Blind Taste Caymus Special Select vs. $25 Rivals!

Blind Taste Caymus Special Select vs. $25 Rivals!
Saturday February 26th, 2011
11am - 8pm
All Day Long



Blind Tastings are always a crowd favorite at winestore and once every year, we always put one of the most famous names in wine into the gauntlet....Caymus Special Selection (we're pretty sure the people at Caymus love this idea!).

Ahhh, Caymus Special Select. The $100+ flagship wine from one of the most well known and respected California producers. You may not even like wine or even drink wine and you have heard of Caymus. The real question is - If you were to taste the wine and not know that it is Caymus Special Select, could you pick it out? If you did not know the price, could not see the label etc. would it still taste better to you than a wine that costs 83% less? I mean, it is a "Special Selection", right? This wine is supposed to taste amazing!!

That is why we're playing "Find the Caymus Special Select" this Saturday. It's simple really. The wines will all be tasted blind. One of them will be Caymus Special Select and the others will be an assortment of wines at every price point from a number of different regions. All you have to do is taste and pick your favorite. Yes, that's right, your favorite. If that's the Special Select, then great, if not, well that's OK too. You may be surprised as to what your favorites actually are. Given that Special Select sells for north of $100 it is always interesting to see if there are wines that cost $9, $25, $50 or even $75 that taste better.

Some come on in for some tasting fun on Saturday and enjoy some great wine!

The New Prisoner? Orin Swift Machete!

Orin Swift Machete


2009 Orin Swift Machete
Winestore Price: $38.99 (net)

Only 5 cases available!

Wine arrives tomorrow!

We know that there are a ton of you out there that love Orin Swift "Prisoner", a Zinfandel blend from Napa Valley. There are also many of you who love Jeff Runquist Petite Sirah. So what would happen if Orin Swift created a Petite Sirah based wine? Well, that happened and Machete was born.

Seriously - this wine is unreal. A blend of mostly Petite Sirah with some Grenache and Syrah thrown in for good measure. If the wine does not sell out today we will put a bottle up on the machine to taste. Knowing how much people a) love Petite Sirah and b) love Orin Swift, we don't expect this wine to last.

To order you can:


Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024


Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944

Schug Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at 38% off!

38% off Schug!


2008 Schug Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Winery Price: $24.00 (Click HERE to see)
Winestore Price: $14.99 (net)
SAVE 38%

2008 Schug Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Winery Price: $24.00 (Click HERE to see)
Winestore Price: $14.99 (net)
Save 38%

Only 10 cases of each available! Lowest price in the US!

Schug has been around for nearly 30 years and founder Walter Schug is an icon in California winemaking. He was the founding winemaker at Joseph Phelps (Insignia anyone?) in the 1970s and in 1980 decided to break out on his own. We just got a really fun deal on their 2008 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. While we weren't offered gobs of wine (sadly there are only 10 cases of each available) we got just enough to where people can have some fun!

We have both the wines on the machine so if you need to taste first, swing on by! If you know the Schug name, to order you can:

Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024

Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944

Taste FAR NIENTE for FREE this Saturday!

Taste Far Niente for FREE!
Saturday February 19th, 2011
2pm- 'till the wine runs out!




Featuring:
2009 Far Niente Estate Chardonnay
2007 Far Niente Estate Cabernet
2005 Far Niente Dolce Dessert Wine

In addition to our Thursday FREE Tastings we are pulling out the stops this week by offering a Saturday FREE tasting featuring the wines of California powerhouse Far Niente. Not only will we be pouring these beauties, we will be offering some amazing deals on some of these labels (especially the Chardonnay!).

We also were alerted this morning to a multitude of deals being offered by one of our local distributors, and needless to say - we took advantage of the low prices. We will have a lot of wines on the machine to taste this weekend, and to give you an idea of how low the prices are, we have included this little gem as a teaser.

2008 Schug Sonoma Chardonnay



Winery Price: $24.00 (Click HERE to see)

Winestore Price: $14.99 (net)
SAVE 37%

LOWEST PRICE IN THE US!

Save 50% on 2005 Priorat!

2005 Merum Ardiles Priorat


Regular Price: $44.99 per bottle
Winestore Price: $24.99 (net)
Six Pack Price: $22.50 per bottle
SAVE 50%

Lowest Price in the US!

The 2005 vintage in the Spanish region of Priorat (a region about 90 miles west of Barcelona) was a monster vintage that helped bring new-found recognition to the region from wine lovers worldwide. The wines were big, fruit forward, and very high scoring. All that said, finding a wine from the 2005 vintage is nowadays almost a lost cause. Due to the steep slopes, rocky soil and little water, the annual production per acre in Priorat is extremely low. A head-pruned, old vine in the region might yield only enough fruit for a half-bottle of wine (trust us when we tell you that ain't a lot!). Low production matched with high praise from wine writers have sent most of the 2005 vintage to cellars all over the world. That is why we were EXTREMELY excited to be able to offer the Merum Ardiles to you at a significant savings. The 2005 Merum Ardiles is the second bottling from new Priorat upstart Merum and this is a significant effort for a new release. Powerful, rich and age-worthy - this is a wine that is perfect for budding collectors, Priorat lovers or just because.

We'll have the wine on the machine all week until we sell out!

To order you can:

Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024

Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944

Taste Gigantic Wines This Weekend!

"Parkerized" Fruit Bomb Tasting!
Saturday February 12th, 2011
11am - 8pm




Featuring:

2008 Bodegas El Nido "Clio"
2009 Orin Swift "The Prisoner"
2008 Pingus "PSI"
2008 Blackbird Vineyards "Arise"
2005 Torre Muga
2007 Flora Springs "Trilogy"
2008 K Vintners "The Creator"
2008 Black Slate Priorat

You may or may not have heard, but the emperor of wine ratings, Robert Parker, announced last weekend that he no longer will be reviewing California wines effective immediately. Many will give Parker much credit for helping put wines from California into the limelight (and for creating the "California Cult Wine" craze), but many will also accuse Parker of pushing winemakers to create a "Parker Style" - one of big fruit, high alcohol, over extraction and unbelievable richness. As Doug Frost has put it many times, "Parker prefers wines that are concentrated, dark, rich and intense. Indeed, it seems that the dominant critics value wine only for its intensity, and have little interest in a wine's balance or ability to age, or at least in its ability to have flavors other than intense ones."

This weekend, in a farewell salute to Parker and his crazy influence over California wines we've decided to put up some "Parkerized" monsters on the tasting machine (not all being from California). These wines are huge, intense, exciting and unbelievably flavorful. Will these wines age well? Who cares! They are awesome right now!

So, call your best friends, draw straws to see who's going to be the D.D. and bring everyone to the tasting! The wines are going to be AMAZING!!!

The Most Revealing Tasting This Year!

Second Label Tasting!
Saturday February 5th, 2011
11am - 8pm

Sometimes the greatest of the great wines are just simply out of our reach. That being said, you may not know that most of the worlds most expensive wines produce second label "sibling" wines, often times with the excess juice that went into the $100 cuvees. It is a rare opportunity to be able to taste the flagship wine right next to its second label offering, but that is exactly what we are doing for you this weekend. Find out if the $100 Napa Cab is better than the $35 second offering - perhaps the $75 estate wine really isn't worth it for you compared right next to the $25 second label Cabernet from the same producer. One of the estates we will be featuring this weekend is Napa Valley legend Pahlmeyer. Jayson Pahlmeyer summed up his second label "Jayson", by saying “The Jayson goes into the same brand new French oak barrels [as the main label, Pahlmeyer], has the same barrel-aging regimen, same blending, same care and dedication from my winemaker,” Pahlmeyer explains. “It’s 90 percent of the quality at 50 percent of the price.”

"90% of the quality at 50% of the price" - now that is an equation we are ready to get on board with! We think you'll be astounded how close these second labels taste to the real thing! Come in this Saturday and see for yourself! We have something for everyone, Cabernet from California, Barolo from Italy, Chateaneuf from France, and more!

Wineries featured include:

Pahlmeyer Winery

2006 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red
2007 Pahlmeyer "Jayson" Red


Stewart Cellars



2005 Stewart "Nomad" Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Stewart Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon


Klinker Brick Winery

2008 Klinker Brick "Old Ghost" Zinfandel
2008 Klinker Brick Zinfandel


Chateau de Beaucastel

2008 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape
2008 Coudoulet de Beaucastel Cotes du Rhone

Vietti

2007 Vietti Nebbiolo "Perbacco"
2006 Vietti Barolo "Castiglione"

Three Super Deals!

Something for Everyone!

We LOVE deals - really love 'em. To keep it short and sweet (we value your time!) here are three deals we picked up this week that really blew us away!

Six Pack Special:
2 btls Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc
2 btls Cultus Boni Chianti Classico
2 btls Chateau Maucaillou

Regular Price: $181.96
Winestore Six Pack Special: $125.94
SAVE $56.02 or 30%


2007 Clos Henri New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc



Regular Price: $23.99
Winestore Price: $14.99
SAVE 37%

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc remains a singular wine: herbal power in battle with citrus intensity. Sadly, the region is being overplanted so it's more important now to buy from the best producers and the best part of the region.

2007 Coltibuono "Cultus Boni" Chianti Classico



Regular Price: $32.00
Winestore Price: $24.99
SAVE 21%

One of the prettiest estates in Chianti is one of its best producers too, even if they aren't big and blowsy like people too often think the best should be. Instead, these are easy to drink and seductive.

2005 Chateau Maucaillou



Release Price: $34.99
Winestore Price: $29.99
SAVE 15%

Usually when Bordeaux says, "it's a great vintage", check your wallet. Somebody's hand is probably in it. But 2005, well, trust me on this one; it's as good or better than they said. I'm not trying to sell you nuttin'.

Happy Drinking,

Doug Frost, MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of Wine