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From the producer, "Shiraz sourced from vineyards surrounding the home of the winemakers. In that sense, they want it to be their "house" wines - the very heart of what they are trying to achieve." - SS

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A Golfweek Quarterly Reds Only Wine Club Selection
The San Filippo estate is actually a small hamlet. The main farmhouse also comprises a small chapel that dates back to 1672. The aging cellar is still located within the basement of the old farmhouse. The harvest of San Filippo Dei Comunali 2017 started in the first ten days of October and naturalness and quality are fundamental concepts of the producer. The major commitment starts with the optimal selection at harvesting, using extreme precision by means of analytic monitoring of the grapes themselves.

Riesling enjoyed a massively popular era in California, the U.S., and Europe for over one hundred years (1850's-1960's). At times in this era, the greatest Riesling's were higher in price than the fabled wines of Bordeaux. Riesling was one of the most widely planted varieties in California, from the Santa Cruz Mountains to Napa.

The Leonardini family purchased the Rassi Vineyard in 2012 for its great potential for Cabernet Sauvignon. Known for the gravelly sandy loam site, excellent free-draining soils, and perfect climate for Sonoma Valley Cabernet.

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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Rioja was the first Spanish wine region to obtain DO status, in 1925. In 1991, it was promoted to DOCa (Qualified Designation of Origin), a higher category reserved for wines maintaining a proven consistency and quality over a long period of time. Rioja has three distinct subregions (Alavesa, Alta & Baja) as well as stylistic diversity ranging from the traditional oxidative wines to the fuller, over-the-top modern style.

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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Pale golden hue. Lovely bouquet of stone fruit and citrus mingled with delicate floral notes. The palate is bright yet layered, with mouthwatering acid and flavors of ripe nectarine, Bartlett pear, and peach pit, with a swath of chalky minerals on the long, elegant finish.

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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
A family-owned estate located just north of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon; Quinta do Pinto was established in 2003 by fiŒth-generation agriculturist Antonio Cardoso Pinto. Nestled between the Montejunto Mountains and the Tagus River, Antonio fell in love with the tranquility of this property on his first visit and believed in its untapped viticultural potential. Today, he works alongside his children, Rita, Ana, and Francisco to produce some of the finest wines in the Alenquer-Lisbon region. In fact, the wines produced on this estate have always been held in high esteem. Two centuries ago, the wines were already heralded as being exceptional, and worth more Pintos (the old gold coin currency of the region) than any other local wines! Coincidentally, Pinto is the surname of the current owners.

In the Beaujolais region, the last name Foillard is held in the highest esteem. Jean Foillard helped to bring Morgon to its highest levels and exemplify the concepts of low intervention (natural) wines. His son, Alex Foillard has continued this legacy, further south in Brouilly.

Arietta Quartet is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot from carefully chosen vineyard blocks in the Napa Valley. Aged for 20 months in French oak barrels, Arietta Quartet is approachable upon release, but rich enough to age well for ten years or more. The blend varies from year to year depending on vintage conditions and the characteristics of each component. The wines are made by Andy Erickson, one of California's most celebrated winemakers.

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A Quarterly Golfweek Reds Only Wine Club Selection
The 2019 Baker & Hamilton Cabernet Sauvignon is a new wine offering from the Phillips family, owners of Vine Hill Ranch. In 1849, Bruce Phillip’s great-great grandfather R. M. Hamilton partnered with L.L. Baker to supply tools and provisions to miners and ranchers from a canvas tent in Gold Country. The wine’s label on this Cabernet Sauvignon pays homage to the legendary B&H catalogs, showing many different equipment illustrations.

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C.L.R.T. as Blacksmith has used it here stands for "claret", the old term that was historically used in the UK for red wines from Bordeaux. Finding good quality Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that we can get to the shelf for well under $30 is an increasingly difficult challenge, but in that effort Blacksmith is one of our most trusted suppliers. The blend in 2019 is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. Aging was in all French oak, production 1120 cases.

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A Quarterly Red Cellar Trio Wine Club Selection
Deep, dark red with scarlet flashes. The nose shows crushed red fruits, scents of wild strawberry and pomegranate. The palate is grapey and intense, with flavors of ripe, black cherry, black plum and blueberry fruit, laced with notes of tobacco and cedar, with chewy, firm tannins. Bold but with superb balance, and a long, fruited finish.

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From the producer, "Our 2019 Monterey Pinot Noir has bright cherry aromas that are layered with notes of wild strawberries and black tea. On the mouth, you get juicy black cherry flavors and notes of cola with hints of vanilla, toasted oak and well balanced tannins. A silky texture leads to a long finish" Our notes flag it as a great value in a daily red! - SS

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A Red Cellar Trio Wine Club Selection
The family-owned Château Vieux Potana is located in Néac, and was created as a collaboration between the Dupas Family—owners of Château Bechereau—and the Michel Roland team (who advises Joël Dupas on the winemaking). Michel Rolland is one of the most influential winemakers in the world and consults for hundreds of clients in 13 different countries. The Lalande-de-Pomerol AOC borders the Pomerol region to the north, and Néac (of its two main villages) has the clay and gravelly soils commonly seen in Pomerol. Its wines exhibit the dusty, chalky tannins, dark berries and gravely undertones that are classic to the region.

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_{A Red Cellar Trio Quarterly Wine Club Selection}
Dark garnet. Aromas of black and red berries, plum and a kiss of mint. Fresh flavors of ripe Bing cherries, blackberries, and baking spice. Nicely framed, the finish is fruity and well-balanced, with a solid acid backbone typical of Barbera and fine-grained tannins. 100% Barbera from the Ferrione vineyard located on a west-facing hillside at 1,500 feet above sea level and situated just below the winery. The vines range in age from 10 to 55-years-old, the grapes were hand-harvested, destemmed, and fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled, stainless-steel tanks with minimal sulfur added. The resulting wine was aged four months in large oak casks (botti) and another six months in cement tank before bottling.

The Merlot that started it all...the 1978 Three Palms Vineyard Merlot effectively launched Duckhorn Vineyards as a serious Napa Valley producer to watch. Thirty plus years later, the Three Palms Vineyard Merlot is still one of the most coveted wines in the Duckhorn portfolio and continues to produce an outstanding bottle from this historic, picturesque vineyard.

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A fine example of New York Riesling . . .

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Kiona makes one of the few true Ice Wines produced in the US. Contrary to most others, they pick their Chenin Blanc grapes when they are actually frozen on the vine, as opposed to freezing them once they are safely in the winery. At Kiona, they have to monitor temperatures at night and wait until the optimal time to pick to ensure optimal flavor and sugar extraction. The wine is intensely sweet but thanks to the Chenin Blanc grape also has lots of acidity to make it well balanced. It has lush, ripe apricot and fresh pineapple flavors with a lovely honeysuckle note on the long finish. It is frickin' delicious!

Lemberger is perhaps (emphasis on "perhaps" ;>)) better known as Blaufrankisch, the name it usually goes by in Germany, Austria and other European wine-producing areas.  Here it is blended with Bordeaux varieties for a lovely, supple and medium-bodied red.

The Estate blend is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Syrah. It's generous fruit and excellent structure wine makes for a perfect combination. Aromas and flavors of black fruits, dark chocolate expand on the full bodied palate which is followed by a smooth finish of well integrated tannins.

Another lovely Merlot from the deft hand of winemaker Sally Johnson at Pride Mountain. Because the Napa/Sonoma county line slices through their vineyards, this vintage is 83% Napa and 17% Sonoma.

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Red Stitch produces one of our favorite Napa Cabernets in the sub-$200 range, and we could make a strong argument that it over-delivers at the price. Rich and expansive, delicious now with a grilled steak or an aged, hard cheese such as a pecorino, it is also a great candidate for 10-20 years in the cellar for those of you lucky enough to have one. Only 275 cases were made, and the fruit was from carefully selected vineyard blocks, one in Coombsville AVA, and the other in the Oak Knoll AVA, both sub-appellations of Napa Valley.

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We love most all of the wines Mick Unti makes, and also love hearing him explain the technical aspects and tasting notes behind them. Thus, without further ado, “this Zinfandel comes from our Primitivo-clone vineyard planted next to the winery in 1998. We favor the Primitivo-clone because it tends to produce berries that are smaller and with thicker skins, versus typical California Zinfandel selections. This leads to a richer wine with more tannin, which is characteristic of old-vine Zin.

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Some of our customers have enthusiastically embraced Chardonnay in unoaked versions, and this is one of our favorites. Producer notes ~ "Our 2019 EX Chardonnay comes from the original 35-year old, own-rooted Clone 4 planted on our estate vineyard. It is fermented (primary only) and aged for 3 months in stainless steel.