to excellent, and many selections from their 2006 vintage not only surpass most of what we’ve tasted to date, they’ve been turning heads all around the county, and indeed, the world. Consider the following:   

At last year’s 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, four of their wines took Gold Medals; two more took Silver, one a Bronze, and one was given a Platinum Award for Best of Class. They have received numerous medals at other competitions around the country as well, but Los Angeles was the most significant, because it gained CGT entry into the southern California market, a major coup for the first Michigan winery to achieve such placement. Ralph’s supermarkets feature Gold Medal winners from this particular competition throughout its chain, and as a result of their showing, CGT sold 720 cases for distribution in 130 Ralph’s stores in the LA area, with an eye towards future placement in the San Francisco Bay area as well.

And as if that weren’t enough to make everyone at CGT giddy with delight, there was the inaugural Riesling Rendezvous, held at Chateau St. Michelle in Woodinville, Washington on June 24-26 under the joint sponsorship of that winery and Dr. Loosen, one of the foremost Riesling producers in Germany. Conceived as “an event to bring together leading Riesling experts and producers to explore the versatility of Rieslings from around the world,” more than a few eyes were raised in surprise by the Chateau Grand Traverse selections being poured, as recorded in the following testimonials:

“Categories aside, there were some wonderful Rieslings on display (220 of them, to be exact), and some were from surprising places. Chateau Grand Traverse in Michigan, for example, is making terrific Rieslings in a variety of styles." - Laurie Daniel, San Jose Mercury News

“Perhaps the biggest discovery at the conference for most attendees was the excellence of the Michigan wines - and that Chateau Grand Traverse produces about 65,000 cases.” - Paul Franson, Wines & Vines

Riesling is King at CGT, but it’s not the only thing that they produce.  Here are my impressions of five of their best wines currently available:

Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling 2006, $13.34: This wine is hugely popular in the Michigan marketplace, and CGT produces over 10,000 cases a year, but despite being released in the spring, it's an even bet that there won't be much around by Christmas. Medium straw in color, it offers apple, peach and apricot flavors and aromas with Spatlese levels of sweetness and enough minerality to add another dimension and propel it well beyond being just another simple sweet white from northern Michigan. Rich, round and crisp, with good acids and length, this certainly serves well as an after-dinner sipper, but it is also a wine to pair with some spicy Thai or Indian cuisine, or perhaps even better, some fresh pan fried northern Michigan trout. A Winebuys.com staff favorite!
Gold Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Gold Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Chateau Grand Traverse Semi-Dry Riesling 2006, $10.25: Medium straw color with a tinge of lemon; modest perfumed apple and peach aromatics echo and expand dramatically on the palate with undertones of lime, pine and some nice minerality. Medium bodied and then some, slightly oily in texture, with good acids and length; rich, delicious fruit with Kabinett levels of sweetness. All in all, a very enjoyable Riesling.
Silver Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Bronze Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Chateau Grand Traverse Dry Riesling 2006, $10.25: Medium straw in color, with some subtle floral and lime nuances that adorn the green apple aromatics, and as this opens and warms in the glass, an unmistakable note of lanolin emerges; these impressions all follow through nicely on the palate, underscored with good minerality and driven along by excellent acidity on a medium to medium-full bodied frame. The lanolin, usually an attribute more associated with white Rhones, doesn't exactly dominate the personality of the wine, but it does set a tone and adds a distinctive characteristic. One of the three best dry Rieslings from Michigan that we've had to date, and an excellent QPR (Quality Price Ratio) value.
Gold Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Bronze Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Chateau Grand Traverse Ship of Fools 2006, $13.87: 40% Pinot Blanc, 35% Pinot Gris, 25% Chardonnay. One of Sean O'Keefe's specialty wines, sporting an individualized label with a humorous etching, this whole cluster pressed medium straw offers tart green apple and grapefruit flavors and aromas underscored with a nice chalky minerality and subtle herbal undertones; medium to medium-full bodied, bone dry and yet rich at the same time, with excellent intensity, and good acidity and length on the finish.

Chateau Grand Traverse Pinot Noir Reserve 2004, $12.31: An even lighter ruby garnet color than the Limited Bottling Gamay, with a fragrant cherry, berry and plum personality; medium bodied, rich and round. Pretty nice stuff; saw all French oak, about 20% new, 20% 1st year, 20% 2nd year, 20% 3rd year and 20% 4th year.  About this one, CGT Specialty Winemaker Sean O'Keefe explained, "We've been moving to older oak; we used to do all new oak and it just couldn't handle it."

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

In Praise of Ridge Geyserville

My wife Kim and I have been devotees of Ridge Geyserville for over two decades now, and you have to admit, there’s something to say for one of the truly great wines of California that still sells for under $40 while so many others have escalated dramatically in price well beyond that.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the “Geezer” isn’t a Cabernet, Merlot, Meritage or Pinot Noir, but rather a Zinfandel based red.  Or maybe not; after all, there are Zins out there that sell for $50, $75 and more, so maybe it’s more about Ridge CEO/Winemaker Extraordinaire Paul Draper and his staff taking the same balanced approach to pricing their wines as they do with making them.

Geyserville is delicious upon release, but unlike many Zins and Zin blends, its true strength lies in its ageability.  They are referred to as field blends; often, but not always, they could legally be labeled as Zinfandel, comprising 75% or more in their makeup, with lesser, varying amounts of Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante and Mataro, the inclusion of which is usually credited for giving the wines their firm backbone for long term aging.  Back in 2002, Kim and I had the tremendous good fortune to take part in a tasting of these going back to the 1976 vintage (the very year that I tried my first Zin, and the 11th bottling of Ridge Geyserville), and if some weren’t quite as good as others, there wasn’t a dog in the bunch, and many were brilliant.  The rule of thumb is usually to give them about 10 years from the vintage date to really show what they’re made of.  Often, they take on a smooth, claret-like character reminiscent of mature Bordeaux, although, I must admit that the lovely 1997 Geyserville is still showing plenty of that rich, spicy black raspberry character that could only come from a Zin-based wine, while fully integrating the more overt American oak qualities that I found a bit awkward in its mid-term.  This is a great wine that still has a fascinating evolution ahead of it.

We have a term to describe the bouquet that a glass of Geyserville, or indeed just about any Ridge wine exudes, including their terrific-but-mostly-under-the-radar Chardonnays, (at least until the recent Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2007 beauty pageant awarded the Ridge Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz Mountain Estate 2005 the BIG #2), and that is “Draper perfume.”  It refers to a consistent charm and style statement that has been a constant since Paul Draper began to put his stamp on these wines in the early ‘70s.  You have to experience it to get an idea of what I’m talking about, if you haven’t already, and I mention it here because of the 2005 Ridge Geyserville 40th Anniversary Vintage now available at a very nice price from Winebuys.    

2005 Ridge Geyserville Sonoma, 77% Zinfandel, 17% Carignane, 6% Petite Sirah, 14.6% alc., $27.50: Good color, if not quite as dark as Geyserville always is, with a mélange of Draper perfume, including briar-bramble, raspberry and cherry graced with a pretty kiss of oak on the expressive nose. The flavors echo and expand with a solid core of typically ripe fruit; this is full-bodied, yet sleek, and deceptively structured with silky tannins and good acids. Not the biggest Geyserville, but it’s certainly a very fine one, and Kim agrees, describing it as “eminently drinkable” and “very cherry.” (I‘ve never had a wine that she characterized as eminently drinkable that I didn’t love.) As one might expect, it gets better with a few hours of air, and a few years in the cellar should do this 40th Anniversary edition even better.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the ’97 I mentioned above, here are my brief impressions of that one from earlier this month:

1997 Ridge Geyserville; 74 % Zinfandel, 15 % Carignane, 10 % Petite Sirah, 1 % Mataro, 14.9% alc.: Still showing good dark color, this 10-year old blend has once and for all shed the excess oak that beset it during its early years, now offering the obligatory Draper perfume over delicious raspberry and mulberry. There’s still a rich core of fruit here, with no secondary characteristics as of yet; a wine of great balance and drinking beautifully right now.  Great Geyserville!

Cheers,

The Winebuys Guy

Holiday Champagnes

The holiday season is the time for celebration, and no libation in the world says celebration like Champagne.  Some of us can and do drink bubbly on a regular basis, but for most, sparkling wines are reserved for such festivities as holidays, weddings and large format flotation christenings.

While there are many, many fine Champagnes out there that serve admirably on such occasions, quite often, the average consumer opts for what I like to refer to as “the usual suspects,” with names like Veuve Clicquot and Moet & Chandon, and that’s fine, as these are established names of long standing and admirable character.  Still, I take great (and perhaps slightly perverse) pleasure in recommending alternative selections from lesser-known producers that offer considerably higher quality for the same price, if not even less.  I take even greater delight when a customer lets me know how well they enjoyed my recommendations, and Winebuys.com is currently offering selections from two such outstanding Champagne houses that offer brilliant QPR (quality-price ratio) for very reasonable prices.

One of the selling points used to promote the wines of J. M. Gobillard et Fils is that their vineyards are located primarily in Hautvillers, France, home of Dom Pérignon, and in fact they are the only Champagne house besides the more famous (not to mention much more expensive) Moët & Chandon to include that prestigious name on their labels. That’s all well and good, but it wouldn’t mean much if the wines weren’t of high quality, and happily, they are very tasty indeed.

Champagne Gobillard Brut Rosé NV 750 ml, $41.48: 1/3 Pinot Noir, 1/3 Pinot Meunier, 1/3 Chardonnay, Dosage: 8 g/l, Aged for 3 years in cellar, 12% alc. Peachy pink in color, with an explosion of bubbles when poured, leading into a fine, very active bead; big, rich and utterly dry, with earthy cherry flavors and aromas laced with undertones of minerality.  With good weight, racy acidity and very good length on the finish, this is a pleasure to drink and it gets even better as it opens with air.  A Winebuys staff favorite!

Champagne Gobillard Brut Tradition NV 750 ml, $36.60: 1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Noir, 1/3 Pinot Meunier; Dosage: 8-9 g/l. Aged for at least 2 years in cellar, 12% alc. Medium straw color, and like the rosé, explodes with bubbles when poured, leading into a fine, very active bead; big and crisp, with tart apple and grapefruit-citrus flavors and aromas, good minerality underneath and a distinct lack of the kind of yeasty bread dough characteristics found in many a Champagne, which is by no means a detraction.  Intense in flavor, with excellent acids and length, this provides an eminently satisfying drinking experience, made all the more pleasurable when the price is considered.  A Winebuys staff favorite!

Inspired not only by Brad Baker’s excellent narrative of his visit to the Champagne house Philipponnat last summer, but also some excellent closeout prices from their local distributor, I took the opportunity to bring in the two non-vintage offerings from this producer and I can’t say enough about them, or these great prices.

Champagne Philipponnat Royale Reserve Brut NV, $29.28: 30% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier; Dosage 8 g/L, 12% alc. Pale gold in color, with an impressive mousse, active bead and racy acidity, this offers rich and intense flinty tart green apple and quince flavors and aromas shaded with yeasty undertones and a subtle nutty note. With good weight and length, there’s a lot to like here, and like it I do, especially as it opens and improves with air. A great value while it lasts.  24 bottles in house for immediate shipment.

Champagne Philipponnat Royale Reserve Rosée Brut NV, $30.50: 35% Chardonnay, 55% Pinot Noir; 10% Pinot Meunier, 12% alc. Salmon pink color, with an impressive mousse and active bead; rich and intense in the mouth, with earthy minerality over tart red apple and subtle yeasty undertones. Good weight, excellent acidity and nice length on the finish; in short, a very solid Brut rosé and a great value while it lasts.  Only 11 bottles still left for immediate shipment, so get them while they last.

Of course, there are always those who are after that extra-special bottle, and for whom price is no barrier, and to those people, we offer Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon Rosé Brut 1996, for $324.82.  While my experience with this is limited and brief, having had only a short pour at a large trade tasting a few months back, it was one of the wines that stood out among those that I tried, and I was focusing specifically on Champagnes from the likes of Krug, Dom Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot and of course, Moet & Chandon.  There was far too much clamor and jostling for position at the various tables for taking detailed notes at this event, but I can point to Josh Raynolds’ impressions recorded in Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, in which he awarded this gorgeous Champagne 95 points.

“Bright, amber-tinged pink with pinpoint bubbles. Deep, smoky and complex, with a kaleidoscopic bouquet incorporating wild strawberry, peach, apricot, chestnut honey and cured meat. A firm, strikingly concentrated mid-weight with powerful flavors of orange peel, raspberry, redcurrant, baking spice and smoked meat and gentle supporting acidity. Smoky, sweet and long on the back, with a slowly building impression of acidity that suggests this will be a long ager. As usual, a stunning Champagne.”

We still have five bottles of these in stock for immediate shipment, so, again, get them while they last.

Happy Holidays,

The Winebuys Guy