Tomato Wheels Lambrusco
$38.99
Lambrusco has come a long way since the days of Riunite on ice (some of you may recall that ad campaign). In fact, it's a delicious sparkling red wine that serves as a partner to casual fare, heralding from the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. There's a little sweetness on most styles, including this one, just enough to make it ideal with things like pizza, paninis, or a burger with caramelized onions. The grape has about 10 known sub-varieties, this one is a blend of 85% Salamino and 15% Malbo.
Raventos Blanc de Blanc
$44.99
Raventós i Blanc is a winery with one of the longest-documented wine-growing traditions in the world. The family farm and winery outside of Barcelona has belonged to the Raventós family since 1497. Five centuries working 90 hectares of vines and forest, a dynasty closely associated with the land from one generation to the next. Today, Pepe Raventós, who represents the twenty-first generation of the family, farms 44 plots using biodynamic winegrowing methods and is committed to maintaining the estate of vines, wood and lake as a complete entity. Raventós i Blanc is faithful to tradition and upholds the relationship between man and nature at the very core of its production philosophy.
Blue Mountain RD Reserve Brut
$66.99
Blue Mountain is the wild and respected territory of which the Mavety family are blessed to be the guardians. As a family business with a strong connection to the South Okanagan site, the goal of Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars is to realize the potential of the individual sites of the land in which the grapes are grown. Overlooking and tending, the Mavety’s life work is an ongoing process of creating something simple yet powerful, to be expressed in the glass and enjoyed. The philosophy of Blue Mountain is to focus on the potential of each variety, continually improving its range across Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, and Traditionnelle Methode sparkling wine. Blue Mountain’s strong focus on viticulture across the site allows for an increased representation of individual terroir when the grapes reach the winery.
JL Denois Extra Brut Cremant
$41.99
Good Crémant is often lauded as a less expensive alternative to Champagne, but while this is true, the more important project is to create a crémant of place and substance that does not seek to replicate or outshine Champagne but rather to introduce its own terroir in its own rite. This, indeed, is what Jean-Louis Denois has done with his sparkling wines. Inventive in its blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and a 10% kick of Chenin Blanc, the estate's organically tended vineyards in the Haute Vallée de l'Aude benefit from an ideal climate. Thanks to their altitude and the proximity of the Pyrenees, the berries are perfectly balanced between acidity and fruit. No need for chaptalization or acidification, it is the precise harvest date that is decisive for a perfect balance and here Jean-Louis's years of expertise honed in his Champagne homeland, his education in Beaune, and his working travels in California, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa have all culminated in this life long project of proving Limoux's viability for world-class bubbles. The palate shows white fruit, almond frangipane, nectarine, and salted pineapple, a harmonious, dry, elegant, and joyfully fruit-oriented wine. Then the finish saunters in with notes of hazelnut, red berries, and toasted bread.
Taylor Fladgate Century of Port Gift Box
$307.99
This gift box features 375ml bottles of the Taylor Fladgate 10, 20, 30, and 40-Year Tawny Port. Math is hard, but we have been told that if you add those numbers up, it equals 100 years, or one century!
Taylor Fladgate 30 Year Tawny Port
$234.99
Taylor's is one of the only Port Houses that still produces a 30 Year Old Aged Tawny Port. It is made by maturing special red Ports in oak casks in the Taylor's cellars. The deep, rich colour of old gold, this beauty has a silky richness, with notes of dried fruit, caramel and honey. Serve on its own as dessert, or pair with creme brulee, fresh walnuts or dried fruit.
Croft 2003 Vintage Port
$249.99
Today, Croft is a part of the Fladgate Partnership, three of the most historic and highly regarded Porto houses, including Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca and Croft—a family-owned company that sets the standard to which other Port houses aspire.
Bright, saturated ruby. Brooding aromas of bitter cherry, violet and licorice, lifted by a resiny nuance. Then densely packed, concentrated and fresh, with rich, fleshy flavors of kirsch and dark chocolate. Finishes with big, broad, thoroughly ripe tannins and very good lingering black cherry fruit. This is surprisingly easy to taste today but should age well on its ripe tannins and sheer balance.
Score: 90 points -- Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, 2006
El Maestro Oloroso
$79.99
El Maestro Sierra was founded in 1830 by master cooper José Antonio Sierra, who ran a prosperous barrel-building business called La Merced. Recognized as one of the top coopers in the area, he longed to become involved in the Sherry trade itself. Eventually, he set about building a small winery to make the best sherries possible. As the sherry business was, and remains to this day, dominated by aristocratic families, the idea of a humble worker joining their ranks was met with open disdain. After many hardships he was able to establish and grow his business, becoming one of the most respected almacenistas (stockholders) of high-quality sherry. It is still run by his descendants, located in a privileged part of Jerez on top of the hill, exposed to the cool Poniente winds which nourish the elegant wines. As a reminder of the bodega’s struggles, the labels depict a hunting scene with a hare being chased by the nobles, alluding to José Antonio Sierra’s struggles in founding the artisanal house in a social climate dominated by the aristocrats of his time.
El Maestro Sierra was passed down through the family and protected by the legendary Doña Pilar Pla Pechovierto from 1976 until her passing in 2020. She was a brave and resolute woman who inherited the business after the early death of her husband, Antonio Borrego. Pilar managed to drive the business forward despite the prevailing machismo of the time. El Maestro Sierra became the first and is still one of the few bodegas run entirely by women. When her husband passed away in 1976, she resisted the intense pressure to sell and kept the winery going through tough times by selling wines to the locals in jugs. In 1997, while the men were away from the Consejo Regulador, she was stealthily able to obtain the first bottling permit for an almacenista house, which was forbidden until that point. Pilar was an extraordinary individual with a singularity of purpose: to maintain the grand estate of El Maestro Sierra. Because the wines have remained virtually unmoved due to the slow business in the following decades, the stocks at El Maestro Sierra are some of the oldest and most undisturbed in Jerez.
The tradition is continued by Pilar’s daughter and current owner, Dr. Carmen Borrego Pla, and Capataza Ana Cabestrero; aided by long-time family friend and consultant master Capataz, Paco Salas. Dr. Borrego Pla, a historian and expert in the History of the Americas at the University of Seville, has published many books and papers relating to Andalucia’s role in this grand history and continues to be one of the region’s foremost cultural historians.
Stratus Riesling Icewine
$55.99
At Stratus, their dedication to sustainability, quality and design guides our winemaking and vineyard practice. They delight in making wines that reflect the eccentricities of the climate and our vineyard's unique geology. Their 55-acre farm, set in the Niagara Lakeshore appellation of Niagara-on-the-Lake, is planted to 16 grape varieties. This breadth allows them to embrace diversity for complexity and produce our signature Stratus White and Stratus Red alongside a range of small-lot single varietal bottlings - delicious and notable expressions of time, of place, of the essence of our vineyard.