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July 2003 Collector´s Club
2001 K Vintners Milbrandt Wahluke Slope
Syrah
Winemaker Charles Smith goes from strength to strength. His most
recent release is no exception - a rich, age-worthy effort that both
matches well with food (roast game), and as a stand-alone wine.
Should you choose to drink this young, please decant it to show it at
its best. There´s a reasonable supply at $25.00. We
also have in K´s previously released Red Mountain Syrah at
$19.75, and a couple of others as well.
1999 Vita Nova Santa Barbara County
Sangiovese Stopman Vineyard
This lovely Central Coast (California) Sangiovese just gets better the
longer it´s open, as we found out at a recent tasting.
It´s a wonderful accompaniment to barbequed meat, pork and
chicken dishes. The wine is produced by Au Bon Climat´s
Jim Clendenon, with his usual attention to balance and finesse.
It was $23.00; we´ve got the last of it in the club at $15.00.
There´s a miniscule amount left in stock.
1998 Pegasus Bay Wairapa (New Zealand)
Chardonnay
Another price-slashed bargain! I love this economy - this one is
a rich, oaky mouthful of Chardonnay that was retailing at $30.00; this
hits the club at $21.00. There´s a bit left. After
we´re out of this one, we´ll bring in the 2000 vintage at
the original price. Chill it down, drink it up - it´s
ready.
2002 Dunham Cellars Three Legged Red
Speaking of the economy, lots of our best winemakers are discovering
the joys of making high-quality, inexpensive (at least compared to
their main-line wines) good-drinking wines. Eric Dunham´s
the latest and, as usual, excels. He´s made a powerful,
elegant, and very tasty wine for $16.00, named after his dog (the
story´s on the back label). There´s not too much of
this - there never is of his wines - and I anticipate it moving VERY
quickly. Have it on the deck / in the park (only if legal!) / at
the beach / wherever it feels right!
2000 Les Vignerons de Saumur Lieu-Dit Les
Pouches Saumur
To translate: this is a Chenin Blanc from the central Loire valley,
made at a co-operative. To explain: it´s one of the best
$7.50 Chenin Blancs I´ve had, and it opens up beautifully over a
few hours into a rich, complex wine that will go well with a variety
of lighter fare. If you´re really daring, you can try
aging it for a while and see what happens. I don´t think
my personal supply will last long enough for the experiment!
There´s plenty available.
2002 Chateau Grande Cassagne
Costières de Nîmes Rosé
I´ve always enjoyed this vintner´s wines, and love
including them in the club (if only to use almost every diacritical
mark in the French language in one line!) 2002 was a very
difficult year for most of southern France; flooding wiped out much of
the harvest. Still, good winemakers make good wine even in off
years, and this is a good example. There´s a fair supply
at $8.50.
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