September Staff Picks

John: NV Gaston Chiquet Brut Tradition “Carte Verte” $23.97 I am proud to report that slowly but surely, more and more growers’ champagnes are standing shoulder to shoulder with the ‘Big Brands’ in our champagne section. My pride stems from a growing admiration of the distinctive personality and expression one can find from a growers’ bottle. A grower champagne can be identified by ‘RM’ on the label which stands for recoltant manipulant — a farmer who vinifies and bottles his own crop. Growers are those whose livelihood depends solely on the grapes they grow and vinify themselves. Picture them as the microbrewers of champagne. Gaston Chiquet is an example of one these passionate artisans and was introduced into the American market in 1998. Chiquet is a fairly large estate as far as recolantes go, so it doesn’t suffer as much from the lack of availability as its brethren…one of the downsides of falling in love with grower champagne. If you haven’t ventured into the RM realm, I urge you to try this brand first. Chiquet’s fizz is the easiest to like…it’s seductive, creamy and just taste flat-out delicious. The wine is a blend of 45% Pinot Meunier, 35% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir that’s magically vinified into pure silk on the palate. Aromas seduce with bursts of citrus, fresh bread, wildflowers and kisses of honey. It’s my guilty pleasure for a decadent Sunday brunch that escalates lox and cream cheese to the umpteenth level. I agree with importer Therry Theise that this should be shipped in liter bottles, especially at this exceptional price…a 750 ml. of wine this good is never enough to go around. Justin: ’01 Aalto Ribera del Duero $46.99 This is a titanium tipped, high-polish, bunker-buster of a fruit bomb. 2001 is the third vintage for Bodegas Aalto and the 2001 Aalto takes full advantage of nature's exceptional bounty in 2001. Mariano García, legendary and former winemaker of Vega Sicilia, is responsible for the winemaking and has created a wine of grand proportions and balance. It is still in it's youth, and will only get better with time as the massive layers of fruit unwind and reveal themselves. For now it is a full-throttle beauty with a deep, opaque, black purple color. Vigorous decanting is in order to coax the wine open. The nose is laden with smokey, tarry, briary, meaty, ripe plum, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry fruit notes. Layered under this wealth of fruit there are additional notes of black pepper, exotic spice, minerality, vanilla and toast. On the palate there is a wall of plush fruit as first sensed on the nose. Yet the attack is surprisingly smooth and rounded; and the balance remarkable for a wine of this heft. The acidity is well integrated with very ripe, but still firm tannins—making for good structure. Hints of roasted red peppers round out the full berry and plum flavors. The finish is very, very long and shows the great promise of this wine as it continues to mature. This is another knockout from Mariano García, and a sure bet for those who like power, roundness and balance. I will be jumping on this one. José: ’01 Dominio de Tares Spain, Bierzo “Capas Viejas” $25.99 Dominio de Tares is a new winery located in the fast rising region of Bierzo, in the northwest of Spain. It was founded by a group of creative young professionals. It shows the distinctively fruity elegance of the Mencia grape. In color it is a dark red current color with violets touches. To the nose, it shows intense black cherry and violet flower scents. On the palate it produces an elegant sensual feel with a good balance of fruit, florals and weight in body. It also shows mineral characteristics along with new wood notes from French and American barrels. Dominio Tares “Capas Viejas” comes from a variety of old vine Mencia plots over 60 years old. I encourage you to enjoy the distinctive elegance of this wine. Scott: ’00 Château La Sentinelle Côtes de Castillon $10.49 Bordeaux is better known for legendary and highly-rated wines that command rich prices. Peel back the layers of the châteaux for which much of the public clamors and you will find fountains of well made juice. The "Right Bank" is located right or east of the Gironde and is home to St-Émilion and Pomerol as well as Côtes de Castillon. Legendary châteaux such as Cheval-Blanc, Ausone and Petrus come from St-Émilion and Pomerol as well as newly minted garagistes like Le Pin. Bottles from these producers range in prices from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars. Found further east, Côtes de Castillon is home to châteaux that are not well known but offer very good wine at inexpensive prices. La Sentinelle is one such example. Living-up to the 2000 billing as an excellent vintage, this Merlot-based bottle is delicious upon opening. The nose, while expressive, does show Old World restraint with notes of cassis and damp soil complemented by lightly toasted oak. On the palate, the attack is packed with black fruit and is supported by a dose of acidity. In the mid-palate the tannins assume responsibility. La Sentinelle can be enjoyed now and will match triumphantly with steak. For the bottles that are not opened today, the wine will continue to improve over the next five years. One bottle of the big boys further west or two cases of La Sentinelle? With no pause needed, two cases of La Sentinelle please. Enjoy!

Sam: ’03 Hopler Austria, Burgenland Grüner Veltiner $10.99 As the summer winds down and an early autumn approaches, one starts to think of those refreshing whites that we can drink all year round. Varietals such as Grüner Veltliner, the grape most often associated with great Austrian wines, certainly come to mind. Hopler Grüner Veltliner 2003 is one of those that fill the bill. With a vivid, beautiful pale green apple color, this treasure opens with fantastic aromas of pineapple, tropical fruits, light apricots, and beeswax. It is ripe with mouth-refreshing lemon grass and white peaches, while flavors of honeydew and kiwi dance on the palate. The finish goes on and on! Truly refreshing and great to drink alone or with a variety of great dishes such as chicken alle penne with vodka, any Alfredo dish, or with any light salad. Enjoy it as the sun sets on yet another summer. Patrice: ’03 Villa Maria New Zealand, Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc “Private Bin” $9.99 Light, refreshing, fruit driven and inexpensive....if this is what you are seeking in a glass of warmer weather wine you may want to try the '03 Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc Private Bin. From the Marlborough country this wine exemplifies many of the classic aspects one typically encounters with a SB from New Zealand—with the exception of the price tag. Fragrant blossoms on the nose give way to a basketful of citrus fruits on the palate including lemons, limes and grapefruits with hints of gooseberry. Zesty and racy with ample acidity the wine is extraordinarily refreshing with a lovely, fruit driven finish. Oh, and just to let you know it has a screwcap......perfect for taking to the beach or anywhere else you may need to travel light. Enjoy it with lighter summer fare including salads and grilled seafood. Dominique: ’01 Château Haut-Villet France, Bordeaux, St. Emilion $19.99 The summer is nearly over and the time of those fresh, soft, fruity and easy to drink whites and roses will end with it. The fall will bring back our desire to drink fuller bodied reds. September reminds me of the harvest period in the north-eastern vineyards of Bordeaux where I grew up. I harvested many times in the vineyards of the local Domaines and Chateaux around my little village, hand picking the grapes or carrying the basket, and I keep great memories of those days. The wines of Bordeaux are in general, quite rich, racy, elegant, and fruity, with hints of liquorice, leather and violet on the nose and carry with them the uniqueness and characteristics of their terroir (a combination of the type of soil, climate, micro-climate, exposition to the sun and age of the vines). I invite you to rediscover a Bordeaux wine in a "Merlot vintage" that everybody has forgotten but which is a classic and will with a bit of time surprise many of you: 2001. The Château Haut-Villet is situated on the second highest point of the appellation, at 89 meters above sea level, on the plateau of Saint-Emilion in the commune of St. Etienne de Lisse (south-east of the medieval village of St. Emilion). It possesses a total of 10.5 hectares (25.94 acres) of land with 8.5 hectares of vineyards and 2 hectares for the Chateau and its garden. It was mentioned for the first time in a French newspaper, "Féret Bordeaux et ses vins" in 1898 under the name of “Moulin de Villet.” It belonged to the Fournier Family (Château Canon) until 1950. In 1985, Eric Lenormand the winemaker took over the property as a tenant farmer and renamed it "Château Haut-Villet". The wine cellars and winery, then in ruins, were completely re-designed and rebuilt. Eric Lenormand produces 3 cuvées: Château Haut-Villet, Château Moulin-Villet as a second label and Château Haut-Villet “Cuvée Pomone“ which is the flagship of the property. The vineyards are planted with an average of 40 year old vines: 12 years for the youngest and the oldest are approximately 70-80 years old. About 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc are planted on approximately 30 centimeters deep, thick, tawny colored mixed clay and limestone soil over a limestone subsoil. It is one of the four viticultural sites of the old jurisdiction of St. Emilion and without a doubt an exceptional soil, producing high-class wines which are a beautiful expression of this terroir. The 2001 Château Haut-Villet is a blend of 20% Cabernet Franc and 80% Merlot. It has been aged for 15 months in oak barrels (40% new) from French, Russian & American oak. It has been fined with white eggs during ageing and bottled without filtration to keep the maximum of flavors. It has a very intense ruby color. The nose is very floral with violet and lavender mixed with a touch of liquorice and a hint of pepper and black berries. On the palate, the wine is balanced and generous, with a very good structure which will allow it to evolve. The finish is long with very good acidity and firm tannins. It has been crafted for aging. The wine is not quite ready yet and will reveal more of its fruit with age. It will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring and decantation before tasting. "2001 Merlot will be surprising, refined and elegant but you will have to be patient". Those are the words of my grand father who was the winemaker of our family vineyard. You can trust him, he is rarely wrong. Chris: ’02 Quinta do Dorado Portugal, Vinho Verde, Alvarinho Superior $20.99 My wife and I discovered Albariño as a perfect compliment to seafood early last summer during a trip to the island of Vieques, just South of Puerto Rico. During a perfect getaway trip to this undeveloped, relaxed destination, we drank an Albariño with dinner almost every night, and its clean fruit character and snappy mineral acidity matched perfectly with grilled red snapper, swordfish and Chilean Sea Bass prepared with a variety of Caribbean spices and hot pepper sauces. A few years ago, young Spanish winemaker Marcial Dorado set out to produce the finest Albariño in Rias Baixas. This is an officially designated wine producing area (D.O. or Denominación de Origen) of the Galacia region in the Western tip of Spain located immediately Northwest of Portugal's northern border. Most of Rias Baixas is found on Spain's Atlantic coast, and the two subzones that are optimal growing areas for Albariño are Val do Salnes in the North and Condado do Tea in the South on the Spanish side of the Miño River. Dorado did not find suitable vineyards in Rias Baixas, but in 1999, he did find an excellent site across the Miño River in Portugal, near the town of Melgaço and he hired Spanish winemaker Marcos Lojo Abal as a consultant. Abal's Gran Bazan Ambar is regarded as a yardstick Albariño from Rias Baixas. Dorado named the property Quinta do Dorado and their first vintage was 2000. To produce Dorado's 2002 Alvarinho Superior, the winemaking methods employed borrow from those of the best white Burgundy growers, though the latter would be from the Maconnais or Chablis regions rather than the Cote d'Or, since Dorado uses no oak to age his wines. The overall philosophy of winemaking is one of minimal intervention. First, Dorado uses fruit meticulously picked by hand from seventy-year-old vines that already produce concentrated, low yields due to their age. There is a sorting table where any unhealthy or damaged bunches are discarded before crushing. All transfers of must or wine after crushing are performed by gravity for gentle handling. During 'elevage,' when the developing wines age following alcoholic fermentation, the wine completes a full malolactic fermentation in tank. The wine is aged for nine months on its fine lees (spent yeast cells) with weekly stirring ('batonnage') to enrich the wine's aromatic complexity and depth on the palate. This wine has incredibly clean aromas of wet stones, clover, and grassy notes, with traces of light honey and white pepper. On the palate, the aromas become clearly delineated, showing fresh flavors of honeydew melon and Fuji apples with a bracing minerality. The wine finishes with a hint of crème brulée and a refreshing, cleansing acidity. Unlike some Albariños, where a rough blend of intense minerality and acidity can result in an austere, disjointed wine on the palate, the Dorado is an elegantly balanced and integrated execution of elements, dominated by the round, concentrated character of the fruit. This wine pairs well with grilled or fried squid, tuna, swordfish, lobster, and shellfish, as well as raw Littleneck clams or Belon oysters.