Holiday Catalog Tasting - Thanksgiving Wines

This weekend we are pouring 10 wines featured in our Holiday Catalog. The theme? Wines for Thanksgiving Day. On the tasting bar we'll open several new wines in the shop, including some light aromatic whites, a full bodied Chardonnay, an elegant Pinot, Tawny Port, and a Champagne called Tandem. Yes, that's right!  We will also be open on Tuesday and Wednesday with a limited selection of wines open for tasting.

Shop the catalog here: /shop/catalog

Weekend Hours

Friday to Sunday, 2 - 6pm
(We stay open later on Friday, but we don't begin tastings after 6pm)
Fee is $15, waived with a 3 bottle purchase.

Tasting Bar this Weekend:

Champagne Laborde Tandem - 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay | Nogent l’Abbesse, Champagne

The history of their Monts de Berru region, and the family legacy behind this new wine from wife and husband duo Delphine and Pierre-Emmanuel (a graduate of Avizé) makes us extremely proud that we were able to find a Tandem wine. Delphine grew up in vines and winemaking before working her way up the ranks at Bollinger and Veuve Cliquot. Today she and her husband farm just 5 hectares of vines. This blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is an homage to the two grapes working together. Seamless, delicate, elegant. Only 1500 bottles produced and we anticipate selling out before NYE.

2022 Onward Vineyards Malvasia - Malvasia Bianca | Capp Ranch, Suisun Valley, California

Canadian. UC Davis Regents Scholar. Mom of 4 kids. Woman winemaker. Everything about Faith Armstrong leads you to believe that she only makes interesting and amazing things. And that is especially true of her aromatic white wines. This Malvasia is joyful, breathtaking, puckeringly acidic, and grown nearby in Suisun Valley. It’s the equivalent of a bouquet of flowers, fresh squeezed citrus mimosa, and being treated to your favorite brunch all at the same time. Need something new to try this year? Faith has you covered.

2021 Claiborne and Churchill Dry Gewürtztraminer - Dry Gewurztraminer | San Luis Obispo, California

When the winery has to put ‘DRY’ on the label, they clearly understand that customers are still recovering from trauma about sweet wines, especially Gewurtztraminer. As an *aging* millennial, I don’t have the same battle scars from cheap imports from the 70s and 80s. Instead, this drop-dead stunning ‘Gewurtz’ from C&C is near my alma mater of Cal Poly so I’ve been a fan since I could legally imbibe. Full of tropical fruits, south asian spices, its rich and floral personality will light up the room. Did I mention it’s... Dry?

2021 Stewart Chardonnay - Farina Vineyard | Sonoma Mountain, California

I am not supposed to like oaky buttery Chardonnays because Instagram and my young tattooed winemaking friends all say so. But let’s ignore them for a moment. The team at Stewart is proud to make this single vineyard Chardonnay, barrel fermented, and aged 10 months in French barrique. If Rombauer is a 13 on the oaky/buttery spectrum, I give this one a perfect 10. There’s surely an oaky buttery guest invited, so don’t leave them hanging.

20?? Villa Venti Bianco Rubicone ‘Serenaro’ - 100% Famoso di Cesena | Roncofreddo, Forli-Cesena, Italy

What do you do when you discover an indigenous grape vine that needs some explanation? Why it is named Famoso if no one has heard of it? The folks at this organic farm wanted to know. What I am calling a ‘yellow wine’ because it’s not quite orange is a fascinating glass of vino. The skin contact program is 10% of the grapes aged for 30 days, yielding a yellow, slightly tannic wine with medium acidity and an incredibly long finish. In the shop we’ve poured this from a decanter because it benefits from time to breathe. A lovely gateway into the skin contact wine category. Also a bargain.

2019 Dom. André Vatan Sancerre Rouge ‘Maulin Bèle’ - Pinot Noir | Sancerre, Loire Valley, France

After expressing our love of Vatan in the white wines, it’s worth mentioning this wine was just featured in our October wine club on Loire Valley Reds. The taste is still fresh in our minds, and likely in our customer’s too. The high iron content of the soil here gives this Pinot a burst of red fruit, while remaining smooth and sophisticated. Single vineyard Pinot ... from France ... for UNDER $30? I will open, but not necessarily share, this on Thanksgiving.

2021 Road 31 Wine Co. Pinot Noir - Pinot Noir | Carneros, Napa Valley, California

We love to tout the ‘small family winery making estate grown wines from some ancient family farm’. But even we get caught with our mouths open. Kent Fortner has long track record in California wine country, and at Road 31 his goal, believe it or not, is to make ONE wine. That’s it. And it’s a stunning cool climate Pinot from Carneros that we simply can’t get enough of. Cherries, rose petals, black tea, and so smooth you’d think it was Oregon or Burgundy. One guy, a truck and great wine. We bought all we could.

2017 Three Wine Co. Carignane - Bigelow Vineyard | Oakley, Contra Costa, California

You have to go back to our very first tasting to appreciate just how off the wall people thought we were. “You’re doing a Carignane tasting? What’s that?” Well, that is an extraordinarily delicious red grape coming from the Mediterranean influenced Southeast France and Northeast Spain. And as luck would have it, winemaker Matt Cline loves making excellent old vine (planted 1880s) Carignane from the sandy soils of Contra Costa County. Dark blue fruits, plush tannins, and a big bold finish. Crazy? Yes. And good!

2018 Vino Noceto ‘OGP’ Old Vine Zinfandel - Original Grandpere Vineyard | Plymouth, Sierra Foothills, California

From a vineyard planted in the 1860's and still producing after 150 years, Vino Noceto’s ‘OGP’ is a classic example of letting the vineyard do the talking. A very gentle fermentation and barrel aging program (French oak, mostly neutral) results in a wine that is simply stunning. Older vintages have been described as long, vivid, supple, even enlightened. The 2018 starts with aromas of sweet oak spice with wild berries, dried grass and white pepper. I try not to play favorites, but this wine commanded a lot of attention in our wine club and during our Old Vine tastings. Something truly special.

Quinta do Tedo Porto Fine Tawny - Minimum 7 year aged, traditional varieties. | Armamar, Duoro, Portugal

I feel bad putting the Tedo Tawny Port on the natural wine list because while it is extremely traditional and the vineyards certified organic, it’s not a hip, funky wine. Family-owned single estate, classified grade A vineyards, foot- tread, and aged for a minimum of 7 years. It’s everything that is great about wine making and it’s perhaps the most hand crafted and tastiest wine we sell under $30. A funny thing about Port is just how much work it takes to make, yet the world no longer gives it the appreciation it deserves. Equal parts fruity, chocolatey, nutty. In a word: delicious.