As we’re only a ½ mile from the ballpark that the SF Giants call home I can almost hear the chant "get 'em while they’re hot!" That echoes here in this pitch of 10 wines that are practically a steal. OK, enough baseball analogy, but truly their numbers are dwindling and it’s the last chance to buy them. I’m sure they’ll be a hit. Your friends will comment that you’ve hit a home run with your picks! …I’m done now. We’ll see how it goes but hopefully, this will be a regular blog entry—to call attention to tasty bin-ends.
2005 Taille aux Loups Montlouis Sec Dix Arpents, $17
Very small production Chenin Blanc from the Loire with exotic fruit notes of persimmon and date. Very precise wine has a mineral-laden influence with restraint and elegance throughout the dry finish.
2005 Gautier Vouvray Cuvee Argilex, $15
Buy it along with the Montlouis above for an interesting contrast and example of the most austere representation of Chenin. If it’s already super-hot where you are, or if you’re anticipating any summer picnics at the beach, here’s your wine.
2005 Renard Viognier, $24
My favorite at the Rhone Rangers tasting here in SF. I’ve been a Bayard Fox fan for a while—a customer at my previous shop. Doug Wilder likes the wine too: “The Viognier from Sonoma County is new to me and shows admirable qualities. Honeysuckle nose, white peach and velvet smooth citrus and licorice on the palate. The finish is buttery and long lasting with hints of tropical fruits.”
2005 Vacheron Sancerre, $26 or $14 in 375ml
OK, another Loire. Call it a kick that I’m on but we’re talking great, clean wines of excellent value in these parts. Vibrant, green-fruit, and rhubarb bouquet with zest, sugared-grapefruit and mixed citrus comes through on the palate. Well-crafted wine offers a balancing act finish of pepper, limes and lemongrass.
2005 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese Trocken, $22
This is a dry Riesling from my favorite value producer top to bottom in the 2005 vintage. The wine has been showing as well as several Mosels nearly twice the price. Delineation is key here.
2005 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett, $27
If Selbach-Oster is my favorite-priced producer, this is my favorite-priced wine in this vintage. It has everything of a wine that would cost $40 plus.
2004 Roessler Chardonnay Alder Springs Emerald Pond Block, $38
Subtle nose unfolds to a supple feel despite mineral and herbs. The wine opens to bacon-wrapped melon and a citrus finish. A great crossover from appetizer to main course.
2002 Long-Depaquit Chablis Vaudesir, $47
Chablis that is one of the best balancing acts between bracing, focused fruit from one of the richest sides of Chablis. Just a bit spicy, despite its lengthy finish, the Vaudesir will allow you to enjoy even oily foods without being too intense or flinty. This is a Chablis drinker’s Chablis and a Grand Cru value.
2005 Conreria d'Scala dei Les Brugueres, $26
Grenache Blanca or Garnacha Blanca from 100+ year old vines. I’ve bought this wine in the last few vintages. It continues to delight with white peach fattening toward a finish of butter-sautéed apples and pears. It’s a conversation piece with intriguing flavors, texture and a light, rose-colored hue.
2004 Venica & Venica Ronco delle Cime, $27
Cyrille Hanson says it best, with my stamp of agreement for sure: “One of the greatest indigenous white grapes in Friuli, Tocai Friulano is still somewhat of an unknown to many white wine lovers…This is a single-vineyard production that offers a polished, yet concentrated palate, of golden apple, pear and fig cross-hatched with a brilliant acidity that carries the flavors on a long-distance trip through your mouth. For those who enjoy the occasional exotic mouthful, this will be your new wine mistress.” In less eloquent terms, this is the mistress that can dress for whatever occasion the evening dictates.