September 19th 2017 Newsletter - The Grape Tray

September 19th 2017 Newsletter

Moving Sale!
Vinotemp Wine Cabinet 

Holds approximately 200 bottles, premium redwood racking, glass doors, Baldwin lock set and light. Purchased new for $5000, one owner, excellent condition and used inside the home. Dimensions: 90"H x 51"W x 22"D. Needs new cooling unit. Price $1200/obo. Contact: Judy 559-288-4322

2016 Imagery Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: This Cabernet Sauvignon is a soft, smooth wine with well integrated oak. Flavors of dark fruit, black cherry, clove and cinnamon are met with cola and vanilla toast in the mid-palate. This opulent wine is enhanced with spice, clove and pepper notes from the Petite Sirah. 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petite Sirah. $20 Liquidation Price $12.79 (Limited to stock on hand)

Wine Spectator 88
BODEGAS LA CANA Albariño Rias Baixas La Caña 2016

This round white offers juicy flavors of apricot and quince, with lemon-lime acidity and accents of honeysuckle and chalk. Bright, lively and graceful. Drink now. 5,000 cases made. –TM $18 Our Price $14.99 (Arrives 9/20/17)

Wine Spectator 88
LÍCIA Albariño Rias Baixas 2016

This fleshy white offers pear, melon, blanched almond and tarragon flavors. Firm acidity keeps this focused through the citrusy finish. Drink now through 2020. 4,200 cases made. –TM $16 Our Price $11.99 (Arrives 9/20/17)

Wine Spectator 91
CHÂTEAU LAPINESSE Sauternes 2014, Half Bottle

A rather racy version, with pineapple and quinine threads enlivening the core of white peach, tangerine and pineapple flavors. Bright mirabelle plum notes add length on the finish. Very pretty. Drink now through 2025. 1,000 cases made. –JM $30/750ml Our Price $18.95/375ml

Wine Spectator 90
JOSEPH DROUHIN St.-Véran 2015

A lush yet succulent style, this displays floral, apple, white peach and subtle honey flavors. Balanced, leaving a fresh, cleansing impression on the finish. Drink now through 2021. 8,000 cases imported.—B.S. $21 Our Price $17.65

Vinous 90 pts
Domaine François Villard 2014 Crozes-Hermitage Comme une évidence Northern Rhône

Opaque ruby. Fresh dark berry, violet and cracked pepper scents show good clarity and mineral lift. Spicy, penetrating and lively on the palate, offering bitter cherry and black raspberry flavors that flesh out with aeration. Fine-grained tannins shape the spicy, clinging finish, which leaves a hint of bitter cherry behind. $30 Our Price $26.99

2016 MASON Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

Winemaker Notes: A cooling ocean breeze and morning fog during the warm growing season make Napa Valley an ideal climate for our Sauvignon Blanc. Our Mason 2016 Sauvignon Blanc has lovely orange blossom and boxwood floral aromas. Medium bodied and well-balanced with a round and juicy texture, the palate presents pear and fresh tart apple flavors, complimented by a lingering, bright finish. $19 Our Price $14.39

2014 Bon Anno Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: A deep ruby red, this seductive Cab shows classic Cabernet Sauvignon aromas of spice and sage followed by a mix of blueberries and blackberries with fresh raspberry notes. With a nice balance of acid and well integrated tannins, this wine is smooth, supple and sleek in the mouth: it is well balanced across the palate showcasing flavors of dark fruit, currants and hints of mineral and anise. $24 Our Price $21.39 (Arrives 9/20/17) Great Value!

Wine Spectator 92
LEMELSON Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Thea's Selection 2014

Polished, expressive and deftly balanced, this is generous with its baby powder-accented cherry, lingonberry and floral flavors. Remains open and inviting through the long finish. Drink now through 2022. 9,950 cases made. –HS $30 Our Price $25.99 (Back in stock 9/20/17)

Wine Advocate 93+
2012 Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard

A 15- to 20-year wine in terms of its aging potential is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard. A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot, aged 27 months in a combination of French and American oak, the wine is dense, full-bodied, with notes of dusty, loamy soil interwoven with crème de cassis, blackberry, toasty oak and hints of chocolate and espresso. This is another full-throttle effort (15.2% natural alcohol), richly layered, with moderate tannin. It is accessible now but capable of lasting 25 or more years. $85 Our Price $57.99

Wine Advocate 92
2014 Obsidian Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hills

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is also a winner, slightly more open and precocious, but with plenty of blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, striking minerality (no doubt from the Obsidian rocks) and a full-bodied, luscious, juicy style with a voluptuous texture. Drink it over the next 10-15 years. $30 Our Price $25.69

Wine Spectator 96
LOUIS CHÈZE Condrieu Pagus Luminis 2015

This has power, with a large core of creamed peach, nectarine and yellow apple fruit. Lengthy, pure and vibrant, with a mineral streak running underneath and chamomile and honeysuckle notes gilding the finish. Dreamy wine. Drink now through 2022. 1,200 cases made. –JM $69 Our Price $44.99

2012 Gregory Graham Crimson Hill Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: Our Cabernet Sauvignon is from our Crimson Hill Vineyard in the Red Hills district of Lake County. The vineyard is at 2,000 feet elevation and overlooks the southern end of Clear Lake. This 13-acre block was planted in 1995 with clone 7 Cabernet on 110R rootstock. The crimson red, volcanic soil provides the perfect site for growing great red wines. The climate is ideal for late season reds because the vineyard receives daily full sun with warm temperatures which are tempered by daily afternoon mistrals. The majority of the vineyard is contracted to Napa Valley wineries. $30 Our Price $25.69

2016 Black Pine Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Winemaker Notes: The wine shows appealing aromas of Bing cherry mixed with vanilla and baking spice. The deep ruby and purple wine reveals candied red plum that lingers in the glass. The 2016 Black Pine is sensuous and mouth filling and shows black cherry and strawberry flavors. Medium bodied flavors of perfumed Cherry, lush red fruit and clove give way to the bright natural acidity and fine tannins that draw out a long and impressive finish. $28 Our Price $19.99

2015 Lucia Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

Winemaker Notes: Deep cranberry in hue, the 2015 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir invites with hints of rose, raspberry, baking spice and vanilla bean that slowly open to an exuberant minerality. A velvety, intensely-concentrated mouthfeel with undertones of cacao leads into smooth, elegant tannins. Texture is the hallmark of this vintage, whose freshness and energy, tempered with gentle structure, allows for approachability in its youthful stages. Though weather brought us a small fruit set that ripened early the reward was excellent character and depth. $65 (Arrives 9/22/17)

Wine Advocate 95
2014 Arkenstone Napa Sauvignon Blanc Estate

The 2014 Sauvignon Blanc Estate, 92% Sauvignon Blanc and 7% Semillon, was fermented in equal parts new French oak, used French oak and a concrete egg. The wine is a killer example of this blend. It spent 18 months in barrel prior to being bottled. There are 630 cases. With terrific fruit intensity, fabulous aromatics of honeysuckle, fig, caramelized citrus, melons and an almost waxiness, this beautiful, precise, incredibly pure, medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc is super-intense and a real big-time winner. Drink it over the next 4-5 years, although it’s purest certainly in it exuberant youth because of the aromatic fireworks. $75


2014 Sea Smoke Southing Santa Rita Hills Pinot

Winemaker Notes: Each year, our goal for Southing is to create the ideal marriage of complexity and elegance. The ever-changing nose of the 2014 Southing exhibits Montmorency cherry, baking spice and dried flowers. The fine tannins and minerality are enhanced by our estate vineyard’s characteristic cool climate acidity. $79 Limited

2015 Lewis Napa Merlot

Winemaker Notes: The 2015 is our most massively proportioned Merlot in years; a forest of clove, oak and vanilla spices densely fruited with mountain huckleberry, black plum and a dusting of cocoa powder. Tightly constructed like the rings of a giant sequoia the wine gradually reveals a core of sappy fruit rooted with hefty, polished tannins. 75 cases produced. $80 Our Price $71.99 (Arrives 9/20/17)

2015 Lewis Mason's Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Winemaker Notes: Mason has been going to CrossFit and it shows. No whiskers yet but his 2015 vintage has more serious character, complexity and muscle than ever. Redolent with deeply ripened berries, baker's chocolate, cola, and cedary oak spice the wine is concentrated and rich on entry. Picking up notes of café latte toward the finish, a network of sinewy yet supple tannins provides a platform for this bulked up wine. 600 cases produced. $65 Our Price $58.99 (Arrives 9/20/17)


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