Featured Wines - April 2018

Valle Secreto’s 2014 Cachapoal Valley Key Malbec offers a flavorful, polished rendition of the ubiquitous Malbec varietal, a grape that is often appreciated more for its color and body than for its elegance or complex flavors. Although the varietal is most associated with neighboring Argentina, Chile fashions excellent Malbec, too, not the least of which is Valle Secreto’s Key Malbec from Chile’s renowned Cachapoal Valley. The 2014 Valle...

Year after year, in spite of the vagaries of each vintage, Angel Rodriquez coaxes the best out of his beloved organically farmed Verdejo to fashion quintessential Rueda Verdejo, which by all accounts continues to reign as one of Spain’s most compelling white wines. Nevertheless, after an ideal growing season, Rodriguez’s 2016 Martinsancho Rueda Verdejo appears to have reached even greater heights, as the 2016 Martinsancho struck us as the...

Awarded 91 points by Wine Spectator, Château Sainte Eulalie’s 2014 La Livinière La Cantilène once again demonstrates why La Livinière is a special cru and the Languedoc’s most prized appellation. The wine’s deep, nearly impenetrable robe beckons the taster, but it is La Cantilène’s seductive aromatics, profound flavors, and beautifully integrated tannins that make it hard to resist. The redolent scents and savory flavors of woodland berries...

Christian Beyer is the consummate Alsace producer fashioning superlative Riesling, Pinot Gris, and the region’s most popular wine, Pinot Blanc. The 2016 Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc continues Beyer’s hot hand with the grape. The 2016 Tradition exudes Christian Beyer’s charm and acumen with Alsace’s ubiquitous Pinot Blanc, offering an inviting floral nose and round, tender fruit flavors reminiscent of ripe apples and Bosc pears mixed with a delightfully fresh minerality. Christian Beyer once again captures the tender side of Pinot Blanc...

An exquisite blend of 90% Petite Sirah and 10% Zinfandel, the 2014 D. Pfaff Bernier Vineyard Petite Sirah aptly combines super-rich flavor with smooth, ripe tannins. Intense blackberry fruit, touches of vanilla, and enticing spice tones greet the nose and the palate in this bold, beautiful red. This makes us wonder why more California producers don’t fashion Petite Sirahs like the D. Pfaff Bernier Vineyard, while others still cleave to...

Elegance, precision, and haunting aromatics best describe the 2016 Valenciso Rioja Blanco, a wine that sheds a whole new light on Rioja Blanco. This is a wine made with the same care that goes into Valenciso’s remarkable Rioja Reserva and has earned Valenciso effusive press, including many 90+ ratings for its Rioja Blanco and Decanter’s Winery of the Year Award. The 2016 Valenciso Rioja Blanco is fashioned from 80-100 year old Viura (70%) and Garnacha Blanca (30%) grown in the Rioja Alta.

The exceptional 2015 vintage in Burgundy has yielded the finest red Burgundies since 2010. Although Jacques Girardin consistently fashions authentic, elegant red Burgundy, Girardin’s 2015 Clos Rousseau Premier Cru Santenay truly rises to another level. Elegant, silky smooth, and subtly complex, Jacques Girardin’s 2015 Santenay Clos Rousseau is not only enticing, it is downright seductive. An enthralling bouquet of blackcurrants, red plums...