I am delighted to prepare this inaugural “inside the industry” report in partnership with The Rake! Every couple of weeks, I’ll clue you in to the best opportunities to learn about, taste, and purchase wines in the Twin Cities and surrounding communities.
Let’s start with our overview of free public tastings, which occur more often than you might think. While most better wine shops offer tastings during big sales, many others extend this service to customers every week.
France 44, for example, hosts a tasting every Saturday from 2-5pm, with five to eight wines available. This month’s featured winery is Gundlach-Bundschu (check out the ’01 Mountain Cuvee!). (612-925-3252)
Byerly’s Golden Valley similarly showcases a few special wines each week, poured by Connie (formerly with Surdyk’s for 15 years!) on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4-7pm. Call the store for details on this week’s featured wines (763-544-8978).
South Lyndale Liquors, one of my favorite shops, is featuring Echelon Winery, pouring six wines from the California Central Coast (Fridays, 4-7pm).
If you want regular access to some rather serious wines, then you need to become one of Phil’s good buddies and join him on Friday nights at Hennepin-Lake Liquors. Phil is definitely a character, and his store offers an amazing selection and some terrific values. In browsing the narrow aisles of this place, you can’t help but absorb some knowledge about the world of wine. Phil’s tastings are not pre-planned, so count on an adventure; he tells us that he opens ten to twelve winesdaily, depending on “who stops in”. He also stands by the statement that he will beat anyone’s price in town—any wine, any time. So bring your favorite sale catalogue over and do some comparison shopping of your own.
Other Tasting Events
Advance notice is in order for a very special evening on April 16, presented by The Rake and sponsored by Excelsior Vintage (www.excelsiorvintage.com). The wine tasting party is the kick-off for Louie’s Wine Club, named after yours truly, of course. Our Napa Spring Wine Fling will highlighting more than fifty labels from Napa Valley, many of which are hard to find or not yet available in Minnesota. A strolling magic show, live acoustic guitar, and a special collection of Napa Valley photographs will add to the evening’s gala flair. Call 763-476-0699 for tickets; and see page 24 of The Rake’s April issue for more details.
Tasting Notes
My personal reaction (as opposed to tedious and pretentious varietal characteristics) to wines recently tasted at various venues (prices, if listed, are full retail):
Ferrari-Carano Fume ’01: clean, elegant, great food wine. $14.99
Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, Alexander Valley ’01: one of my all-time favorites; rich and lush, with big oak and a loooong finish. Worth $30.
Chalone Group Syrah Four-Pack: $72 (as far as I know, you can only buy the Jade Mountain as part of this series):
Echelon ’02: surprisingly good; a nice value at about $13.
Edna Valley: a bit lighter than the Echelon; not quite what I look for in Syrah.
Jade Mountain: I can see why they “protect” this gem; very special. Worth buying the four-pack, even if you gave away the other 3 bottles.
Chalone Estate ’01: wow! If not for the Jade Mountain, this wine would have been my top wine of the whole evening. Huge, ripe, & delicious!
At a recent Pinot Noir tasting we sampled four labels:
La Crema ’01($20)—always a standard by which I judge other pinots, smooth & light.
David Bruce ’01 Central Coast ($25)—similar to La Crema, with perhaps a touch more elegance.
Fess Parker ’99 American Tradition Reserve ($35)—yowzaa! Did this baby rock! It easily blew away the competition.
Patz & Hall ’00 Russian River Valley ($40)— I had been looking forward to tasting this highly rated pinot producer for some time, and perhaps, this was a “bad bottle,” but I was very disappointed. I need to give Patz & Hall another try.
Another disappointment was the ’96 Terra Valentine Cabernet—and in this case I tasted from two different bottles, so it was the wine, which was very light, even fragile. Perhaps it wasn’t fair to sample cabernet right after the blockbuster syrahs, but even the next day the T-V didn’t hold up as I thought it might.
One particular tasting party ended on a happy note, sharing a bottle of Pirramimma’s stunning Late Harvest Riesling. I am always so pleased to introduce people to this wine, as I think it’s one of the very best values anywhere at about $16 (for 500ml). As much as I favor California wines, there is no better example, dollar for dollar, of late-harvest Riesling.
Recently, a fellow customer at a wine store asked me to recommend the best Cab under $30, and I showed him one of the very last bottles from the great Gallo of Sonoma “Frei Vineyard,” ’97 vintage, which was a steal at $25.99. Later that evening, however, I had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of Gundlach Bundschu’s Block 13 Cabernet ($20). Simply beautiful! Had I tasted this earlier, I might have changed my mind.
Best Retail Values This Week
Sam’s Club & Costco
These stores carry some really fine wines, as well as the best day-to-day prices in town. Many people don’t realize that the “member-only” policy of Sam’s and Costco does not legally extend to their liquor sales—meaning that anyone is free to purchase wine there. But do your homework before you go, as there is no staff at these stores to answer your questions. Which, of course, is where I come in. Here’s the scoop:
Sam’s Club has a much larger selection than Costco, and usually the prices are a bit better, with a few exceptions. Here are some wines that Sam’s offers regularly, with comparative prices at Costco and MGM (who have the gumption to tout their great prices!).
Kendall Jackson ‘00 Reserve Chardonnay: S—$8.88, C—$9.99, MGM—$12.99
Columbia Crest ’00 Merlot/Cab: S$5.33, C N/A, MGM $7.99
Rancho Zabaco ’01 H-Vines Zin: S—$9.84, C—$10.49, MGM—$13.99
Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio: S—$6.83, C—N/A, MGM—$8.99 (sale price!)
You might not expected to see higher-end wines at Sam’s, but here they are:
La Crema ’02 Chardonnay: S—$12.87, C—$13.49, MGM—$21.99
Sterling ’02 Chardonnay: S—$11.56, C—$11.29, MGM—$22.99
Cambria ’01 “Katherine’s Vineyard” Chard (90 WS): S—$12.04, MGM—$18.99
Stonestreet ’97 “Legacy”: S—$45.56, MGM—$99.99
Stag’s Leap ’00 “Fay Vineyard”: S—$62.12, C—$62.99, MGM—N/A
Dry Creek Vineyard ’01 “Heritage Clone” Zinfandel: S—$12.87, C—$16.49, MGM—$16.99 (sale price)
Costco, however, can boast some wines I haven’t seen anywhere else, like Montes Alpha “M” ’99 ($56.99) and Montes Folly Syrah ’00 ($57.99), as well as two ice wines from Canada, Inniskillin Gold & Silver ($75 and $65, respectively).
In short, an occasional visit to both of these “member’s only” stores is well worth the time.
I tip my hat to the MGM store in Plymouth, for it has one bottle of the amazing Gallo of Sonoma ’97 “Stefani” Cab ($26.99), as well as two very special wines from Sterling: the ’00 “Diamond Mt Ranch” Cab ($48.99), which I sampled and loved at a recent Sterling Wine Dinner at Tejas; and the ’98 “Three Palms Vineyard” Merlot ($79.99).
The Wine Bar Scene
I’m currently recruiting “secret agents” to report in on favorite wine bars and restaurants that feature a newsworthy list of wines by the glass. Beyond Beaujo’s, Bev’s, and Bobino’s, my research has yet to mine the rich vein of wine gold I know is out there. Special rewards await those who contribute to this noble cause; e-mail or
call in using the website below.
And now… I’m off to Napa Valley to get inside information on new releases and new labels coming to our area. I’ll be back in two weeks with a full report!
Contact Louie and get information about Louie’s Wine Club www.louiethewineguy.com
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