Featured Wines - January 2014

For our money, Château Eulalie’s 2012 Plaisir d’Eulalie Minervois is the finest Plaisir to date, and considering the excellent quality of the 2010 and 2009 Plaisirs that says a lot. The 2012 Plaisir d’Eulalie Minervois mixes juicy, deep fruit flavors with rich, polished tannins, adding a certain flamboyance and intensity to the wine. It is an intense, full-bodied wine with alluring aromas of black cherry, fennel, violet, and dried Provencal herbs and flowers. Full of juicy fruit flavors and ripe tannins, it strikes the ideal balance between fruit and structure.

This formidable blend comes across as one of the most distinctive and enjoyable white wines in the market. Who would have thought that Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer would marry so well? Bright, hauntingly aromatic, rich and spicy, the 2011 Stepping Stone Rocks! White offers one tasty mouthful. This seductive blend presents a broad, juicy mid palate, delivering a stylish mélange of apple, apricot, and melon fruit infused with exotic spices. Better still, the wine remains dry and finishes with gentle acidity that allows the wine to linger pleasantly in the mouth.

Composed of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Grenache, Stepping Stone’s 2011 Rocks! Red delivers a unique mélange of California, Bordeaux, and the Rhône Valley. The wine offers up a heady bouquet of blackberry jam and currant fruit along with a pleasant toasty quality born of oak barrel ageing. Full bodied and nearly overwhelming upon the first sip, the 2011 Rocks! Red reveals deep down fruit flavors and husky tannins, then smoothes out to reveal a creamy mid palate with lots of luscious fruit and barrel flavors that made us keep coming back for more.

Malabaila’s 2011 Roero Arneis Pradvaj embodies all the inherent elegance, flavor and style of the noble Arneis varietal. Its captivating aroma embodies the soft scents of spring flowers and ripe fruits before expanding on the the palate with pure ripe fruit flavors touched with hints of fennel and marzipan. Elegant, balanced, and perfectly nuanced, Marabaila’s Roero Arneis refreshes, delights, and enlivens the senses. It appears light and ethereal at the same time it satisfies the senses, and when allowed to linger in the mouth, each sip inspires wonder.

Scoring 94 points, the 2010 Dei Vino Nobile di Montepulciano came in at #38 on this year’s Wine Enthusiast Top 100, and our tasting panel wholeheartedly agrees with the impressive accolade. Caterina Dei and Nicolò d’Aflitto have a knack for turning out flashy, scented, age worthy Vino Nobile, and the 2010 Dei is all of that and more. The wine’s incredible aroma of red and black fruits accented by rose petal and violet scents are precursors to the seamlessly integrated, pure fruit flavors, body, and supreme balance that embody both elegance and power.

The 2011 Marc Colin La Fontenotte embodies elegance, breed and all that makes white Burgundy the world’s most renowned Chardonnay. From a tiny single vineyard that sits alongside the Premier Cru Les Champlots, this wine delights the eye from the moment it is poured. As an opening act, it offers a sparkling sun-kissed robe, followed by an entrancing bouquet of ripe citrus, poached pear, and a hint of wood smoke. With each sip, it caresses the palate with gentle fruit and mineral driven flavors.

Cabernet Franc enjoys cult status among serious red wine drinkers, and the 2010 Cornerstone Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cabernet Franc provides ample evidence as to why. Cornertstone’s Stepping Stone Cabernet Franc offers a fragrant, gracious bouquet of red and black fruits, fresh cut herbs and tobacco plus a hint of espresso bean. Bright, energetic and downright velvety on the palate, the 2010 Stepping Stone Cabernet Franc excites the drinker with a luscious core of berry fruit, infused with chocolate, and perfectly ripe, well-integrated tannins.