Borsao
2012 Campo de Borja Rosé (Borsao)
Sale Price $7.99 – $81.50 case of twelve
This juicy Garnacha from Spain is utterly guileless and delicious. It gives you its all from first sip to last drop. A fruity beauty that will match well with a vegetarian paella.

Lieu-dit Cocagne
2012 Coteaux du Vendômois (Cave du Vendômois)
Sale Price $9.99 – $101.90 case of twelve
The French ‘lieu-dit’ can be translated as ‘named-site.’Alliance Loire, a consortium of cooperative wineries, has promoted the marketing of single vineyards with distinctive names to raise the profiles of the various Caves. Having now stood in the Cocagne vineyard we have seen how the rocky soil and correct exposure can yield such a substantial wine from a vineyard so far north. Once again a great value with a kaleidoscope of earthy, fruity, and spicy depth.

Bourgueil Fever
2012 Bourgueil Rosé (Lamé Delisle Boucard)
Sale Price $11.99 – $122.30 case of twelve
If you enjoy Cabernet Franc as much as we do and like it on the inexpensive side then Lamé Delisle Boucard is a great winery to know. Their wines are totally enjoyable, stalwart Loire Valley classics. The 2012 Rosé is firm and dry, with a nice vein of red fruit running through the general refreshment.

La Moutète
2012 Côtes de Provence Rosé (Château la Moutète)
Sale Price $13.99 – $142.70 case of twelve
Château La Moutète’s Rosé always evokes a sunny provençal courtyard lined with wild herbs and fruit trees. The 2012, with its peachy fruit and scents of thyme and lavender, once again faithfully transports us to that sunny courtyard.

Gris Bodin
2012 Coteaux du Vendômois ‘Gris Bodin’ (Patrice Colin)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
Indulge us in our fascination with the Pineau d’Aunis grape variety. This ancient variety makes wines that are light in body but full in flavor in almost all forms. Gris Bodin is the full rosé from Patrice Colin. See inside for another version. This 2012 has an amazing floral and pepper perfume and a zesty, crisp, dry finish. Try this with grilled asparagus.

La Grande Pièce
2012 Coteaux d’Aix en Provence Rosé ‘La Grande Pièce’ (Château La Coste)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
This is a subtle stunner. The 2012 Château La Coste ‘La Grand Pièce’ has a gentle floral aroma that lingers amazingly from beginning to end. There is the barest hint of fruit to be found, yet an elusive flavor persists throughout. Have this with a delicate fish dish.

Bargain Cab Franc
2011 Bourgeuil ‘Lucien Lamé’ (Lamé Deslisle Boucard)
Sale Price $11.99 – $122.30 case of twelve
Lucien Lamé was a WW II prisoner from 1939 to 1945. Knowing this we were honored to have tasted the 1949 Bourgeuil and other old vintages in the family’s atmospheric cave. This is an amazing winery. On this visit we also tasted a different bottling that had great structure and a beautiful finish. The 2011 Lucien Lamé is a gorgeous Cabernet Franc and, as always, a great value. Start with the pink from the front page and follow with this lovely red; and if you want an older and even more wonderful red from Lamé Delisle Boucard buy some of the 2009 Cuvée Prestige and cellar it for a few years.

Gris et Blanc
2012 Coteaux du Vendômois ‘Gris’ (Patrice Colin)
Sale Price $13.99 – $142.70 case of twelve
2012 Coteaux du Vendômois ‘Pierre à Feu’ (Patrice Colin)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
Our tasting with Madame Colin yielded four worthy and affordable wines. But when we asked Madame the difference between her two rosés she informed us in no uncertain terms that they only make one rosé. The above wine, their gris, is not a rosé. It is a gris. The Gris Bodin on the front page is their rosé. Nonetheless they are both delicious. The Bodin is a single-vineyard wine made from eighty-year-old vines and has deeper color. The Gris is made from younger vines and is not macerated, meaning that it is made from the free-run juice of the Pineau d’Aunis, and hence is lighter and fresher. So it’s a peppery, almost-white-nearly-pink made from a light red grape with an interesting color. We get it now. Merci, Madame. The Pierre à Feu is less confusing. It is a white wine made from Chenin Blanc. This very dry wine is mineral-laden and stingingly crisp. This is a perfect match for a salmon dish covered with fine herbs.

Snakes in the Vineyard
2010 Savigny-lès-Beaune Premier Cru ‘Aux Serpentières’ (Domaine Pierre Guillemot)
Sale Price $44.99 – $458.90 case of twelve
This is one of the great wines of Savigny-lès-Beaune, both in producer and vineyard. Pierre Guillemot has made stunning wines for decades. Serpentières is one of the best Premier Crus in all of the Côte de Beaune. We adore it because when you look at the light scarlet color of this wine you are unprepared for the intensity of its flavor. In this nearly weightless wine there is minerality, tannic structure, and wonderful scents of violets. In his 1982 book on Burgundy, Anthony Hansen reports that “each year at harvest Pierre Guillemot swears at his old vines in Aux Serpentières, ‘You disgust me with your miserable yield. I’ll pull you up.’ Then he tastes the wine.”

Hilly Siena
2011 Chianti Colli Senesi (Fontaleoni)
Sale Price $11.99 – $122.30 case of twelve
We buy this in nearly every vintage and once again Fontaleoni has delivered a Chianti Colli Senesi that is worth every penny. The 2011 is redolent of cherries and cedar wood with a nice dry finish.

Sauvignon Val de Loire
2012 Val de Loire Sauvignon (Chidain)
Sale Price $12.99 – $132.50 case of twelve
If you think you want to be a grape grower and winemaker do not ask Francois Chidaine about his 2012 vintage. His production of Montlouis and Vouvray was almost entirely wiped out by the horrible weather in that section of the Loire. Fortunately he has some of his older vintages and some negociant wines to keep him afloat. The 2012 Sauvignon Blanc is a textbook crisp, dry Loire Valley white. It will be perfect with a salad with chèvre and walnuts.

Guido’s Big Brother – Loreto
2010 Nebbiolo d’Alba ‘Loreto’ (Guidobono)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
The Barbera d’Alba and Langhe Nebbiolo from Guidobono are so popular that we don’t need to promote them, but in case you have forgotten about them we have both for $11.99 per bottle. Meanwhile we are delighted to have this more serious Nebbiolo d’Alba to offer. For just a few dollars more Loreto is darker, richer, and more powerful. Dare we say that it is almost like a Barolo?

The Many Grapes of Orvieto
2012 Orvieto Classico ‘Terre Vineate’ (Palazzone)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
Just by the color you can see that Palazzone’s Orvieto is very different from most other Umbrian whites. The 2012 Terre Vineate is a rich white with deep, long flavors. This estate wine eschews the productive Trebbiano grape, preferring instead more difficult but more intense low-yielding varieties. Grechetto is currently enjoying its star turn as a stand-alone Umbrian white. Here it is joined by Procanico, Verdello, Malvasia, and Drupeggio. This white is packed with many kinds of fruit and flower aromas and flavors.

Serpentine Fire
2010 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie ‘Butte de la Roche/Terre de Pierre’ (Pierre Luneau Papin)
Sale Price $24.99 – $254.90 case of twelve
Amazingly there are wine lovers who don’t believe in the French notion of terroir – the intermingling of climate, geology, and grape variety. We believe that this wine should make converts. The Butte de la Roche vineyard is laden with the volcanic Serpentine rock. Serpentine occurs in sub-oceanic eruptions and it takes millions of years for it to reach the surface. It is also the state rock of California. So here we have a large chunk of it in the Sèvre et Maine on which is planted the Melon/Muscadet grape variety. The 2010 vintage is excellent and may well be the richest, densest, most intriguing Muscadet you will ever taste. This wine exemplifies terroir, of a rather unique kind, writ very large.