CLASSIC CLUB
Red 1 – 2019 ThereAfter Village Grenache, Mendocino County
Organically Grown
100% Grenache
ThereAfter is the tale of an Italian and an American who met while studying winemaking in France. They joined forces years later to rehabilitate tiny vineyards in Napa Valley, source grapes from other inspiring vineyards, and use their combined experience to make vibrant, expressive wine. This is single vineyard dry-farmed Grenache from Ukiah’s famous Cemetery Vineyard which is a gravelly paradise for the grape. Whole cluster foot treading created a fresh and fruity quality that was then tempered and enhanced by 21 months in neutral oak barrels.
The 2019 Village Grenache has a soft perfume of flowers and savory herbs leading to flavors of bramble fruit with savory black cherry, apple skins, pomegranate, fig, and strawberry nuances. Mouthwatering freshness with a bit of a chill that becomes slightly chiseled and serious as it breathes.
Food pairings: Braises and stews of lamb or pork, barbecue and cheddar cheeses
Red 2 – 2017 Jigar 'Raja' Cuvee, North Coast
46% Petite Sirah, 23% Syrah, 23% Merlot, 8% Malbec
Based in beautiful Sonoma County, the winemakers place an emphasis on showcasing the terroir of the region while letting the vineyards express themselves in every bottle.
A bold, smooth blend packed with ripe blueberry, plum and blackberry aromas and flavors. Silky tannins with subtle oak spices of cedar and wet stones. A well rounded crowd pleaser.
Food pairings: Turkey burgers, French dip sandwiches, pasta with meat sauces.
White 1 – 2020 Viña Progreso 'Experimental Overground' Viognier, Rio de la Plata, Uruguay
100% Viognier
Gabriel Pisano is one of our favorite winemakers from Uruguay. He was born in the vineyard, and his personality is that of an explorer. After studying oenology at Uruguayan Vine & Wine School, Gabriel traveled the world learning to make with with world famous winemakers in the famed regions of Sonoma, California; Priorat, Spain and Apalta, Chile. Upon his return to Uruguay, Gabriel brought with him new winemaking techniques and a love for the world’s varietals available outside Uruguay.
The wine is dry, delicate and aromatic. Its delicious acidity has flavors of citrus, figs, nectarines and pineapple. The long finish has notes of orange peel and soft pepper.
Food Pairing: Perfect as an appetizer. Serve with roasted fish, shellfish, artichoke hearts and goat cheeses.
White 2 – 2019 ThereAfter Sauvignon Blanc, Evina Vineyard, Contra Costa County
100% Sauvignon Blanc
This is a California Sauvignon Blanc for the Chardonnay lover. The grapes are from Contra Costa (just south of Napa), aged in a mix of new and neutral oak for seven months, and then put through full malolactic fermentation resulting in a softer and creamier wine.
The wine is redolent of kiwi, pear, and a hint of bay leaves. Good acidity and well balanced, it tastes of citrus and melon, with a touch of lemon on the finish.
Food Pairing: Oysters, seafood, salads, and many Asian dishes
COLLECTORS CLUB
Red 1 – 2018 Chateau Condat Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, Bordeaux, France
70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Chateau de Condat belonged for a very long time to the kings of England who distributed, in turn, the considerable revenues it produced to English lords for the Gascon lords that remained faithful to them. After acquiring the property, the Janoueix family has worked hard to restore it, with a deep respect for nature. Located on a southern-facing bed of gravel along the Dordogne river. The gravel stores the suns heat, creating a warmer microclimate. Water drains naturally, and the vines roots must go deep to get nutrients.
This wine has rich black fruit along with a firm structure. Flavors range from the black fruit to the new wood used for aging, which show in the spice and dry core of the wine. This rich and persistent wine improves with age.
Food pairing: Grilled beef ribs, Spicy pork sausages, grilled duck breast or Coq au Vin
Red 2 – 2018 Ciro Bondi 'Nessuno' Outis Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy
Organically Grown
80% Nerello Mascalese, 20% Nerello Cappucio
Delicate, energizing Sicilian red from the south-eastern slopes of the famous Mount Etna. Nerello Mascalese is the base grape with some Nerello Cappucio adding some darkness and weight to the light, ethereal Mascalese - which has often been compared to Burgundian Pinot. Eleven days gently maceration then aging in steel and old barrels. Tiny production run of about 7,000 bottles.
Outis is from the ancient Greek meaning 'no-one' or 'nobody'; a pseudonym of the mythical Odysseus used when he blinded the cyclops, who then unwittingly blamed 'no-one'. Cunning name for a smart wine. The wine shows no overt oak, only excellent, clean and balanced winemaking. A light-medium red Pinot-like color in the glass. Shows aromas of red and black fruits, with balsamic hints. Medium weight on the palate but very flavorful, with a long on the finish and excellent balance.
Food pairing: Food friendly wine, pair with anything from salmon and tuna to pork and poultry. Perfect with tomato based sauces.
White – 2018 Ciro Bondi 'Nessuno' Outis Etna Bianco, Sicily, Italy
Organically Grown
90% Carricante, 10% Cataratto, Minnella, etc.
Ciro Biondi's family has owned vineyards on the southern side of Mt Etna since at least 1800, and first sold bottled wine under their label a century ago. The modern iteration of the Biondi winery started in 1999. Ciro (an architect by training) and his wife Stef own three vineyards near the small town of Trecastagni, and have reworked an old palmento in one of their vineyards as a winery.
Biondi’s Etna Bianco is a blend of Carricante, an intriguing white indigenous grape variety with a distinctive stony minerality, with several other more aromatic local varieties. The combination of bright acidity and minerality with notes of flowers, peach, apricot and herbs comes together harmoniously in the glass.
Food pairing: A great match for seafood and grilled fish
PINOT CLUB
Pinot 1 – 2017 Brick Barn Wine Estate Pinot Noir, Santa Ynez Valley
100% Pinot Noir
Brick Barn Wine Estate founder, Norman Williams, originally purchased this land in 1968. Shortly thereafter, the property became home to an Arabian horse farm, replete with a 36-stall brick barn created by an Italian stonemason in the early 1970s. The original brick barn has now been reimagined as a winery and gathering place, while other portions of the ranch continue to be dedicated to organic vegetable farming and cattle ranching.
This wine bursts from the glass with bright aromas of red cherry, raspberry, berry compote and sage. The palate is rounded and elegant, with nuanced red fruit and wildberry flavors that glide along a supple texture. Notes of black tea and tobacco join lively acidity on a silky, mouthwatering finish.
Food pairing: Grilled salmon, pork and turkey dishes
Pinot 2 – 2018 Pravis 'Madruzzo' Pinot Nero, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
100% Pinot Noir
Madruzzo from Pravis is named for the Castle that sits above the vineyard.
This wine has a bright and fruity nose of wild raspberry, strawberry, maraschino cherry and some dark plum, with some brambles and touch of sweet spice. Fruity and quaffable Pinot Noir that is carefully crafted wine with excellent persistence and capacity for medium-length aging.
Food pairing: Savory duck pancakes, dishes with bacon, mushroom sauces and many cheeses
ORGANIC CLUB
Red 1 – 2018 Chateau Les hauts D'Aglan Cuvee 'A', Cahors, France
Organic
100% Malbec
The vineyards of Château Les Hauts d’Aglan sits in Southwest France between the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Pyrenees. With a southern exposure on the highest terraces of the far west of the Cahors appellation, the vineyards enjoy a unique terrior. This is the ancestral home of Malbec, this is the one region outside of Argentina that is today almost exclusively dependent on the Malbec grape.
The wine has a deep dark red color, with an expressive nose of ripe red fruit and a mouth with spicy aromas. Give the wine some time to breath after opening.
Food pairings: Best with duck confit or mature cheeses.
Red 2 – 2018 Geoffrey de Nouel 'Les Noraies' Chinon, Loire Valley, France
Certified Organic
100% Cabernet Franc
Geoffrey de Noüel is a young vigneron on the rise in Chinon, an AOC located in central Loire, where some of the greatest Cab Franc is being produced. All of Geoffrey's vineyards are certified organic, and his goal is to work as hands off as possible to produce transparent wines that showcase the varied soils of the area.
This single vineyard 'Noraies' bottling is bright and crunchy, with that acid lift on the palate that is unique to Chinon. The fruit is juicy, cherry and red current notes mixing with pine needle herbal tones and the slightest hint of green pepper.
Food Pairing: Vegetarian lasagne, Mexican dishes, tomato based sauces
White – 2020 Bernard & Benoit Landron 'Melon B', Loire Valley, France
Certified Organic
100% Melon de Bourgogne
Third-generation winemaker Bernard farms 25 hectares alongside his son Benoît in Ancenis, north-east of Nantes. This part of the Coteaux de la Loire experiences warm days, cooled by proximity to the Atlantic that also helps reduce humidity is this wet area. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, aged for 6 months on lees in concrete tanks. No added sulphur.
This deliciously briny and mineral grape variety that comprises this certified organic bottling from Muscadet in France's Loire Valley. Concentrated and layered, with gorgeous texture on the palate, this is redolent of crushed oyster shells and Maldon sea salt with a squeeze of bright lemon.
90 PTS - VINOUS
Food Pairing: Oysters, ceviche, Moules frites
BUBBLES CLUB
Bubbles 1 – Domaine Les Pierres Écrites 'En Bulles' Brut Nature, Montlouis sur Loire, France
Organic
100% Chenin Blanc
Grapes are hand-picked when they have attained full maturity and a degree of 12.5%. The fruit is quickly pressed and the juice is clarified of its gross lees over one night. Winemaker Anthony Rassin uses only the juice obtained from the middle of the pressing, because it is the purest and richest. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks spontaneously, with the native yeasts. When the residual sugar level reaches 20 grams per liter, Rassin stops the fermentation by racking and cooling the must. The young wine is then bottled with added yeast but no sugar of any kind for the second fermentation in bottle. It is aged sur latte in the domaine’s cellar for 12 months. Rassin adds no sugar at the moment of degorgement and final bottling to enhance the sparkling wine’s purity, freshness and precision.
Bubbles 2 – Case-Thibaut 'Naturellment' Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut Champagne
Certified Organic
100% Pinot Meunier
From 6 small parcels of vines in Châtillon and Vandières on the western edge of the Vallee de la Marne. Grapes are pressed slowly and gently and all juice is moved by gravity into steel tank. Once each parcel is pressed, half of the juice is transferred into a combination of 228, 350, and 330L barrels for a long, cold and slow native yeast fermentation in Caze's underground cellar. No filtration occurs and dosage levels are determined by blind taste testing before final disgorgement.
Made from a single vintage of 100% Meunier grown on the western edge of the Vallee de la Marne. Naturally farmed and produced, Caze's "Naturellement" is vinous, pure and precise.
NP SOMM CLUB
Red 1 – 2017 Napa State of Vine Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Reserve, Napa Valley
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Sourced from the Rutherford Bench, one of the premier growing regions in Napa Valley, this Cabernet Sauvignon is smooth and elegant. Dark fruits and well balance, subtle tannins lead to a long and lengthy finish.
Food pairing: Steak and lamb dishes
Red 2 – 2016 Domaine Francois-Xavier Borié Grand-Puy Lacoste Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot
A relatively recent acquisition for the Borie family, having taken on the château in 1978, François-Xavier and his wife Marie-Hélène undertook a complete renovation of the property and cellars upon purchase. The global appreciation for Grand-Puy-Lacoste and the second wine Lacoste-Borie stems from François-Xavier’s belief in lower fermentation temperatures and soft extraction helps perfect the elegant restraint of these wines.
Aromas of intense black fruit which explode on the nose, underlining the character of perfectly ripe grapes whilst retaining an attractive mineral freshness. The whole is floral with a touch of spiciness. On the palate, there is a crescendo of flavours, suave, dense and complex. 2016 has fine balance and freshness coupled with a long finish sustained by ripe tannins.
Food pairing: Roast beef, filet mignon, onion soup
White – 2020 Hope Well Chenin Blanc, Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon
Organically Grown
100% Chenin Blanc
Mimi Casteel of Hope Well wines writes, "Losing my Pinot Noir to the smoke in 2020 put a different focus on the white wines, almost like saving the last seed, there was too much at stake and these wines have been so loved. From harvest 2020 through 2021, they were the light that found a way in the dark, and shine with all the intensity that a perfect juxtaposition allows. It is with gratitude and great joy I share them with you."
The acidity in this wine is electric with aromas of florals, pear and melon.
Food pairing: Vegetable dishes, salads or fried chicken