Monthly Wine Specials - September

It’s September, and it’s not only “back to school” time; it’s also “back to cool” time! Whether you take the “cool” to mean chilly temps or something swanky and fun, we’ve got a great selection of wines for your consideration this month. Pair them with the coming fall season’s bounty: squash, pumpkin, turnips … roast ‘em all with some chicken and potatoes, and you have the perfect comfort meal for a Sunday in September. Just don’t forget one of these wines! Engage and enjoy!

(All white, sparkling and/or rosé Wines of the Month are now chilled in our wine cooler)
 

Purchase any one bottle of these wines and receive a 15% discount throughout the month of September.

Domaine Pichot ’09 Vouvray ‘la Peu de la Moriette’ (Loire Valley, France)
 DRY WHITE
Reg Price/This Month   $16.99/14.44
Domaine ‘le Peu de la Moriette’ was built from three main vineyards by Jean-Claude and his son, Christophe. The name is explained by Monsieur Pichot to originate from the old French, ‘Puits du petit Maure’, or ‘Well of the little Moor’, dating back to antiquity when the Moors had settled in this region of France. This Vouvray is delicate and nearly dry, with lively flavors hinting at quince and grapefruit. The fresh, floral Chenin Blanc fruit is underpinned by firm and crisp acidity. This 2009 is the best vintage we’ve ever tasted!

The Magnificent Wine Co. ’08 Steak House Red (Columbia Valley, Washington)
 DRY RED
Reg Price/This Month  $11.99/10.19
If Cab is king, this one should wear a crown. Big, fleshy black cherries followed by toasty oak-BOLD! One sip of this 2008 Cabernet will have you out in the back 40 shooting yourself a steak. Wine Spectator rates this a best value saying that the wine “… is firm and chewy, offering a tight-textured mouthful of cedar and smoke flavors, with a modicum of berry. Finishes on a savory note.”

Ravines ’08 Dry Riesling (Finger Lakes, NY)
 DRY WHITE
Reg Price/This Month  $15.99/13.59
Ravines Wine Cellars is a boutique winery in an emerging world-class wine region, the Finger Lakes of upstate New York. It is the dream and passion of Morten & Lisa Hallgren, a European Winemaker/ Oenologist and his Chef/Foodie wife. “Floral, with a perfumy hint leading the way for peach, green almond, green apple and melon rind notes that all linger nicely on the taut finish. Bony in style, but not severe. Drink now through 2011.” 90 points, Wine Spectator

Ferraton ’08 Cotes du Rhone Blanc “Samorëns” (Rhone, France)
 DRY WHITE
Reg Price/This Month  $12.99/$11.04
Owned by M. Chapoutier and operating as a biodynamic winery, the Ferraton Pere et Fils operation offers some of the best reds and whites that the Rhone Valley has to offer. This white wine is a blend of 60% Grenache Blanc and 40% Clairette. It has a bright, pale gold color and conjures up aromas of white fruits and white flowers. It is fresh and vibrant, yet soft and accessible.

Luc Pirlet ’08 Un-Oaked Chardonnay (Languedoc, France)
 DRY WHITE
Reg Price/This Month   $9.99/8.49
The Cab and the Viognier both rock. Now try the incredible Chardonnay! The wine is fermented in stainless steel with a little bit of skin contact and bottled early to preserve freshness. A nose of almonds, peach and acacia is present and follows through with a harmonious palate and a fresh finish. Pair with seafood and chicken!

Elicio ’09 Grenache/Merlot
(Cotes du Ventoux, France)
 RED
Reg Price/This Month  $10.99/9.34
This wine is made from a careful selection of young vines growing on chalky and clay soils in the Southeast of the Rhone Valley. Aged in concrete tanks 8 months with temperature controlled fermentation. This fulfilling wine evokes the warm and fruity flavors of its sunny region. A young wine, packed with fresh notes of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry wrapped up in a tornado of intense flavors and soft white and black spices. Round, very fruit forward, this extreme value wine can be enjoyed with your everyday meals or by itself.
 

Escarpment Vineyards ’08 “Over the Edge” Pinot Noir (Martinborough, New Zealand)
 DRY RED
Reg Price/This Month   $16.99/14.44
Escarpment founder/winemaker Larry McKenna is regarded as ‘Mr. Pinot Noir’ in New Zealand, recognizing his long and passionate affair with the variety. He builds power, complexity and longevity into his wines to such a degree that he is the envy of many winemakers. “At less than one-third the price of Escarpment’s single-vineyard wines, this is a great Pinot Noir value. Ripe cherries and plums make a full impression on the palate, and while the flavors could use a touch more complexity, the wine offers a big mouthful of authentic Pinot Noir.” J.C. – 89 points, Wine Enthusiast

Altovinum ‘08 Evodia Garnacha (Catalyud, Spain)
 DRY RED
Reg Price/This Month   $12.99/11.04
"Bright ruby. Fresh strawberry and raspberry aromas are deepened by notes of licorice, black tea and pungent herbs. Supple in texture, offering sweet red fruit flavors and showing no rough edges. A smoky note comes up with air, adding complexity to a nicely persistent, red berry-dominated finish. Extremely easy to drink, and offering excellent depth and clarity for the money."- 89 points - Josh Raynolds, Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Victor Hugo ’07 The Hunchback
(Paso Robles, CA)
 DRY RED
Reg Price/This Month  $16.99/$14.44
This winery produces elegant, rich wines exhibiting excellent longevity. Always a different assemblage of grapes depending on the vintage, this wine is jammy, boisterous and YUMMY. Year to year, the blend changes: The 2007 is 34% Petit Verdot, 24% Petit Sirah, 22% Cabernet Franc and 20% Syrah. Always reliable, the Hunchback blend will go whatever earthy and tannic food you throw at it, from game and venison to grilled portobello mushrooms and eggplant. The family legend has it that he was named after a great uncle and a great grandfather (the man who Anglicized the family name from the French name Robert to Roberts), with no reference to any literary connection.

Grois ’09 Gruner Veltliner (Wagram, Austria)
 DRY WHITE
Reg Price/This Month  $9.99/8.49
A classically vinified Gruner Veltliner from the Wagram wine district, this delicious wine displays apple and lemon zest aromas, where citrus, spice and fine herbal notes can be found in the scintillating flavor. Brimming with finesse and elegance, this beautifully balanced white is ideal for easy drinking pleasure on its own or with light summer dishes. This is one whole liter – What a value!

Scagliola ’09 Barbera “Mati” (Piedmont, Italy)
 DRY RED
Reg Price/This Month  $13.99/11.89
The Scagliola estate is located on a hill at San Siro in the town of Calosso.The estate is run by the brothers Maggiorino and Mario Scagliola and was started by their grandfather in 1945. Recognized regularly by Gambero Rosso, Wine Spectator and Parker, Scagliola is truly a hidden gem in the heart of Piedmont. Is "Mati" the dog or the little girl? Short for Mathilde, it is frequently used as a name for either in Piedmont. Like either "Mati", this Barbera is young and energetic. Made in stainless steel with a small percentage of the Frem vineyard (aged in large Slavonian oak barrels), its fresh fruits and zestiness matches well to everyday foods and snacks.

Yannick Pelletier ’08 Saint-Chinian “l’Oiselet” (Languedoc, France)
 DRY RED
Reg Price/This Month  $18.99/16.14
Yannick Pelletier has not always been a winemaker. At 34, after graduating with a degree in Wine Marketing, he began his career as owner of a wine shop in Lyon. His philosophy has been greatly inspired by Didier Barral, notably concerning the adoption of biodynamic viticulture and minimal use of sulfur during vinification and aging of his wines. Made of predominantly Cinsault and Grenache with a small amount of Carignane and Syrah, this smells striking (and oriental) in its meld of soy, black tea, black cherry, plum sauce, fresh ginger, sage, and star anise. Thickly rich yet blazingly bright and intensely smoky, this wine's almost pasty black and purple fruit concentration, spice, resinous herbal intensity, cherry pit bitterness, and saline, smoky, crushed-stone mineral dimensions carry into a palate-staining finish. This is unmistakably of its sector of Saint-Chinian in its particular herbal pungency, fruit pit bitterness, and meld of crushed stone and smoke.

Back to Top