June 22nd 2021 Newsletter - The Grape Tray

June 22nd 2021 Newsletter

Special Tasting This Week at VRW: Taste FIVE Belle Glos Pinots (Las Alturas, Dairyman, Clark and Telephone, Balade and Eulenloch) at VRW for $10! Available today through Saturday 6/26/21.

Daily Wine Tasting at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW)
Tuesday-Saturday Wine Tasting (Available anytime during operating hours)
+Enjoy a glass of Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon.
+Or, select a bottle of wine from our retail shelf or wine cellar and share it with a friend or colleague.

2019 Caymus Napa Cabernet, Half Bottles

Winemaker Notes: Caymus has a signature style that is dark in color, with rich fruit and ripe, velvety tannins – as approachable in youth as in maturity. We farm Cabernet grapes in eight of Napa’s 16 sub-appellations, with diversification enabling us to make the best possible wine in a given year. Our Cabernet offers layered, lush aromas and flavors, including cocoa, cassis and ripe dark berries. $48/375ml. Our Price $41.99/375ml (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Advocate 90 Points
AVANCIA Godello Valdeorras
Cuvée de O 2019

A round, polished white. Offers a vibrant acidity that cuts through the quince, tangerine and ginger flavors, underscored with chive, spice and heather elements, followed by a long, mineral-laced finish. Drink now through 2024. 3,000 cases made, 1,750 cases imported.—G.S. $20 Our Price $17.49 (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Spectator 95
MAYACAMAS Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder 2014, Magnum

This packs in a lot of juicy black currant and blackberry paste notes, with lively licorice snap and bramble accents filling the available space. A roasted apple wood accent lends a mouthwatering edge while a tarry echo at the very end adds range and length. Should cruise in the cellar. Best from 2020 through 2045. 4,396 cases made. — JM $280/magnum (Arrives GT 6/23/21)

Josh Raynolds, Vinous 92 Points
2020 Bodegas La Cana Albarino

Light, vivid yellow. Fresh, mineral-tinged pear, nectarine, melon and floral scents are complemented by hints of honey, lemon curd and chamomile. Silky and expansive on the palate, offering energetic orchard and citrus fruit flavors that tighten up and turn spicier through the back half. Finishes very long and nervy, with repeating florality and a spicy jolt of candied ginger. $24 Our Price $19.99 (Arrives GT and VRW 6/24/21)

2020 Cherrier La Croix Poignant Sancerre Rose

Winemaker Notes: Hand-harvested. Rosé de pressurage (red grapes pressed directly, extracting a light blush color from the skins) and fermented on indigenous yeasts in tank. Aged in tank. TASTING IMPRESSIONS: Aromas of light spice, red berries, red plum skin, wild strawberries, blood orange. Fresh, mineral, refined. PAIRING SUGGESTIONS: As an aperitif; with regional goat’s cheese; airdried saucisson; fresh spring vegetables. $25 Our Price $21.99 (Available GT and VRW)

Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
2016 PULIDO-WALKER Panek Vineyard Cabernet

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Panek Vineyard comes from a site in St. Helena and offers a darker, savory style as well as plenty of blue fruits, violets, tobacco, and damp earth. With bright acidity, a silky, elegant texture, and terrific purity, it's a more vibrant, juicier, fresher wine than the Melanson Vineyard. Give bottle 2-4 years and drink over the following two decades. $225 Limited (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Advocate 98 Points
2018 Occidental Pinot Noir
Occidental Station Vineyard

Medium ruby in color, the 2018 Pinot Noir Occidental Station Vineyard has intense, liquid-like raspberry and boysenberry aromas, layered with notes of dusty earth, Earl Grey tea leaves, salted licorice and graphite, continuing to blossom with time in the glass. The medium-bodied palate merges intense, detailed fruit character with seamless freshness and a finely pixelated texture. It finishes with tremendous detail and perfumed flavors that seem to hang on forever in the mouth. Wow! $105 (Winemaker: Stephen Kistler) Available GT and VRW. Limited

Wine Advocate 99 Points
2016 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon
Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard slides seductively out of the glass with the most gorgeous notions of Chinese five spice, plum preserves, crème de cassis and potpourri plus hints of oolong tea, spearmint and cedar chest. Full-bodied, rich, opulent and oh-so-decadent in the mouth, the generously spiced black fruit preserves, the firm, plush frame and the finish are simply epic. 469 cases were made. $560 Our Price $499.99 (Available GT and VRW)

2019 Blackbird AERENA
Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: Not afraid to show its true cabernet core, the AERENA Cabernet Sauvignon has enticing aromas of blackberry with hints of black licorice and graphite. Rich, concentrated notes of plum and black cherry on the mid palate leading to layers of dark chocolate with soft tannins that finish with cocoa and vanilla. $25 Liquidation Price $11.95 (Available GT)

Friday Wine Tasting at VRW $15 per person (Indoor seating for 30 people) Must be 21 or older to attend

Friday Tasting, 6/25/21 (3:00 PM-5:30 PM): Pol Roget Brut Reserve, 2019 Rochioli Russian River Pinot and 2014 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet.

Wine Advocate 92
Pol Roger Brut Reserve, 3 Liter

The latest rendition of Pol Roger's NV Brut Reserve is based on the 2013 vintage and incorporates 25% reserve wines from the 2012, 2011 and 2010 vintages. Disgorged six months ago, the wine wafts from the glass with an alluring bouquet of green apple, brioche, pastry cream and buttered toast. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, impressively layered and complete, with a crisp but fleshy core of fruit, a youthfully frothy mousse and bright acids, concluding with a delicately chalky finish. This is one of the very finest—as well as among the most consistent—non-vintage brut bottlings from any of the Grandes Marques, and this release comes very warmly recommended. While it will be drinkable on release, it will reward some bottle age too. $300

Wine Spectator 94 Points
ROCHIOLI Pinot Noir Russian River 2019

Delicate and refined, this is filled with concentrated raspberry tart flavors that are laced together by plenty of cedary and underbrush accents. The fresh, juicy finish shows touches of ripe minerality and hints of white pepper. Drink now through 2027. —K.M. $80

James Suckling 98 Points
2014 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Fabulous aromas of blue fruits and slate. Very perfumed. Full body and polished, velvety yet fine-grained tannins that are lightly austere. Love the Spanish-cedar, cigar-box, tobacco and herbal character. Wonderful finish. Fresh and savory. Drink or hold. $330

Wine Tasting notes available on instagram and facebook: vintage reserve wine and www.vintagereserve.biz

Saturday Wine Tasting at VRW $15 per person (Indoor seating for 30 people) Must be 21 or older to attend
Saturday Tasting, 6/26/21 (1:00 PM-3:30 PM):

The choice is yours! From the following list, you can select which wines you would like to taste:

2020 Cherrier La Croix Poignant Sancerre Rose

Winemaker Notes: Hand-harvested. Rosé de pressurage (red grapes pressed directly, extracting a light blush color from the skins) and fermented on indigenous yeasts in tank. Aged in tank. TASTING IMPRESSIONS: Aromas of light spice, red berries, red plum skin, wild strawberries, blood orange. Fresh, mineral, refined. PAIRING SUGGESTIONS: As an aperitif; with regional goat’s cheese; airdried saucisson; fresh spring vegetables. $25

Jeb Dunnuck 92 Points
2019 Tether Napa Chardonnay

Another great release for this wine, the 2019 Chardonnay offers a pure, elegant, yet still powerful, medium to full-bodied style...It has a tropical edge as well as wonderful purity, a clean, elegant texture, and a great finish. $42

Wine Advocate 93-95 Points
2018 My Favorite Neighbor Harvey
and Harriet Red

The barrel sample of 2018 Harvey and Harriet is made up of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Syrah, 14% Petite Sirah, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot, aging in 75% new French oak. Deep ruby-black in color, it has a very layered nose with aromas of exotic spices, crème de cassis, blackcurrant bud, tar and tilled black soil with hints of violet, lilac, cardamom and baking spices. The medium to full-bodied palate is silky and has a great interplay of fruit and spice. It has a firm, pleasantly chalky frame and just enough freshness, finishing long with a youthful cloaking of oak spice. About 9,400 cases will be made. $45

Wine Advocate 93 Points
2017 Altagracia Eisele
 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

This vintage has a bit less Petit Verdot than usual, but basically remains about 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with splashes of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Altagracia leaps from the glass, offering bold, expressive notes of blackberry pie, Black Forest cake and warm cassis with hints of garrigue, mossy tree bark, dusty soil and black pepper plus a fragrant waft of cinnamon stick. Medium to full-bodied, the palate offers a great core of rich, spicy black fruit preserves, framed with firm, chewy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing earthy. $150

2018 Austin Hope Reserve Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: This 2018 Reserve Cabernet’s depth of character is visible at first glance with an inky crimson color. On the nose, fresh muddled blueberries, burnt sugar, vanilla bean and a hint of wet leather evolve onto the palette with flavors of layered dark fruit, coco powder, grated clove and additional vanilla; a result from the extended New French Oak ageing. Firm, integrated tannins frame the structure of this Cabernet making it an exceptional example of Paso Robles terroir. $125

Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW)
1552 E. Champlain Drive, Ste 109 Fresno, CA 93720 Via Montana Center (NE Corner Shepherd and Champlain-Two doors south of Big 5) www.vintagereserve.biz 559-878-3953
Tuesday-Friday 12 Noon-6:00 PM
Saturday 12 Noon-4:00 PM


The Grape Tray (GT)
6023 N. Palm Avenue Fresno, CA 93704
Opus One Center (NW Corner Bullard and Palm)
www.grapetray.com 559-226-6828
Monday-Friday 10:30AM-5:30PM
Saturday 10:30AM-4:00PM


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