Mega California Cabernet Tasting!
Saturday September 28th, 2013
11am - 8pm
ALL DAY LONG!
Featuring:
2011 Caymus Cabernet
2010 O'Shaugnessy Howell Mountain Cabernet
2009 Swanson Alexis Cabernet
2009 Silver Oak Cabernet Alexander Valley
2011 Lewis Cellars Mason's Cabernet
2009 Keenan Spring Mountain Reserve Cabernet
plus a surprise blind wine :)
Added bonus! Spend $25 on Saturday and be
entered in a raffle to win a Magnum of 2005 Swanson Alexis Cabernet
(each store will be raffling off it's own Magnum!)
Fall is officially here (although it is
still pretty toasty outside)...and nothing says fall weather like big,
rich, and powerful California Cabernet. So all day on Saturday we are
going to load up the red wine machine with power players like Caymus,
Lewis, Keenan and a few other surprises.
Those of you with a weak constitution may want to sit this one out.
This is some explosive, high octane juice we're going to be tasting, so
consider yourself warned. If you happen to be around this Saturday, need
a break from College Football and want to taste some of the best wine
America has to offer, we'll be waiting for you!
We hope to see you this weekend and as always, we appreciate your business!
2011 Jeff Runquist 1448
Winestore Price: $17.99 (net)
It's fall now, and in the wine business that means new vintages are
released every week. Most of the time we just cycle through, without any
type of fanfare, but when a wine as popular as 1448 releases a new
vintage we feel compelled to tell you about it.
If you're not familiar with 1448, it is a "kitchen sink" blend from
winemaking phenom Jeff Runquist, comprised of Petite Sirah, Barbera,
Petite Verdot, Zinfandel, Syrah, Carignane, Souzao, Cabernet Franc and
Touriga. If that's not a little bit of everything, I don't know what is!
Short and sweet today folks - swing by and grab one of your faves!
To order you can:
Order ONLINE by clicking HERE
Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024
Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944
Call LAKE NORMAN @ 704-892-5662
2010 Mosen Cleto Crianza
Release Price: $10.99
Winestore Price: $8.99
SAVE 18%
Save an additional 10% in mixed cases!
So waaaaay back in February we tasted a wine that just blew us away.
The price and quality were both completely off the charts. Only major
problem? The packaging. The bottle came blasted with this sand (that
looked like dirt) and was not only uncomfortable to touch, it got
everywhere and was a painful on the eyes (picture of the "before" bottle
below).
So we called the winery and basically said "We'll take 112 cases every
few months if you can send us the bottles without the sand." They were
all like "Why don't you like the sand? Our customers in Europe love the
sand!" We just said, "We don't like the sand." Well - 112 cases of this
beautiful wine showed up last Friday, with no sand on the bottle. The
wine tastes just as amazing, the price is still awesome, and now the
packaging is just right!
So get involved in what may be the best $8 wine we have ever offered.
It will be on the machine to try at all 3 stores but we only have 112
cases this first go round. First come, first served!
To order you can:
Order ONLINE by clicking HERE
Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024
Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944
Call LAKE NORMAN @ 704-892-5662
- This was the "before" bottle...tough sell.
2010 Clos D'Agon Blanco
Release Price: $49.95 (Click HERE to see)
Winestore Price: $34.99 (net)
SAVE 30%
Given that tomorrow is all about tasting epic Spanish red wine,
we thought we would present you with an epic Spanish white wine that is
sure to rock your world. The 2010 Clos D'Agon Blanco is a blend of 40%
Roussanne, 35% Viognier, and 25% Marsanne. Not sure what any of that
means? Think the most complex dry white wine you have ever tasted with
hints of peaches and pears.
Honestly, in a world dominated by California Chardonnay (and trust us
we love the stuff) it is tough to get people excited about a Spanish
white wine using some Southern French varietals. So we're gonna have a
bottle open for you to try, for FREE all day today (at all 3 stores of
course). Proof is in the pudding people, come see what we are going
crazy about over here!!
To order you can:
Order ONLINE by clicking HERE
Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024
Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944
Call LAKE NORMAN @ 704-892-5662
Vintage Artadi Tasting!
Saturday September 21st, 2013
11am-8pm
ALL DAY LONG!
Featuring:
2000 Artadi Pagos Viejos
2001 Artadi Pagos Viejos
2005 Artadi El Pison
Rioja has been in full ferment for more than two centuries, though its
wine fortunes were anything but pretty before that. The Old School of
Rioja was truly Old School; as in, let's throw these grapes in a stone
trough and squish them under our toes and drink what comes out as soon
as it's good and alcoholic. Now let's don't get all high and mighty:
this is how wine was made since time immemorial all over the world till
just a few decades ago.
The concept of blending grapes was also a constant in Rioja, as in
Bordeaux and all but a few blessed, special places (I'm looking at you,
Burgundy, and German Riesling). The purpose of blending was hardly
aesthetic (though it turns out to be a good thing aesthetically) but
rather economic: since different grapes flower and ripen at different
times, having different grapes offers some protection from the weather's
moods.
So it was with ancient Rioja, but those different grapes included reds
and whites too. Old School Rioja saw them blended together cuz if it was
worth fermenting, you threw those grapes into the stew as soon as they
were ripe. And in most cases, Roman and other archeological wine sites
reveal only one fermentation trough - so red, white, rose, whatever, it
all goes in the pot. Again, no airs please, Chianti REQUIRED white
grapes to be included in its red wine blend until a few decades ago.
By the 1790s, a few people in Rioja were giving consideration to doing
things a different way - like separating those white and red grapes and
even using some new-fangled contraption called a wine barrel. Okay, I
exaggerate here; people had been using barrels for transport (and
therefore storage) since Roman times. But the authorities in Rioja did
not take well to these suggestions from the Quintana brothers (we know
that they at least sought permission), and these two simple improvements
went untested until the 1850s, when two marquesses (Riscal and
Murrieta) wanted to adopt them. Amazing how being a rich and powerful
marquis makes the bureaucrats so much more accommodating.
So barrels came in, purchased from across the Pyrenees in Bordeaux. And
when Bordeaux was being decimated by phylloxera in the late 19th
century, the Bordelais came calling too. They shopped for wine (wait,
what? Bordeaux was buying Rioja??) and some of them stayed to teach the
Riojans how to make late 19th century styled wine. The format was easy:
pick the grapes a bit underripe (Bordeaux's usual weather isn't so
great) and because the resulting wines are too tart, put them in barrels
for a long time. That time in barrel will soften that tartness for some
of the wines, though most of the wines in the barrels will lose their
fruit long before softness sets in. But those barrels that retain their
fruit are dubbed Gran Reserva wines; they are very special indeed.
Sometimes those wines are in barrels for a very long time, a decade or
more. That's not how we do things today, but that's how they saw it in
the 19th century.
Actually, in Rioja there are still a few brave and sturdy souls who do
it this Old School way. Some of us (by that, I mean me) love these wines
though they're aren't everyone's cup of Tinto. Instead, the rest of
Rioja modernized in the years leading up to and after the death of the
dictator Franco; not much had changed during his anti-progressive reign.
By the 70s and 80s, people understood that ripe grapes make tasty
wines, and too much time in barrels sucks the life out of most wines.
Most producers in Rioja follow these standard winemaking practices. I
call them the Modern School. But the last decade or two has seen a new
movement that I call the Internationalists. Yes, I know some of you call
them Parkerized wines, but that's not fair to either Parker or the
wines. Great sites in Rioja can give grapes with terrific expression and
in some vintages these grapes can border on overripeness. Whether these
descriptors apply or not is up to you. But amongst these vintners
skilled with the International Style, Artadi is a poster child, though
they would not really appreciate my saying so. It's not that there is
something wrong with the International Style, but in the hands of some,
the wines can be unbalanced and lack vineyard character. However, not so
at Artadi. They have power, richness and character all at once.
Artadi has its nearly 200 acres of vineyards in the highest altitude
region of Rioja, Rioja Alavesa, also with the highest proportion of
limestone in its soils. The result are wines that have higher acids, and
are distinctly longer lived. You don't have to take my word for it.
We're offering three different Artadi beauties: the 2005 El Pison and the 2000 and 2001 Pagos Viejos
(or old vineyards). The old vineyards in question are El Carretil, La
Poza, Valdeginés, Los Olivos, Quintanilla, El Cerradillo and San Lázaro
and while that won't mean much to you, these are all pretty sweet spots
within Rioja.
Rioja is a region that has ageworthiness as part of its history and in
its very DNA. While Artadi won't be aging their wines in barrels for a
decade or two any time soon, the wines are easily capable of doing the
same thing in your cellar.
And to add to the fun, each of these three wines represents a very different prospect: the 2005 El Pison is lush, juicy and full. It will age gracefully for another decade and then slowly soften and decline, I suspect. The 2000 Pagos Viejos
started its life as a somewhat stingy wine, all elbows and ankles. But
things have gotten very interesting for this wine over the last few
years. I admit to being mystified by how it has developed. I called this
wine and maybe even this vintage wrongly from the start, and I'm happy
to find out how wrong I was.
But please don't let that admission make you doubt me when it comes to the 2001 Pagos Viejos.
This is a spectacular vintage, a lovely, still evolving wine that I
would like to follow for the next decade or two, if only I will buy
enough of them to do so. You should too.
Happy tasting and we'll see you Saturday!
Cheers,
Doug Frost, MS MW
Master of Wine & Master Sommelier
2005 Analog Proprietary Red
Winery Price: $35.00
SALE Price: $14.99 (net)
SAVE 57%
Analog is poured at these outstanding restaurants!
So we ordered 112 cases of this stunning 2005 red blend last year and
ran out around December. We thought that was it. It was a good run.
Until I get a text from the owners of Analog last week that a wine
flash site called Lot 18 did a pivot with their business model and as a
result returned nearly 60 cases of the 90 cases they had ordered from
Analog....did we want the wine? Of course...but only at the right price.
So we negotiated a sweetheart deal, passing along all the savings from
our dealings to you, our loyal customers. You are now able to buy the
insane wine for only $14.99 per bottle (remember, we burned through 112
cases at $24.99 retail). The only sad news - only 57 cases to pass
around between the three stores. So - Lot 18's loss is your gain!!
Our mothers taught us never to look a gift horse in the mouth :) We'll
drink it 'till its gone - and enjoy every last sip. We hope you join us!
To order you can:
Order ONLINE by clicking HERE
Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024
Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944
Call LAKE NORMAN @ 704-892-5662
Taste a $300 Magnum for FREE!
Saturday September 14th, 2013
2pm - until we run out!
One Magnum being poured at all three stores
Featuring:
2004 Marcoux Vieilles Vignes Chateauneuf du Pape
There are a few wines that gave us that "a ha" moment. A wine that made
us think, "so this is what all the fuss is about". For us, one of those
wines was Marcoux Vieilles Vignes out of a magnum. It was just a
magical wine experience. Maybe it was the wine paired with the right
company, the right food, the right night...but now having developed an
obsession for all things Marcoux VV, we are pretty sure it is the wine.
Recently, we were able to acquire 20 magnums of 2004 Marcoux Vieilles
Vignes at a more than attractive price (your price is not $300 :) While
we would love to stash all of those away for ourselves, we saw this as
an opportunity to share with you one of our "a ha" wines, at no cost to
you. Pretty awesome stuff, no?
As for the wine we are tasting? The 2004 vintage is first-rate and a
far better vintage than the much-heralded 2003 vintage. And among the
many estates of Chateauneuf, Marcoux is unquestionably a star. Consider
this a guaranteed winner in the cellar or on the table tonight. If
you're like us, you'll be pushing somebody out of the way to get to this
stuff!
So there you go - life is too short to
drink bad wine, so we're going to welcome the cooler weather with some
friends and some killer wine. We hope you can swing by to taste!
2010 Gun Bun Mountain Cuvee
Winery Price: $24.00 (Click HERE to see)
Winestore Price: $18.99
SALE Price: $14.99 (net)
SAVE 38%
Sale price good through September 15th, 2013
Soooo....a customer rolled into the store a
few days ago and was all "Remember when Gun Bun won that Silver Oak
Blind Tasting back in January and you guys sold it for $14.99 - that was
pretty awesome." Then we were like "Yeah, that was pretty awesome."
Fast forward a few hours and we thought - "Hey, why don't we offer that
price again!" To that customer, thanks for the idea...and we hope you
buy plenty :)
Gun Bun Mountain Cuvee did win our Silver Oak Blind Tasting back in
January and it has been winning over customers for years. Does this wine
taste better than $18.99? Yes. Does it taste better than competition at
$14.99? We're not even going to go there...
Those of you who know it are going to back up the truck. If this is your first time, you may want to trust us on this one!
To order you can:
Order ONLINE by clicking HERE (pickup at all 3 stores available)
Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024
Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944
Call LAKE NORMAN @ 704-892-5662
Second Label Tasting!
Saturday September 7th, 2013
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 world's most expensive wines produce second label
"sibling" wines, often times with the left over 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 at our second "Second" Label Tasting this year!
Find out if the $100 Napa Cab is better than the $45 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. Famed
Napa Valley legend 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, Grenache from France, cult producer La Peira from France,
and more!
Wineries featured include:
Pahlmeyer
2009 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red
2010 Pahlmeyer "Jayson" Red
Domaine Marcoux
2010 Domaine Marcoux Chateauneuf du Pape
2007 Domaine Marcoux Chateauneuf du Pape "Vieilles Vignes"
Bodegas AALTO
2010 AALTO
2010 AALTO Pagos Seleccionadas
La Peira
2010 La Peira
2010 Las Flors de La Peira
Banshee
2010 Banshee Cabernet
2010 Banshee Mordecai
2011 Lafage "Cuvee Nicolas"
Release Price: $14.99
Winestore Price: $12.99 (lowest price in the USA)
SALE Price: $9.99 (net)
SAVE 33%
SALE runs Wednesday September 4th - Sunday September 8th, 2013
We picked up the Lafage Cuvee Nicolas for the first time last year and
you guys gobbled this stuff up like we were giving away front row
tickets to Beyonce. I mean, we could NOT keep this stuff in stock. Well,
the new vintage has finally arrived and it is ready for your
consumption. You may remember that the Cuvee Nicolas has garnered praise
from the wine glitterati that includes such gems as:
- "knock out red wine that sells for a ridiculously low price"
- "improbable price-quality rapport"
- "taken on an aura of unreality when one sees the price!"
This is some pretty heavy stuff. Hyperbole aside, this is serious juice
to pair with College Football and NFL games for only $9.99. You may want
more than one bottle - your friends drink fast...you know they do!
We're here to find the gems of the wine world and this, my friends, at less than $10 is one of those gems.
To order you can:
Order ONLINE by clicking HERE
Call SOUTHPARK @ 704-442-4024
Call BLAKENEY @ 704-443-2944
Call LAKE NORMAN @ 704-892-5662
