Featured Wines - April 2021

Throughout Castilla y Leon and much of Spain, beef and lamb provide the preferred protein to accompany the country’s fine Tempranillo-based wines, and so it is with Matchbook’s 2015 Tinto Rey Dunnigan Hills Tempranillo. Grilled lamb chops marinated in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary and served with garlic mashed potatoes and root vegetables makes a splendid partner. Equally gratifying is a well-trimmed beef tenderloin topped with a delectable...

Henri Poiron consistently fashions classic Muscadet and in the sunny 2019 vintage another exceptional wine in his 2019 Domaine des Quatre Routes Sèvre-et-Maine. Always bottled Sur Lie, it reveals clean, dry, refreshing flavors to complement its brilliant pale yellow robe. The classic scents of stone fruits, minerals, and a faint hint of refreshing sea spray emanate from this energetic Muscadet to entice the thirsty throat. Henri Poiron’s 2019...

The 2018 Château Armandière Ancestral Cahors is a polished, refined version of Malbec in a varietal and style that Americans have come to love. The 2018 Ancestral Cahors Malbec delivers the size, boldness and intensity of an Argentine Malbec but with the polish, refinement, and sophistication for which the French are justifiably revered. The wine’s aroma promises a powerful experience as draughts of dark fruits, leather, violets, and subtle...

Aia Vecchia’s 2019 Toscana Vermentino is a sophisticated blend of 95% Vermentino and 5% Viognier that brings a sun-splashed color, amplifying aromatics, and mouth-filling flavors suggestive of ripe peach, tangy citrus, and floral tones reminiscent of acacia and spring flowers, all sprinkled with a touch of sea spray from the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea for added freshness and precision. In the mouth, Aia Vecchia’s 2019 Toscana Vermentino makes an...

Zinfandel has been dubbed “California’s Chameleon.” More than any other grape variety grown in California, Zinfandel adapts to its environment to reflect its terroir and the whims of its winemaker. Michael Talty’s 2014 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (90% Zinfandel, 7% Petite Sirah, 3% Carignane) embodies the best of Old World and New World winemaking, resulting in a wine that exhibits the pure fruit and brambly elements that Dry Creek Valley happily...

From the oldest vines of the estate, the 2019 Patient Cottat Sancerre Anciennes Vignes (91 Points – Wine Enthusiast) embodies the finest attributes of the Loire’s most renowned appellation. It first lures the beholder with a vibrant golden green glow and a lithe enticing aroma of fresh citrus, apricot, and herbs. In the mouth, this Sancerre is complex, ripe, and beautifully balanced by fresh acidity and Sancerre’s delightful minerality. Acacia...

Vasco Perdigao has once again fashioned a powerful age-worthy Vacqueyras of great character in his 2017 Domaine Chamfort Vacqueyras. A traditional blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre, the 2017 Domaine Chamfort Vacqueyras from vines in excess of 50 years of age is regally colored and extremely concentrated due to the vintage’s small yields. This is a wine to ward off the cold and rain and let the sun shine in, as its deep-down...