Erasmus Tasting!

Taste 2010 Clos Erasmus!
One of the most sought after wines in the world!
Taste other wines from the famed Priorat region as well!

Saturday March 2nd, 2013
11am-8pm



Featuring on the tasting machines:
2010 Clos Erasmus (made by Charlotte resident Daphne Glorian)
2009 Mas Doix Salanques
2009 Mas D'en Compte
2009 Closa Batllet "Artai"
2010 Mas Atla "Artigas"

(Just to begin - how cool is it that one of the most influential female winemakers on the planet lives right here in Charlotte!)

Priorat is a lunar landscape of a wine region. But from its wild and ragged turf a few dedicated (no, let’s call them obsessed) winemakers coax powerful, intense wines. Those wines bring ever-lofty prices, and are scoring equally lofty rankings from wine writers.

It wasn’t always so. In 1985, nobody had heard of the ancient wine-producing region, at least not in relation to quality wine. But Daphne Glorian, Rene Barbier (along with his godson Alvaro Palacios), and a few other twenty-something’s, saw a brilliant future in Priorat’s long-forgotten wine-glorious past.

Alvaro and the gang have proven their prescience; and their wines are justly prized and pricey. While the prices vary according to the perceived quality of the vintage, there have been some very good vintages of late.

2009 and 2010 are more powerful in style and for many Priorat drinkers that should be reason enough to jump all over any of the great producers. But don’t dawdle. The 2011 vintage doesn't have any of the cachet of 2009 and 2010. So these will disappear fairly quickly, as people decide to grab enough to last them for a year or two.

And the region doesn’t make a lot of wine. As crazy as it sounds, very little of the Priorat region is planted to wine, or at least currently tended by winegrowers; most of the hillsides betray abandoned vineyards. Growing winegrapes in Priorat is too difficult, and at the impossibly low yields typical of Priorat’s rugged vineyards, there’s no opportunity to make a reasonably priced commercial wine. Instead, a vigneron has to make a strong and powerful wine, worthy of the highest prices for wines sold in the US market. To do anything less will result in so-so wines that demand to be sold at those same crazy prices. It’s just too expensive to make wines in Priorat.

Charlotte residents are lucky that Daphne makes her home here and so they get more than their fair share of these dynamos. The 2010 we're tasting this weekend should offer the best possible explanation of what the region does that is so incomparable and indescribable.

We'll see you Saturday and Happy Tasting!
 

"The fact that wines such as this can be purchased is unbelievable"

2011 Lafage Bastide Miraflors


2011 Lafage Bastide Miraflors
Winestore Price: $12.99 per bottle


Any time Charlotte based wine importer Eric Solomon creates a new project we pay close attention. When he creates it with winemaking wizard Jean Marc Lafage we pay double close attention. And when wine critic Robert Parker goes out of his way to post the following we pay SERIOUS attention.

"There are 3,000 cases of the naked virginal, unoaked 2011 Bastide Miraflors Vieilles Vignes made from 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache aged in concrete. The difficult economic situation in the Languedoc Roussillon corridor is being exploited to the maximum by importer Eric Solomon. The fact that wines such as this can be purchased is unbelievable. Largely an artisinal wine, it is brilliantly pure with a stunning nose of spring flowers, blackberries, cassis and earth. It is almost incomprehensible that something of this quality, complexity and richness can be purchased for $15 to $50, much less $10 to $12. The 3,000 cases should be gobbled up as quickly as they hit retailers' shelves. I am honored to share my excitement about this amazing wine with readers."
- Robert Parker

So ignore the hype if you want...all we know is we're buying cases for ourselves, and we think you should too!

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

Delicious and only $6.99 per bottle!

2010 Don Ramon Red Blend


Winestore Price: $6.99 net

We almost never send out an e-mail on a Monday (you've got enough e-mail to catch up on!) but this is darn near an emergency. We taste through a lot of inexpensive junk wine trying to find those $5-$7 extreme values and well, we just found one for you. At $6.99 per bottle this little beauty of Grenache and Tempranillo is going to find a few slots on our wine rack for sure! Full of fruit, soft tannins and just plain ole easy drinking is what the 2010 Don Ramon is all about, and that screams Monday night glass of wine to us.

Let's keep it short today, but know we are looking out for both your wallets and your taste buds! We hope you enjoy the wine!!

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

Caymus / Wagner Family Tasting This Saturday!

Caymus / Wagner Family Tasting!
Saturday February 23rd, 2013
11am - 8pm

Featuring:

Caymus Vineyards
2010 Caymus Cabernet
2010 Caymus Special Selection

Belle Glos
2011 Belle Glos "Meiomi"
2011 Belle Glos "Clark & Telephone"
2011 Belle Glos "Las Alturas"

Conundrum
2011 Conundrum White
2010 Conundrum red

Mer Soleil
2011 Mer Soleil Chardonnay
2011 Mer Soleil Silver

In 1972 a star was born when Joseph Wagner produced 270 cases of the California Cabernet we now know as Caymus Cabernet. In 2012, production is expected to be north of 65,000 cases. By any measure, the Wagner Family has become one of the biggest success stories in US wine industry. Along the way to 780,000 bottles, the Wagners invested and developed several other projects that have become success stories in their own right. Belle Glos Pinot Noir, Conundrum white and red and Mer Soleil have gained market share in their respective categories, won acclaim from wine writers worldwide, and become staples on almost every major wine list in the US.

While we have tasted these wines as part of different themed tastings, we never before have put the whole lineup on the machines to taste through. We think it's a pretty awesome opportunity to taste the entire portfolio of one of the icons of American wine all the while getting some pretty awesome pricing!

So swing by any of our 3 locations at any time on Saturday, load up your tasting card, and let's drink some crazy good wine. You worked hard this week, you've earned it!

Game Changer For Only $9.99 Per Bottle!

2010 Solanera

Release Price: $14.99
Winestore Price: $12.99
SALE Price: $9.99 (net)
SAVE 33%

Lowest Price in the US!

SALE runs Wednesday February 20th - Sunday February 24th, 2013

It's Wednesday, and on Wednesday night we are looking for a glass of wine that is going to be awesome, but not break the bank. We're trying to be thrifty, people! The 2010 Castano Solanera at $9.99 is right in our Wednesday night wheelhouse. This blend of Cabernet, Monastrell and Tempranillo is easy drinking at its best - big fruit, soft tannins and long finish.

The New York Times wine club recently featured this wine (for $15 bones) and mentioned that you should pair this little gem with "Roast chicken (which) is a great choice for weeknight meals, while duck or turkey confit would make for a richer pairing". Now, when we said we were looking for a great Wednesday night wine, maybe we should also point out on Wednesdays we are usually having something like chicken and mashed potatoes, beef stew, vegetable soup etc. We're not really rocking any duck or turkey confit...but if you are this wine obviously goes well with that as well!

We are always looking to bring you the best possible wines at the best possible prices and to get a wine into a barrel, into the bottle, across the ocean and into your kitchen for all of $10 (and the wine still tastes amazing) - we're pretty darn pumped about that.

We hope you love this wine as much as we do!!

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 The Biggest Wines We Could Find!

Thermonuclear Fruit Bomb Tasting
Saturday February 16th, 2013
11am - 8pm

 

Featuring:
2011 Orin Swift "The Prisoner" (New Vintage!)
2009 Bejamin Romeo "La Cueva del Contador"
2011 Mollydooker "The Boxer"
2009 Alto Moncayo "Aquilon"
2010 Rombauer Zinfandel
2009 Clos Batllet "5 Partides"
2010 Banshee Mordecai
2009 Benjamin Romeo "La Vina de Andres"


It's gonna be cold on Saturday, and that means we need some gigantic wine to warm us up! Every couple of months we put together a tasting with the biggest wines we can find out on the market. People absolutely LOVE really big wine. Wine that stains the teeth, enough alcohol to run your hybrid and thick jammy, fruit. Well, we decided to go out and find some of the absolute biggest flavored wines that exist on the planet. Big Grenache from Spain, gigantic Shiraz from Australia, and even some monster Zin from powerhouse Orin Swift. There are some wine writers that would describe these wines as "Hedonistic Thermonuclear Fruit Bombs" and that is exactly what these are...heck, one of these wines was recently described by one of the most powerful wine writers in the world as "a modern day legend in the making"!

Sooo - if you are looking to enjoy some really amazing wine this weekend, a few of the gems that we will have on the machine on Saturday definitely qualify in the "cult" wine category.

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!!!

Your new favorite wine is back in stock!

2010 Lafage Tessellae



Release Price: $14.99
Winestore Price: $12.99
SAVE 13%

Save an additional 5% on mixed 6 packs and 10% on mixed 12 packs

When we debuted this wine back in October, we only brought in 28 cases. I mean, nobody had heard of it, it was a varietal few drink on a regular basis (Carignan) and was new to the market. Well, we WILDLY underestimated demand. Just a week on the tasting machine and you guys started gobbling this stuff up to the point where even an emergency replenishment in early December was not enough to satiate demand - we needed more! Alas, our new gigantic shipment has come in - and there is now plenty of wine for you to enjoy.

If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, you are missing out fo sho. Wine writers from all over the world have been noting the following:

- "improbable price-quality rapport"
- "taken on an aura of unreality when one sees the price!"
- "mind-boggling value"

Tessellae is a new wine to North Carolina (but not to the world) and this little beauty is 100% Carignan from half century and older vines.  Rich, complex and smooth, this wine is bound to impress you for only 12 bones. If you don't believe us, we'll have it on the machine for you to taste!

As always, THANK YOU for your business!

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