Collection: December

Whether you're a Champagne geek or just looking for flat out DELICIOUS Champagne, you can't go wrong with Bereche. Highly aromatic with notes of toasted brioche and lemon cream, the rich, textured palate offers notes of buttery biscuits and lemon zest followed by a lashing of chalky minerality. Bereche's Brut Reserve is blended from roughly equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier based on the 2022 vintage with the remainder being reserve wines. This bottling is stacked with energy and grip and a medium-full body platform, displaying an impressive depth of fruit, minerals, ginger, citrus zest and and racy structure. Fantastic now, the Bereche Brut Reserve will only improve and gain in complexity over the next five to seven years. We’ve been promoting Bereche Champagne since long before they became one of the Champagne darlings of the sommelier world and now they are in short supply. If you’re a fan, buy all you can now as this is the last release until 2026.  Very limited.

$29.99 bottle / $171.00($28.50) six-pack Owner-winemaker (and all-around great guy) Mike Hinds has quietly been issuing some of the best under-the-radar wines in Oregon for the last nine or ten years. But that’s Mike, refreshingly unassuming despite his winemaking prowess. His 2022 Eola-Amity Pinot is elegant, structured and quite delicious. Enticing aromatic soar from the glass reflecting the wine’s Pommard and Wadensvil clone origins.  The palate is superbly balanced offering a level of complexity beyond what one would expect at this price point.  The Rainer cherry fruit is in a great spot and supported by suave tannins a note of autumnal spice.  Enjoy now and often over the next five years.

$24.99 bottle / $135.00($22.50) six-pack DEAL OF THE YEAR for Cru Beaujolais.  We’ve been promoting the goodness of the 2023 Cru Beaujolais vintage all year and we now have what is easily the best deal of the vintage here with the Couteau Morgon.  Why is this wine so good besides coming from the outstanding 2023 vintage?  Because it’s made by a very famous Morgon producer whose name does not appear on the label and is supposed to be a mystery…I’m not going to say who it is, I’m just going to say a name-Foillard.  Yep. Don’t tell anyone.  With intense pure fruit, exotic spice, earth, and a fantastic balance that will reward years in the cellar as well as allow you to enjoy the wine tonight with a roasted chicken, seared duck breast, or a grilled steak, this may well be the red wine deal of the season. 

$35.99 bottle / $197.94($32.99) six-pack Geek Alert: Holy cow - this wine is so intense, not to mention delicious! Savagnin is the local white grape specialty of the eastern French region known as the Jura. Croix & Courbet’s Savadonnay, roughly a 50/50 blend of Savagnin and Chardonnay is liquid electricity. The nose offers up aromas of smoky minerals and bergamot orange. The full-bodied palate is rich, coiled and ready to spring with laser-like focus, citrusy acidity, Meyer lemon and dissolved Jurassic minerals which complement the wine's fruit profile. This wine will only improve for years to come. Experience the goodness while you can as it is likely the last vintage we’ll see enough of to advertise.

$34.89 bottle / $197.94($32.99) six-pack The Les Picasses vineyard is one of the finest in Chinon, thus making it one of the finest Cabernet Franc vineyards in the world. Fifty+ year old vines grown on clay with a limestone base combined with minimalist winemaking give us one amazing Chinon. The 2020 is a structured young Les Picasses showing a juicy fruit profile to go along with the earthy, minerally side of Chinon; beautiful raspberry fruit supports leather and soil tones, framed by fine-grained tannin. While the 2020 Olga Raffault Les Picasses is certainly very enjoyable to drink now with charcuterie, grilled fatty ribeye or a simple pork shoulder roast, this wine will improve as it ages effortlessly in the cellar through 2035.

The one and only.  A Tuscan 1st Growth."The 2022 Montevertine is a total stunner. Readers will find a wine of uncommon depth and resonance, all in the classic Montevertine style with the purity of fruit of today's wines. Dark red cherry, red plum, blood orange, pomegranate, spice, menthol and rose petal stain the palate. All the elements are so well balanced. Silky tannins are completely incorporated in the wine's fabric. This is super-impressive. Montevertine is increasingly the wine for the shrewd consumer to buy here.  Drink 2032-2047” - 97 Antonio Galloni, Vinous - Very, very limited.

Even at $19.99, this wine comes across as “serious.”  Perhaps no winery in the world takes Pinot Bianco more seriously than Terlano  and it shows even here in their entry level bottling.  Super aromatic, great texture and balance are the hallmarks of this dry, food-friendly Pinot Bianco.  In addition, the Tradition has a mineral streak that is all Alto Adige terroir. "This is a gorgeous wine, and you can't beat that low price. The Cantina Terlano 2022 Alto Adige Pinot Bianco Tradition offers a delicate medley of pear, quince, guava, white currant and grilled lemon. It shows fresh acidity without appearing unripe. It's an entry-level wine with good complexity and a multidimensional character." - 93 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

$45.99 bottle / $251.94($41.99) six-pack Grand Cru level Pinot Bianco from the great Vorberg vineyard.  Terlano’s Riserva Vorberg is a step up in every way from their very good “Tradition” bottling. Aromas of white peach, apricot, lemon zest and wet stones segue to the captivating palate with baked apple fruit, spice, quince and minerals galore, supported by well-balanced acidity giving this wine a terrific sense of energy. Enjoy this dry, food-friendly wine now, or watch it evolve and gain in complexity over the next 12 years.  This is Pinot Bianco at its best - better that most of imagine it can be. Super limited.

Fans of old-school Barbera will love this wine.  Fans of gushy fruit, very modern-style 15% alcohol Barbera, not so much.  Ringing in at a cool 13.5% alcohol, the Rosso Bacher Barbera is clean and pure in every way.  The nose offers a touch of earth and dried herbs in addition to its fruit, while the palate echos those themes and is supported by Barbera’s inherent food-friendly acidity.  Enjoy now and over the next four years with red sauced pasta, cheese-rich risotto, burgers, pork, and vegetarian fare.

Marisa Bacher’s 2024 Vino Rosso is 100% Dolcetto from 90-year-old vines planted in a vineyard at the top of Monforte d’Alba.  To be honest, I rarely find Dolcetto to be interesting.  This wine, however, is interesting and tasty and very versatile at the table and a really good deal for the unpretentious ready to enjoy red wine. The nose offers Dolcetto fruit scents with some whole cluster spice for added intrigue.  The palate is fairly light with crunchy red fruit, good acidity and slightly grippy tannins.  Enjoy now and over the next four four years with antipasti plates, any kind red meat, mushroom dishes, or just on it’s own. 

No wonder this Nebbiolo is so strong…it’s from the high elevation and highly regarded Briccolina vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba.  The 2024 Rosso Bacher Nebbiolo was in the running against a very famous Barbaresco cooperative’s new release Nebbiolo for this spot in the newsletter.  Not only is the Rosso Bacher a more compelling and delicious choice, it’s also less expensive. The 2024 Rosso Bacher casts beautiful aromas of rosemary, pipe tobacco and earth. The palate is just plain delicious: medium-bodied with pretty red fruit and earth notes framed by good acidity and soft tannins. Drink over the next five to eight years with just about any preparation you can think of that involves beef, lamb, sausages or mushrooms, risotto etc. 

$44.99 bottle / $243.00($40.50) six-pack I have to admit, this red wine really surprised to the upside. I expected it, like any wine from Te Mata, to be very strong in it’s category, but it I wan’t prepared for how good it is - especially at this price point. I mean, you can’t buy Cabernet-based CA for WA - or Bordeaux wines anywhere near this good at anywhere near this price. The beautiful nose reminds me of 1980s era young California Cabernet Sauvignon - as in Mayacamas, Spottswoode, Chateau Montelena and the like. While this wine is already really delicious now, it will only improve over the next 15 years. “The 2021 Awatea Cabernets Merlot is dusty and chalky aromatically, with lavender and crushed rocks, pouch tobacco and a sheet or two of nori. The wine feels fleshy despite that, and this brings a pleasurable see-saw of savory and succulent. This is an excellent wine and perfumed to the extreme.” - 96 Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate

$99.99 bottle / $539.94($89.99) six-pack Te Mata’s Coleraine red is widely considered to be the “First Growth” of the southern hemisphere, if not the new world. Vintage after vintage, this wine is among the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon blends in the world - and it sells for a fraction of the price of its competition. “For classicists, this cuvée remains the closest you'll get to Bordeaux. It is richly aromatic, exuding pure blackcurrant and Cabernet's varietal tobacco and leafy notes, but there's never an overt sweetness, resisting any new world caricature. There's abundant tannin here, providing structure and assuring its longevity, but they're tender in nature, and that's probably a reflection of the team pulling back on their extraction regime since 2020. It's dark; it's intense; it's pure blackcurrant Cabernet; it's blackcurrant leaf, and it has just the right amount of dark chocolate bitterness. The oak is a supporting act that provides cedar and Christmas spices but never gets in the way, even at this early stage. In all, this is surprisingly well-balanced. Drink 2025-2038.” - Vinous

In lieu of his annual Sake Advent Calendar, Namazake Paul is offering his Holiday Sake Box - 12 full size bottles of his favorite sakes. In an unending quest to bring new sake to the market, we've gone for 12 full size bottles this year which include mostly Namazake. There's still a virtual brewery tour and a kick off party too. The booklet has doubled in size with detailed pictures and history of each brewery. Since it's not tied to the days of the month, the Holiday Box can be gifted anytime in December.  The Namazake Paul Holiday Sake Box is the perfect gift for the hardcore Sake collector looking for something new, Sake geek, friend wanting to get into Sake or, frankly, just treat yourself!