I like Malbec, but I don’t love it – at least not most of the time.  Why?  I don’t have anything against the grape, only the way so many Malbecs are handled today.  With the recent popularity of the grape, far too many Malbecs come to us in one of two forms: either as pleasant but otherwise innocuous quaffs or tannic monsters ready to rip our throats out and drag us into the next room.  Do I really want to wait and see what happens next?  Happily, the 2010 Casarena Jamilla’s Vineyard Perdriel Malbec falls into neither category and restores my faith in the noble Malbec varietal.  Casarena’s single vineyard Malbec is truly the real deal, and for this reason it earns this month’s Collector Series Top pick.  It offers deep, rich polished flavors that gain complexity with each passing sip.  Casarena’s 2010 Jamilla’s Vineyard Malbec deserves the lofty 94 point score Decanter Magazine awarded it and that magazine’s choice as “Best Argentinean Malbec of the Year.”  If all Malbecs were created equal, or least as good as the Jamilla’s Vineyard, who would ask for anything else?  Not me!

Enjoy!
Don

May features four outstanding Premier Series selections from three countries on three continents: California, France and South Africa all make a formidable bid for this month’s Top Pick.  In the absence of one clear standout, I am going with the home grown wine.  Why?  This is the first release of Signal Ridge, a delicious Champagne Method or to be more politically correct Traditional Method sparkling wine.  Signal Ridge Bubbles Brut makes its debut with The International Wine of the Month Club.  This frothy, friendly bubbly comes to us from the folks at Trinchero, who are proven leaders in fashioning outstanding quality and value using sustainable and organic viticulture.  If you like being the first on the block to try something and a top notch sparkling wine that offers beautiful clean flavors and exceptional value  is at all appealing; you’ll know why this wine garnered this month’s Top Pick.

Enjoy!
Don

April offers a bevy of good wines from which to choose, but one wine clearly stands out to me and that is Endrizzi’s 2011 Serpaiolo Maremma – this month’s Premier Series Top Pick.  The 2011 vintage posed some challenges in Chianti Classico and throughout much of Tuscany due to excessive heat, but Tuscany’s cooler coastal areas such as Maremma escaped the heat’s wrath and produced exceptional wines.  And in many cases the region’s producers turned out their finest wines to date.  In Maremma, 2011 was a banner year for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot as well as for region’s Sangiovese, which is why the 2011 Serpaiolo (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese) offers exceptional depth, flavor, and structure and earns this month’s Top Pick.  It is a Super Tuscan to enjoy now and for the next 5 plus years.  Enjoy!

Don

Nobody makes better Carmenère than the legendary “King of Carmenère,” Mario Geise, and we know of no better Carmenère than the 2005 Casa Silva Microterroir.  Critics have dubbed the iconic 2005 Casa Silva Microterroir “the ultimate Carmenère,” which no doubt solidifies Geise’s reputation for fashioning knockout, full-flavored Carmenère.

This wine’s saturated purple color, seductive perfume of blue and black fruits, and layer upon layer of complex ripe fruit, chocolate, and spice flavors earn the 2005 Microterroir this month’s Collector Series Top Pick. Elegant, opulent, and powerful all at once, the 2005 Microterroir from a tiny plot in Casa Silva’s Los Lingues Vineyard is as good as it gets.  Enjoy!

Salute!
Don

This month’s Premier Series offers a formidable line-up of wines from four different countries on three continents: wines from France, Argentina, Chile and South Africa all make their appearance and each offers something special.  Yet, only one gets to be Top Pick, and this month’s Top Pick goes to Mary-Lou Nash’s 2010 Black Pearl Mischief Maker Shiraz.  Mary-Lou makes Black Pearl wines in tiny quantities with tender loving care from her 11 acre property.  Best of all she has the knack for imbuing her wines with the beauty and wonder of the natural landscape of Africa’s Western Cape, which surrounds her perfectly tended vineyard.  Moreover, Mischief Maker reveals a polished purity and sophistication that’s often missing in other South African wines.  Opulent fruit flavors married to ripe tannins make this finely crafted Shiraz an absolute pleasure to drink.  Enjoy!

Salute!
Don