West Concord Liquors

A Sure Sign of Spring

             


I brought home several small production wines to try for the E-Club Special over the last week or so.  Two wines made it to the final cut.  One was a Bordeaux, the other a  Barbera D'Alba.  They are both great, but the Barbera won.  Why?  It's going to be 50 degrees on Saturday and I NEED to feel some warm weather and drink a wine that TASTES like warm weather.  Like a spring day after rain, I wanted a wine that is vibrant, fresh, crisp, lively and even a little raw.    This wine from the Piedmont area of Italy fit the bill.  

Historically, Barbera's only apparent redeeming quality was its cheapness or more modestly put, its value. Perhaps it has had a lesser  reputation because it is a primary Piedmont resident in Italy's northwest wine region, where the other two grape varietals, Nebbiolo and Dolcetto, overshadow Barbera in respect and admiration.   After Sangiovese, Barbera is the second most planted grape in the boot-country, but there's no correlation with that fact and that people love and praise their Chiantis, their Brunellos, and their Barolos more. While Barbera is sometimes sneered at, bottles of it are commonly found as the table wine in Italian restaurants. What do the restaurants know that others don't? Barbera is an everyday kinda wine that is underrated and under appreciated.

This weeks E-Club Special, the 2008 Paolo Scavino Barbera is
MUCH, MUCH more then your everyday table wine.  To me, right now, it's fresh and vibrant personality gives me assurance that it's going to feel like Spring this weekend.   If you do the research and tasting you'll find that this notable  Barolo producer takes his wines to a new level.  The 2008 Barbera D'Alba is no exception. His 2008

                                                  (Encrico Scavino and his daugther Enrica at home in the vineyard)

Barbera is aged in steel vats, a.k.a "un-oaked".   While many white wines see ageing in steel (i.e. Sauv Blanc), few reds do. This makes a huge difference in taste versus wine that is aged in oak.   When aged in steel, wine retains a freshness that can get lost when the wine is aged in oak barrels.  Also, the fruitiness of the wine aged in steel doesn't get masked by oak so you'll be able to more appreciate the very ripe and forward fruit flavors.    This Scavino Barbera struck me as such a great wine because of the freshness, but even more so because the wine was full bodied.   I didn't expect this wine to have such a  mouth coating, rich berry flavor. 

The two areas in Italy we typically see the Barbera grape from in the US are Alba and Asti.  Barbera D'Asti tends to be lighter and racier while Barbera D'Alba can be fuller and rounder in the mouth.   But either way, lively aroma and fresh flavors are what these wines are all about.  Some other un-oaked reds can  include Beaujolais and  Cotes-du-Rhone.  If you like either of these types of wine, this Barbera D'Alba is a must try. 

What else is great about Barbera?  Like just about any Italian wine it's great with food.  Where Barbera wins over other Italian wine is it's flexibility.  Typically Barbera has good acidity to make it a natural choice with food, particularly with pizzas, pastas, grilled poultry and meats.

 

 

2008 Paolo Scavino Barbera D'Alba

Regular Price $26.99
On Sale now @ $16.99 (over 35% off)

90 Points from Wine Spectator and only 700 cases produced

"This is really classy, with crushed raspberry and strawberry aromas. Full-bodied, with bright acidity and a tangy, fruity and flavorful finish. This is so delicious. Drink now. 700 cases made." - James Suckling 

Gold Medal Winner

 Words that often describe a figure skater (when he/she isn't trying to land a triple-axel) :   graceful, elegant, artistic,  subtle, finesse, delicate yet powerful. 

Words that often describe this weeks E-Club special:  graceful, elegant, artistic  subtle,  finesse, delicate yet powerful. 

This week we are featuring a wine that reminds me of a figure skater.  This wine is nothing like a big, brutish Cabernet nor does it have the overwhelming power and extraction of a wine from Southern France.   Instead it's a wine that can be easily overlooked because of it's elegant and delicate nature.  If you put this wine up against an Aussie Shiraz or a Cali Cab, it would get pushed aside like a figure skater would in arm wrestling match against a football player.    As much as I like big, rich, football style wine I also like to watch figure skating and drink those kind of wines.  The Tempranillo grape when grown in upper Rioja and produced in the "Traditional Style" is a great example of a figure skating wine.   Another more familiar figure skating type wine might be Pinot Noir grown in the Burgundy region of France.

I could make a case for Rioja being the most historic and important region of  Spain like Napa Valley  is to California.   We see wines at all price points from Rioja, all of which are dominated by the Tempranillo grape.   Bodegas Montecillo is one of the oldest and most historic properties in Rioja.   They still make what many call, "Traditional Style."  What the heck does that mean?

Traditional Rioja is aged longer in oak barrels before it's released to us.   The longer aging gives the wine more subtle nuances in the aroma,  a silky mouthfeel  and smooth tannins.   These wines are made to be elegant and graceful.

Modern Rioja is just the opposite.  It's aged for less time, so it's going to have richer, more concentrated fruit flavors, fresher aromas, and is rounder in the mouth with firmer tannins.   These wines are intense from start to end. 


(On the right is Montecillo's winemaker, Maria Martinez-Sierra)

The 2001 Gran Reserva is one of the Montecillo's highest level bottlings, and is of course, made in the "Traditional Style."  Gran Reserva wines are only made in the best vintages, and are aged the longest before release.  There is no need to put this wine in your cellar or basement.  The aging was done in Spain and this wine is ready for you to drink this weekend.    Instant gratification!  For full effect, I recommend watching figure skating while drinking it.

What does it taste like?  I just poured some in my glass. It smells of fresh cherries and dark fruits, but you can also smell the age on this wine which is great.  It reminds me of a well-aged Bordeaux.   There are some leather, and spice smells too.  In the mouth it's just as advertised,  soft, silky and delicate.   There is still lots of fruit and the tannins are smooth.   And you keep tasting this wine (the finish) well after you've swallowed.    It's an easy wine to drink more of then a single glass.   Food wine?  Yes. 

2001 Montecillo Gran Reserva

Regular Price $29.99
On Sale now @ $17.99 (40% off)

91 Points from Wine Enthusiast (also received 89 Points from Steve Tanzer and Wine Spectator)

Part of Tanzer's review: "Full-blown bouquet displays red berries, cherry, smoked meat and vanilla, with subtle leather and floral qualities gaining momentum with aeration. A sweet, open-knit midweight with seductive strawberry and cherry flavors, silky texture and very good focus."

A Cheap Date

The cheapest you'll find a glass of red wine at a restaurant from a well known wine growing area is for about $5 or $6.  And that's on the low end.   For that much money you usually get a wine that tastes like is was filtered through some Bounty paper towels and then had some sugar and strawberry jam stirred in.   Here is a tip:  when you are looking for value and QUALITY on a restaurant wine list,  look for wine from the most obscure place in terms of wine growing regions. They are usually inexpensive, and you'll get the best bang for your buck.   Emerging wine areas where you can find these values are places like the Languedoc-Roussillon (Southern France), Southern Italy (Campania, Puglia, Sicily), Greece, Lebanon, Austria, and this weeks featured destination, Portugal.

Granted, you don't see many of these areas well represented in restaurants - but that's why you come see us, right?

Portugal has started to gain popularity for their non-fortified wines instead of just Port wine.  However, wines from the major regions like the Dao and the Douro are still under-appreciated which results in fair prices for all of us. 

In the summertime, one of the most refreshing whites on the market is a Vinho Verde, and you can find them at our store for under $10.  But this time of year, I'm still thinking of red wine.  When a bunch of Portuguese wine showed up on our door step, I had high hopes.  After tasting through the line-up, I was really impressed by the quality of these wines.  And then I looked at the prices! My goodness!  One of the wines in the lineup particularly stood out from the rest.  It was the 2007 Castello D'Alba from the Douro.  

I thought about the glass of wine I paid $10 for in a restaurant the night before - it tasted like toothpaste compared to this sleek, sexy wine from Portugal.  It's the kind of wine where you take a sip, put the glass down and look at the deep ruby colored juice in your glass and say, "Mmmmmm....that's tasty."  And it feels even better to know that you only paid $10 bucks for an entire bottle of this beauty.  This wine has character.  It has personality.  It's not bland and boring like so much of the wine out there in this price range.  Heck, even Wine Spectator gave it 89 Points.

2007 Castelo D'Alba (Douro)

In stock now @ $9.99

89 Points from Wine Spectator

"A suave red, with well-defined crushed red fruit and berry flavors that are accented by bright minerally notes. Creamy, with luscious spice and hot stone notes on the juicy finish.  2009-2013"

Aged to Perfection

We are putting some older vintages of California wine on sale so we can make room for new ones.  It's a great chance to pick up some higher end wines that are ready to drink now and don't need any cellar time. 

All of these wines are 25% off a single bottle

2002 Viader

2000 Duckhorn Cabernet

2003 Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot

2003 Duckhorn Napa Merlot

2000-2004 Cain Five

2000-2004 Cain Concept

1993 Beringer Private Reserve

1999 Dominus

1998 Mondavi Private Reserve

Send me an email if your intrested in any of these.  Want to buy more then one?  Larger discounts are available.  

Thanks,

Chris

141 Chardonnays

We decided to count how many different chardonnays we have and it turns out the number is 141.   However, if we don't have the one you want we are always happy to special order any item.