March Staff Picks

Dominique: ’02 Domaine des Baumard Loire Valley Savennières $19.49 Along with their benchmark “Quarts de Chaume,” Domaine des Baumard, one of the best producers of sweet Loire wines, also produces some of the most exquisite “Savennières”. Their "Logis de la Giraudière" estate is nestled in the heart of Rochefort-sur-Loire, a small enchanting village on the southern bank of the Loire River, where the Baumard family has produced wine since 1634. With only 150 acres, Savennières is one of the smallest appellations of Loire valley. It has been an appellation since 1952. Jean Baumard bought the estate in 1955 and immediately restructured the vineyards to made it a flagship of the appellation. In 1957, he bought 5 hectares of vineyards in Quarts de Chaume and in 1968 added 15 hectares in Savennières. He devoted his life to his passion of winemaking, even teaching it at university. In 1990, he retired from producing but not from teaching. Since 1987, his son, Florent Baumard, has been in charge of the property and the winemaking. Meticulously following his father’s methods, respecting the expression of each terroir, and adding his own techniques, he has achieved a portfolio of very consistent wines with explosive aromas and great depth. As in Vouvray, Côteaux du Layon or Quart de Chaume, the versatile whites of Savennières are made solely from Chenin Blanc. Baumard produces 5 different cuvées: the fruity and mineral laden Savennières, the elegant “Clos St. Yves”, the graceful “Cuvée Les Sables”, the rich yet extremely refined “Trie Spéciale”, and the famous and complex “Clos du Papillon”. Their generic Savennières - if we can call it “generic” at this quality level - has fresh, fruity, floral and minerals aromas. The palate is refined and refreshing with quince, orange peel, pink grapefruit and peach flavors lifted by a racy acidity lingering through a balanced finish. Served with salad, grilled white fish, chicken or veal with a creamy sauce and spring vegetables, this wine will express itself beautifully. Cheers! Justin: ’95 CVNE Rioja Gran Reserva “Viña Real” $36.97 This is a very smooth, supple and elegant wine, drinking beautifully now. It is an outstanding example of the elegance and finesse of the 1995 vintage, which was officially classed as excellent in Rioja. It comes from the highly esteemed, traditional Rioja producer, CVNE (aka CUNE), which is short for Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España, and pronounced coo-NAY. CVNE was founded in 1879 in Haro in the Rioja Alta section of Rioja. Today CVNE includes their new, state-of-the-art, “Viña Real” winery in the Rioja Alavesa section of Rioja, the superlative, single vineyard estate, Contino, also in Rioja Alavesa as well as the original Haro winery. CVNE’s wines are known for their quality at all levels–from the lower-end, higher production “Cuné” line to the “Imperial” and “Viña Real” Reservas and Gran Reservas to the modern-styled, high-expression cuvées, “Real de Asua” and “Pagos de Viña Real.” CVNE’s “Viña Real” brand began in the 1940s and is known for having somewhat more body and longevity than its sister marque, “Imperial,” from Rioja Alta. The Gran Reserva is only produced in high quality years and PJ's is very proud to additionally offer the 1950, 1962 and 1973 “Viña Real” Gran Reservas, which are testaments to the remarkable ageworthiness of these wines. Low yields; hand harvesting; careful selection of the healthiest and ripest grapes; and aging in American oak are all part of the recipe for this true Rioja classic. The 1995 “Viña Real” offers extraordinary smoothness, elegance and drinkability now. It is clear medium ruby in color with only the slightest hint of brick in the rim. The bouquet offers jammy strawberry, fragrant red cherry and raspberry scents, which are accented by notes of smoke, toasty oak, loamy soil, wild herbs, chalk and seashell minerality. On the palate it is medium- to full-bodied, very elegant and very smooth. Flavors of strawberry rhubarb pie, plum, blueberry and cherry compote mingle with the notes first found on the nose. Lively acidity helps create excellent balance and the wine gained weight in the glass as it opened. The finish is long, smooth and marked by very fine, but firm tannins with soft zingy cherry flavors. It is a superb match with all manner of continental, red meat dishes, yet will easily adapt to game fowl and other lighter fare. It is drinking beautifully now but will continue to improve in the bottle for at least another decade and hold for even longer for those who love the delicacy and complexity of well-aged wines.

Patrice: ’03 Antinori Chianti “Peppoli” $20.99 The Antinori family has been making wine for a staggering 600+ years. Today, Marchese Piero Antinori is the director of the company and is assisted by his three precocious and industrious daughters Abbura, Allegra and Alessia. With almost 5000 acres in both Tuscany and Umbria, these people have wine in their veins. The winery produces a wide array of bottlings to suit every taste and budget from their prestigious "Solaia" and "Guado al Tasso" to the bargain priced "Santa Cristina." One of their most popular bottlings is the modestly priced "Peppoli" Chianti Classico. Introduced in 1988, this wine has quickly become a modern classic, combining the depth and structure of an old world riserva with the bright and fragrant fruit of a younger wine. The Peppoli estate, where the vines are planted, is situated in a warm valley on rocky mineral rich soil, perfect for growing Sangiovese that is bright and very fruity. The 2003 “Peppoli” is a deep magenta in the glass with a fragrant nose of black cherries and plums. On the palate, the wine displays lots of ripe and concentrated fruit with a fleshy and textured mouth feel. The richness of the fruit is complemented by hints of licorice and spice and a moderate amount of wood. The ripe tannins and moderate acidity keep the wine well-balanced and lead the way to a lengthy finish. The 2003 is delicious and ready to drink now. Fresh linguini tossed with marinara sauce and spicy sausage was a perfect accompaniment. Sam: ’04 Bodegas Noemia de Patagonia Rio Negro Valley Malbec “A. Lisa” $24.99 Argentina…we know it throughout the wine world as the land of beefsteak and Malbec (which is true!). All Malbec, however, is not created equally! This is the idea behind Bodegas Noemia de Patagonia, located in an ancient vineyard planted in the 1930s in the Rio Negro Valley. The winery stands on 3.7 acres of land, and the vines are pre-phylloxera Massale selected Malbec vines. Located 620 miles south of Buenos Aires and 1240 miles from Tierra del Fuego, it is indeed a distant area to reach, an oasis in the midst of a desert. Proprietor Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano, who gave the winery her name, and winemaker Hans-Vinding Diers are the architects behind the exquisite wine-making here. The grapes are normally harvested during the first week of April. They are picked by hand. Neither sulfur nor chemicals are used in fermentation, which lasts for three weeks. The wine is aged in French Radoux barrels and bottled without filtering. The A. Lisa Malbec is a second wine from Bodegas Noemia and markedly less expensive than their top offerings. With an assemblage of 90 percent Malbec and 10 percent Merlot, A. Lisa is a delicious wine of both style and substance. It is a dark, inky, vibrant purple color. Delectable aromas of smoke, earth, raspberries, and tobacco sing together in the glass. This big, elegant Malbec offers wonderfully complex flavors of cinnamon, spice, pepper, and plum with velvety tannins, and a smooth, long finish. This is a phenomenal wine with a great cut of beef. Donald: ’04 Selbach Riesling Kabinett “Piesporter Michelsberg” $8.49 Johannes Selbach is arguably one of the greatest wine makers in all of Germany and a star of the Mosel where his vineyards encompass sixteen hectares and annually produce over seven thousand cases of Riesling. He is a hardworking quality-driven genius who creates truly accessible yet varietally honest wines at affordable prices. His Piesporter Kabinett ’04 is an impressive realization of his winemaking skills in a vintage where Kabinett is being critically acknowledged as the standout. The nose on this Piesporter Michelsberg offers up deep inflections of tarragon, slate - as the vineyards thrive in a blend of loamy soil and weathered slate - dense sea coast minerality, citrus tones of lemon peel, orange marmalade and a blushing suggestion of super ripe pink grapefruit. The rich palate is a dense balance between supple minerality, even white fruit tones, pronounced crystallized ginger and bracing acidity, making it an ideal cure to Pinot Grigio and much drier than your average Kabinett. This Riesling is the perfect match to rich vegetarian curries, chicken gumbo and chilled seafood salads. It is a readily accessible white with dramatic structure and complex minerality at a very attractive price. If you are already a lover of German wines, it could easily become your ideal everyday dry white, and if you are somewhat wary of their super sweet reputation then this is an ideal introduction to the wonderful world of dry Riesling.