Please use comments here to alert everyone to interesting wines you’ve seen at which stores, but which have not yet been reviewed. Please post any tasting notes in Guest Contributions, or as a comment on a main-page review, as comments here older than six weeks or so will be deleted.
You can check out what reviewers have at home to review at this sub-blog:
The magical world of wines from Grocery Outlet 
Yesterday at Pinole, CA: 2018 Front Porch Farm White Blend $5 (Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc). How could I pass for that price?
Thought maybe past its prime, although the 2017 Lincourt chard was still in good shape, in fact, could probably keep a while – I grabbed 3 more. FPF is an interesting fancy food farm & U-pick/shop/winery in Russian River. https://www.fpfarm.com/farm-shop
Took one home yesterday, liked it enough to go back for 3 more (cost-averaging with those K&L/KL cases :-). Again, could probably hold a while longer. Not as full & rich as a white Rhône blend can be (e.g., Lafage Centennaire, or even the last La Vielle Ferme blanc I had); leaner, tauter, but still nicely complex and drinkable, more a food wine.
Those who liked the recent Pleaides white will like this one, if you can find it. There were only 6 bottles to start there, one left now. But wine allocations move through GO mysteriously, as noted above – with old things reappearing elsewhere.
Thanks for the heads up on that. I will keep an eye out for it. There are so few viognier driven wines (or blends) available that most low dollar ones are at least worth a try.
I picked up a Yalumba viognier yesterday. It’s disappointed (repeatedly) in the past, but it’s been some years so I thought I’d give another shot to this Oz megaproducer.
I was about review the Front Porch Rhone white, but you got to it first. I saw the label and was surprised Front Porch made wine since I recognized them from the local farmer’s market from years ago. Back then they sold pork from a rare breed of charcuterie pig, Cinta Senese, from Italy and while looking for a recipe for pasta carbonara came across a video which used Cinta Senese pancetta. Seems FP now just sells flowers and produce at the farmers market. They specialize in the Rhone varietals as your link to them shows. Didn’t think as highly as you did about the wine although I agree about the value of it being a drinkable, food wine. There is no wood and the only descriptor for me was a citrus-like nose, no pear, apple or other pit fruits. Aubergine, the wine has no noticeable Viognier character.
yeah, sorry aubergine, I guess after gushing about Viognier I should have made it clearer that the FPF is not really Vig-driven, in fact, tough to ID any varietal character, but good for $5 if you could use a lean & clean, palate-cleansing white. Pretty far from my favorite CdR blanc blends, as noted. Still waiting on the next great Viognier – how was the Yalumba? Not seen it down here. Still waiting in vain for the Lapilli Fiano and Crasto Douro too.
When I saw the Rhone blend from FP, I was hoping the wine would be similar to Bonny Doon 2012 Le Cigare Blanc “Beeswax Vineyard” for my wife.
Popped open Sisters Ridge 2020 Pinot Noir, Canterbury NZ ($8) tonight as I was finishing the last of the Belle Fiore PN which had sediment in the bottom.
I enjoyed both PNs very much, but they are very different from each other.
🕰2020
💯88/100 🌟3.8
👁Dense garnet
👃👅Dry,Portobello mushroom and forest floor nose,black cherry,black tea,spicy clove finish,med acidity,med low grainy tannins,medium bodied. Intense deeper Pinot Noir compared to OR PN.
🍇100%PN
🌄Teece Family Vineyards
🌄Canterbury, NZ
No tech sheet found on 2020
🕰10mo15% new French oak barrels (v2017)
⛽ 13%ABV (seems higher)
💯1288 cases (v2017)
Alistair Maling MW Consulting WineMaker
💵$20 at winery
Screwcap closure
Sister label of Mt Beautiful Winery.
Would pair well with duck, lamb or pork chops.
I’ll pick up several more.
I just finished a bottle and thought it much better on day 2. It had fleshed out and knitted together.
Stopped at the Kenmore GOs looking for some of the Pinot Noirs that have been talked about, but nada. Nor at Crown Hill. But at once-lowly Lake City, they had all three–the Equoia at 5.99, the Sisters Ridge at 6.99 and the Belle Fiore at 9.99. So, if you’re in the mood to sample some Pinot Noirs, that’s the place to go.
Flit, did you purchase any of the Pinot Noirs? If so, whaddya think of them?
Not yet. Waiting for a check that supposed to be in the mail so I can justify the splurge on wine notwithstanding a full cellar. And if I happen to miss out, I won’t mind terribly, full cellar and all that…
But I will definitely chime in if and when I get to sample them.
I stopped in to the West Sacramento location today for a few minutes after dropping someone off at the airport. I didn’t see any new/interesting wines but they did have some Truffle Butter on closeout for a $1.
We had the 2021 Chapoutier ‘Belleruche’ rose [Cotes du Rhone] tonight, chilled, and it lasted about an hour or so. $4, screwcapped, 13% abv. This is pretty solid, assuming one likes dryer pale French rose. It’s NOT in the pink zin mold. I’m a Francophile so this is fine, but I view rose as ‘byproduct’ either as stuff bled off from tanks for concentrating what is left, or sometimes as something to make with tubs of grapes that might not make the cut for a ripe red. And as much as I love Chapoutier’s serious wines, this is just a quaffing product to me, albeit a good one, and fairly priced. Try it, but make sure to buy the current release. Surprisingly, I have not seen the 2022 yet, although this house tends to be a late releaser, at least for their oak aged dry reds.
Bevmo has been trying to sell the 2014-2017 vintages of this rose for $14 in the last few months. So at least some props to GO for not accepting any of those likely tired/faded vintages.
There are many makers who grow grapes to be made into rose and pick them earlier than they would for red wine, this is particularly true in southern France.
Super excited to see Belle Fiore 2018 Pinot Noir, Rogue Valley, Ashland, OR, $10 in Pullman.
Bought a bottle, took it to the car, unscrewed the cap, took a gulg. Pretty darn great for $10, walked back in and bought all the rest.
It’s quite rare to see wines from an actual freestanding winery anymore in our GO branch, not since 2021 so didn’t want this one to get away
Light ruby garnet w bluish edge
Raspberry, light earthiness like forest floor and potting soil, slt orange rind bitterness, touch vanilla orchid floral, tart spicy cranberry clove finish w hint of black pepper, med acidity, low tannins.
100% estate grown PN, 667,777,Pommard and 115 clones. Spent 18 mo in 100% oak, 12% new. Only 8 barrels made according to one source (200 cases). Our store seems to have received six bottles total.
The current 2019 vintage sells for $33 at the winery.
Very interesting. Had never heard of Belle Fiore…Belle Pente in the Willamette Valley, who make some exquisite Pinots, yes…Belle Fiore…no. Rogue Valley is pretty warm climate for that variety, but I’ll look for it around here.
Lim, have you tried either the Sisters Ridge or the Equoia Pinots?
They’ve been mentioned (positively) a few times here lately and I found both in town…I’d be interested in your review if you try them. I was going to stop by the store on Monday when all wine is 10%, and pick up one of each.
I picked up two of each on Wednesday, JJ, but not sure when I’ll be trying them. So you may want to let me know what you think if you get to them first.
You stirred the fire, JJ. Thank you! I opened a bottle of the corkburger stopped 2021 Equoia PN tonight. Seemed on the darker end of the PN color spectrum at first, but the following pours were more in line with what I expect from most Pinots…brilliant pale to middling brick/ruby color; nose jumped right out at me with slightly skunky, earthy, mushroomy Pinot funk with the typical underlying black cherry aromas; tons of “sweet” cherry fruit on the palate with decent acidity and soft tannins; for me, the perfect balance of fruity and savory and very reasonable alcohol level; very slight bitterness in the finish that doesn’t detract in the least; I thoroughly enjoyed this wine and if there’s more at my GO, I’ll bring home a few more; went particularly well with my pan fried prosciutto wrapped sockeye salmon.
Yay…Thanks for taking the bait!
Wonderful review…fairly mouthwatering.
I will get to a GO and pick some up.
And of course, share my thoughts when I do.
You should probably try that Sisters Ridge this weekend too, don’t ya think Lim? 😉
If I should take the bait…AGAIN…and I like it…you buyin’ my next 2 or 3?
If you share that Sockeye salmon 😉
Just read WORN’s review of the Sisters Ridge PN as I was preparing to post my notes…as I too opened a bottle tonight. Brilliant fairly dark ruby color for a PN; lots of black cherry cough drop aromas in the nose, especially after being open and aired for two hours; fairly chewy tannins and rich texture and higher acidity than the Equoia; lots of texture; flavors of cherry and wood; slightly tannic and drying from mid-palate through the finish; for me, it’s clearly more austere in style than the fruit forward Equoia; balanced and certainly varietal, but I’m just not particularly fond of this Pinot. I’ll stick with the Equoia.
So JJ, guess you’ll just have to pick up one of each and decide for yourself which you prefer. Both are fine…but being a fruit forward kinda’ guy, I just prefer the Equoia.
Thank you, so glad to hear your thoughts…I’ll pick some up tomorrow and report back soon!
Did you happen to try the FV (Fresh Vine) PN? Certainly lighter, not complex, but $5 and its quaffable.
Forgot to mention my Sisters was $7 from the Silverdale GO, rather than the $8 that WORN paid.
Just felt the need to say that I enjoyed the Sisters Ridge Pinot far more the next day, but still favor the Equoia, so bought a few more bottles…and it didn’t appear that there was much more on the shelf at Silverdale.
Found the Belle Fiore in Silverdale on Monday and brought a bottle home. Will report back with my take on it, but it may be a while, as I’m a bit Pinoted out right now. As dluber mentioned, we’ve had a sudden “glut” of fairly tasty Pinots of late.
Yeah, I saw that, but was too cheapskate to buy it, what with all the others I was buying. I’ll wait for your review before I chuck out the extra $3-4….but not rushing you this time 😉 !!
Opened my bottle of 2018 Belle Fiore Rogue Valley, Oregon Pinot Noir ($10) tonight. My notes: Pours ever so slightly hazy pale ruby with some brick tones around the rim; nose is on the more savory side of the variety…mushroomy, forest floor and more subtle black cherry, earthy; “sweet” cherry fruit on the palate, but with a little underlying brown sugary tones; it’s relatively complex with moderate tannins and acidity. I like it, but I’m doubtful that it would cellar well and it may be at its peak. Won’t be buying more, as I’m content enough with the five and six dollar (and more recent vintage) Pinots I recently bought at GO.
Just want to add that like WORN (I believe), there was a fair amount of sediment in our glasses at last pour…and in the bottom of the bottle. So for those who may have some, you may want to decant.
Thanks, Lim…my guess is that I’d agree with you on the price to satisfaction ratio. I’m drinking one of the 2020 RD&MM Pinots this evening, and it’s soft and luscious ripe, but strong enough with balanced acid, perfumed, and with tobacco notes…quite enjoying it. But I just watched “A Year in Burgundy” and now long to once again taste the heights this grape can be.
Sigh….
Might need to sell your house, JJ.
True…
I might be happy with just walking thru the streets and vines of Burgundy, communing with the old gals….
I share a strong ethos with Lalou “Madame” Beze-Leroy (Queen of Burgundy):
She said…
“Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon in my vines. When they don’t see me they’re unhappy. When I arrive, they’re happy.
I really love my vines.
Vines are not well understood. You have to put yourself in their place.
You have to be part of the life of the vine, and the life of the soil too.
Of course I believe in biodynamics…
We should cut out all the herbicides and insecticides, the fungicides, the pesticides—all the “icides”.
They sound just like homicide!
We should stop killing things and give them the life force instead.”
♥️
“Reata” Pedregal Vineyard 2016 Pinot Noir, San Benito AVA, CA, vinted and bottled by Jamieson Ranch Vineyards, 14.4% ABV, $10. I opened this the day after I brought it home and did not bother decanting it since I could not see any sediment. I liked it best after about 3.5 – 4 hours open, with a little more air in the glass. I didn’t take detailed notes, but I recall enjoying its balance, complexity, and length, finding it ripe but not too heavy, with nice stemminess along with the fruit. Anyway, I got two more bottles at the Richmond, CA, store, one to give away. While I enjoyed it well aired, I plan to drink it pretty soon.
Jamieson Ranch is pretty credible as a winery, no? Can’t recall having had their wines before but an AVA flagged, SVD PN for $10 sounds like an ok deal. Although I suppose San Benito is probably more of a central coast bulk wine area but presumably if it was bottled up on a named basis it must have some regard for keeping?
I bought the wine because it looked nice and Jose, who works in the wine section, said he thought it was good. I was discouraged, though, when I got home and looked up the location of San Benito County (Central Coast, as you say, and a little more inland). However, I was pleasantly surprised when I liked the wine a lot.
The San Benito AVA has many small wineries and also wineries out of the AVA have vineyards there, although some of the first vineyards there in the San Benito Valley some 50+ years ago were planted by Almaden Vineyards along CA highway 25. So some of the wine in the AVA should be considered bulk.
Calera, arguably the best maker of Pinot Noir in California, grows its grapes and makes its wine in San Benito County, and Williams Selyem makes a Pinot from grapes grown there. Paul Masson planted a Pinot Vineyard there a long time ago, not sure if that vineyard is still operating, but it certainly is not being vinified by PM.
San Benito Co also includes the Chalone AVA, the only one named after a single winery AFAIK – also among the best Chardonnay and Pinot producers in CA.
Chalone and Calera used to be my faves in the 80’s, but haven’t mergers and sellouts and whatever other bargains they made with the devil, forever banished that to the past?
Dunno, maybe – In the 80s, I had no means for such wines, but, as an impressionable lad, read in Robert Parker that Chalone was the only California chardonnay he’d age in the cellar, and that’s certainly changed. I’m not privvy to the high-end stuff Chalone shareholders get, and still now would rarely ever pay full price for their regular bottlings. But in the last year or so, I got two 2016 Chalone chards at GO, a Gavilan and Estate, both very nice, kind of fat monsters, but not knock your socks off.
I think those two are their low- and mid-low-level bottlings; Gavlian is $15-20 SRP, Estate $25-30. For $27 or less you can get any number of very nice chardonnays from a variety of CA AVAs now. RRV, Carneros, even Napa – Sonoma Coast, SLH, St. Barbara…
I took a Calera Central Coast PN (SRP $25ish, could have sworn this has turned up at GO, can’t find it here though) to a PN tasting dinner party a while ago; admittedly very amateur, it showed very favorably against more expensive labels. Some pinotphilic friends of mine make a trip there every year to load up on their single-vineyard bottlings, out of my range.
A couple of years ago Duckhorn bought Calera. So far as I can tell they operate it respectfully. I’ve not had any of their premium wines made post-merger, though. The Central Coast Pinot and Chardonnay are always good wines for the $. I’ve never seen any Calera wine at the GO.
When Diageo got out of the wine business, and what had been the Chalone Wine Group broke up, and the Chalone winery and vineyards (which are actually in Monterey County, not in the San Benito part of the appellation) were bought by Bill Foley. Strangely, the estate Pinot and Chardonnay now cost less, and are very well made. They also still make and sell the Pinot Blanc and Chenin Blanc and some red rhones. Foley sells a lot of wine to GO, resulting in some Chalone wines ending up in our grocery carts.
Per the comment “Foley sells a lot of wine to GO…” In reality, few want to sell a lot of wind to GO, save for some high volume private label dumpsters. Foley sells a lot to GO because he managed his inventory well – and gets rid of non-movers or surplus or remnants from his purchasing sprees. GO is, at best, a break even deal, but more often only a tad better than tossing down the cellar drain…winery’s loss, our gain (sometimes).
Joel
K&L was blowing out a bunch of Chalone bottlings in the last 6-12 mos, fwiw.
But I’m not sure that edgecase has much to do with San Benito as an AVA. I think this is just one of those situations where one has to rely on either their own taste, or calibrate to other commenters.
Doh! Shoulda Googled it; you’re right Seedboy, Chalone winery is in Monterey Co, not by much though https://goo.gl/maps/HXt7tPT8LELNqEne9
Amazingly, I’ve found pinots from two other producers in this tiny AVA at GO – Michaud (his story here https://www.thewinewrite.com/2022/01/celebrating-chalone-ava-with-michael.html) and another I’m fuzzy on – maybe Corralitos de Chalone … something Spanish-sounding, can’t find any evidence it exists online. Maybe purchased grapes, a one-off. Calera and others have bottlings of Chalone vineyard grapes. Made me go look in the pinot box “Central Coast etc.” but they’re long gone, remember them being good, on the earthy, funky side. Found a 2011 Chalone “Monterey”, probably their lowest-end bottling, time to crack it.
Dluber, thank you, thank you for the link about Michael Michaud since it fills in a gap I have about that time at Chalone and also wine in general with a young family curtailing wine purchases. I knew Burgundy older crus, but I was shocked when resuming wine interest that many Premier Cru became Grand Cru. Had to relearn Burgundy. My experience with Chalone was early 1970′ to early 80’s. It began when I wandered into a Carmel store and saw a 1971 Chalone PN and it cost $12 and a Pinot Blanc for $5. I was shocked at the expensive bottles. BVPR ran $5.25 a bottle then. I did get the PN. Got on their wine list and purchased the whites and PN until the early ’80s. After vineyard expansion and new grapes, I quit buying their wines. I don’t blame Parker for saying about the aging of Chalone Chardonnay. I remember ’80 and ’81 Chard quite well, just exquisite. This wasn’t high-end wine, but was available to those on their list.
Make that 1971 Chalone a 1969, their first PN.
Reata is pretty good; big, lotta fruit, zingy, aromatic, a little hot & heavy. I think I like both the Sisters and Equoia better, in different ways, and both lower priced.
A panoply of pinot at GO; weren’t we just recently lamenting we never get any good ones any more? Heck, I was happy to see the Deloach Block 1950 not that long ago, now there are better bargains to be had.
Yeah, that’s what the Reata’s like at first. But at least with my bottle, with more air, the heaviness of the fruit subsides and becomes balanced and complex, and the zingy finish smooths out. I opened the saved 275ml screw-cap bottle last night and even it needed 1 – 1.5 hours of air in the glass to become lovely.
I opened a second bottle of the Reata Pinot this evening, and it was a bit different from my first. It seemed much more at the end of its life, not sour or anything, but having a bit of sherry-like oxidation that mostly aired out, and soft supple brown-sugary ripe red cherry, subtly elegant. I like this version a lot, too, but I think I prefer the first bottle.
I opened another bottle of this recently, and am finishing off the saved 275ml screw-cap bottle tonight. While both the first part and the saved bottle benefited from some air, it’s definitely fully mature — full for a Pinot, soft, and ripe — and should be consumed this fall.
New wines in Pullman:
*Ribbon Cliff 2020 Barbera & 2020 Malbec (CV) both $8
(looks like RC now being made by Wahluke Wine Co in Mattawa WA owned by Milbrandt.)
*River & Vine 2019 CS Private Reserve $8 – product of CalWine Trading Co, made by E2 Family Winery in Lodi CA who also make Latitude 34, Primrose Trail etc. A pal on Vivino rated this 88, green bell pepper notes, so that’s a pass for me.
*James Bryant Hill 2020 Zin (Central Coast) $7
*Witness Mark 2019 CS & 2019 Red Blend, both Central Coast & both $7 (screwcapped)
(JBH and WM are labels by Scheid Wines in Greenfield CA)
*United Ink 2019 Columbia Valley CS, PN and Red Blend $7
(all 3 screwcapped)
(CS and Red Blend made by Four Feathers Wine Services in Prosser, the PN made by Wine by Joe, Dobbes Family, Dundee OR.
*Marco Pontarelli 2020 Piemonte Barbera (DOC) $8
I bought a couple more Subsoil 2019 Merlot ($6) (Mercer Family Wines), Opta 2019 Dao ($8) and an Equoia 2021 PN ($6) (Scheid Family Wines) that DARRELL mentioned and liked.
WORN, let me know if your taste is similar to my opinion that the Equoia not being a typical PN, but nice for the money.
Hey Darrell – I got one each of the Equoia and Sisters last week after reading your and other comments here. I immediately liked the Sisters, although it’s maybe a bit ponderous for a pinot. Big, rich, lots of ripe fruit, low acid and tannin, may not age well, but a pretty gratifying wine now. Finished it pretty quickly.
The Equoia I didn’t like at first; too tight, acidic, kind of harsh, but seemed like it might be worth ageing. I left the recorked 2/3 bottle on the counter for a few days, came back to it tonight, and wow – it really opened up nicely. On the darker-fruited side – more black raspberry and bramble than sweet cherry or strawberry, with some black-tea notes and spice. A tinge of citrus-peel bitterness, which usually ages out. I’m going to get a couple more of each and hold on to the Equoia.
dluber, you noticed the bitterness which wasn’t enough to deter me from buying. Also, you noted the lack of the strawberry PN character which I look for, along with an orange rind note in some PN.
DARRELL, I finally opened the Equoia 2021 PN. I agree it’s tasty and terrific value. It improved on the second day, showing deeper fruit flavor and smoothed out.
Sorry this took so long. I’m the only wine drinker in my house, and my friends aren’t fond of PN. They’re into the heavy tannic red phase of their wine journey.
I assume your friends are wine neophytes. Pity they can’t enjoy the nose of a fine, highly varietal PN along with that flavor and the lack of a tannic attack on the tongue. Maybe you can give them a side by side of a good PN vs one of their more tannic reds.
I wouldn’t classify them as neophytes, necessarily. Three of my friends have excellent taste in wine, but prefer very tannic “in your face” reds, like Mark Ryan Water Witch, L’Ecole 41 Ferguson Vineyard and Andrew Will Champoux VY. One of the three mentioned enjoys PNs like Kosta Browne, Domaine Drouhin, GoldenEye. Every individual’s taste buds and experience vary. I’ve had many fine wines beyond my budget through the generosity of my friends.
However, a fourth friend cannot discern btw Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, to her they are equivalent. She cannot distinguish very obvious flaws in wine such as VA. She enjoys high pyrazines.
One thing I have noticed is she oversalts her food. I believe she is a “non taster” (vs “super taster”).
She actively dislikes PN, to her they taste like nothing at all. Once she insisted I taste Menage a Trois Dark Decadence, she thought it was very good. I took a sip, cherries and shoe polish, horrible swill.
On the plus side, whenever we go out to restaurants, my friends always let me choose the bottle with the conditions, no whites, no PN. We had a Turley Zin just the other night which was quite yummy!
Is this friend a smoker by any chance?
Can’t believe someone dislikes a good PN, but on the other hand, the one who likes Kosta Browne, Domaine Drouhin, GoldenEye PN is discerning enough to share a Burgundy with. I can understand liking the pyrazine wines since it is quite recognizable beyond wood and other characteristics. On our 49th wedding anniversary, my wife and I enjoyed the last vintage of CS from Martin Ray before Mt. Eden took over the vineyards and the pyrazines lasted making the CS quite evident. Old Hallcrest CS displayed the same characteristics. Now searching for other Santa Cruz Mountain CS to age. Never bought Ridge. Even though you are the wine drinker at home, you are quite lucky to have wine drinking friends to go out with and defer to you with restrictions. I no longer entertain knowledgable wine friends, but now pop open the good bottles at a slower pace as I educate family and in-laws. With that said though, I feel free to open magnums on occasion, something never done before.
Aubergine, the friend who is a “non taster” has never smoked.🚫🚬
Dunno if folks will appreciate this, but it reminds me of a post on a wine group long ago. Someone wrote something like, “I drink only they heartiest reds, and I never decant.” I replied that it sounded like someone bragging about never practicing safer sex.
In all seriousness, I know a number of folks knowledgable about wine who discourage decanting pinot noir. Just pour it gently.
Interesting. Granted that I’ve never found Pinot sediment to be very objectionable, but what is the supposed benefit of not decanting it?
I stopped in to the South Sacramento (Stock Blvd) location yesterday quickly. This is a location that feels more like a low end grocery store than a place with interesting items or deals. Their wine quadrant is larger than it needs to be, and has low turnover I think. Pretty much everything I recall from the last visit is still here. The location has limited foot traffic despite being on a busy commercial corridor (next to a Costco) so has to resort to couponing. Only items I saw of interest there were the 2020 Stemmler/Lawler PN, the 2018 Crystal Cruises PN, and a wacky wine I’ve seen at other locations that might be worth trying – the Merlo Family Chardonnay which is badged as a ‘tricounty’ AVA whatever that might be. It’s $7 and sounds like another of these collateral damage pandemic wines that could not find a home during lockdowns/tasting room shutdowns etc.
This location is not too far from the distribution center, so if they wanted to, they could be like Rosemont or Rancho Cordova in their operational excellence as well as spectrum of goods and random promotions.
At the Costco next door to that GOBM there is some 2018 Ch. Clairac [Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux] on closeout for $5. These have the “.97” ending number so its usually a good deal for any wine marked like that. I don’t know much about this satellite AOC of Bordeaux, but in general I’d expect it to be a highly functional Bordeaux, and generally speaking those run $12-$15 for their reds. It’s probably just as good (or better) as any sub $10 Bordeaux from GO.
I had a $9 Cotes de Castillon from Costco a few weeks ago (it was a gift) and it was ok. Costco’s direct import tag is called MISA if people inspect the back label.
19 Crimes Snoop Dog 2020 Cali Rosé ($5)
Our GO had a tasting event this spring and I tried the 2016 of this which was surprisingly not horrible.
They got cases of the 2020 in recently and it’s about what you would expect.
🕰2020
💯70/100 🌟2.0
👁Deep pink
👃👅Sweet, tomato leaf funkiness, rhubarb, 7-11 strawberry/raspberry Icee, melted red SnoCone, no acidity to speak of, an odd chemical aftertaste, artificial berry flavoring in candy, slight snarky note.
🍇Zin, Grenache, Pinot Noir
🌄California
⛽10.5 %ABV
💵$15 MSRP $5 Grocery Outlet
Just no.
19 Crimes wines at GO and elsewhere…
Skilled wine folks – might I ask… what the heck is up with 19 Crimes Wines? For years it was an $8 or $9 grocery store wine and that was that. Then my Burbank (socal) GO had some of the wines for $6 or $5 dollars. (Martha’s Chardonnay was $6, the Snoop Dog Rose – $5.) Then more showed at at my Trader Joes – all $4 or $5. And then? And THEN????
It showed up at the 99 cents store. Not 99 cents (so little is that price there anymore) but $2.99. So I bit.
I got one bottle of the 2021 Shiraz. Okay but not great. Really sweet when I first opened it but it did settle down and become more palatable.
The big surprise was the Sauvignon Block, 2020. Kind of meh when I first opened it (to be fair, it was very cold) but after sitting out for half an hour? It really woke up and was bright, acidic, with a hint of fruit. A delightful summer sip. Sophisticated? Nope! But not sweet, very tasty, better than most under $10 Sauvignon Blancs.
I did a check and the company appears to still be in business but I wonder – why the sudden, all over the map, discounts? Anyone have an inside scoop?
They started getting blown out during the summer of 2022. The manager at a local store told me there was some litigation settlement, and this was the end result. It not only affected that producer, but other random brands caught up in the distribution fight. But pretty much everything was touched in that fracas was some kind of manufactured, ‘peanut butter’ style of wine, intended to taste the exact same in a repetitious kind of way, even if all kinds of chemicals/manipulation had to be added.
Still, when it comes to very low priced wines, a manufactured blanc is probably safer than anything else, and what I’ll choose at an open bar or something.
=====
I was in the West Sacramento location today, taking a 5 min walkthrough the wine dept, which seems fairly similar to prior visits, although less PN than I remember. They are still trying to sell that 2013 GSM blend for $4.97, which has to have been lingering there for a year. Name eludes me, but has an ugly orange label. I think someone had mentioned that was truly a bunch of vats just thrown together years later.
Aubergine – thank you for the information. That makes sense and then makes me think – wow, what other peanut butter type wines were affected? (Love that description, btw.)
And yes, it is a factory type wine – but better than many other SBs of the same type that I have tried over the years, hoping for a miracle ; )
dluber and bargainwhine – than you for the google site search + ctl F suggestion.
Hannah Nicole 2019 Meritage, Contra Costa County, CA, produced and bottled by Hannah Nicole Vineyards and Winery, 14.5% ABV, $7. Ripe fuzzy-textured fruit of dark red cherry, maybe dark cassis, blackberry, slight dark earth, strong zingy ripe acid that has a component that is almost red raspberry. Pretty tasty but to me not a great example of Cabernet, although it does remind me why I like Contra Costa County Zinfandels. Last bit at 4 hours open strikes me as a little old, although the dregs left in the bottle were still good. In fact, I preferred the dregs, so there’s no need to decant. A few days later, the saved 275ml screw-cap bottle shows (to me, at least) a little more Cabernet character of medium red Bing cherry with the other flavors in the background. Acid still rather strong; body a little lighter than first day. Although vintage is only 2019, still strikes me as a ‘drink soon.’
I think others have commented on this, but I cannot easily find prior reviews. We just opened a chilled 2021 Aime Roquesante ‘Cuvee Selectionne’ Rose [Cotes de Provence] which is a pale onionskin, light bodied, 12.5% abv, and has a berry flavor, but also a light medicinal kind of tone. Almost like there’s some kids cough/cold syrup in there too. I’m not sure this wine totally fermented dry, although generally French rose tends to be. Awkward coca cola shaped bottle, and a NomaCorc styled closure, so poured without any concern for taint. For my tastes, a fair enough value, as I’m assuming it was $4-$5 or so, which is about what I think fading rose is worth. In our household / consumption patterns, these basically replace water/soda/beer so they are thrown back in minutes, uncritically gulped.
Hi aubergine. I don’t have a better way for you to find past discussions than just using control-f in a page, and going to previous pages until you find it. As admin, though, I do have a way to search comments, so this is what I found:
Update: It seems that the links to the comments that I cut and pasted into this post auto-embed, or something like that. I will try a manual override, so please look here and here.
Hi aubergine –
I noted below, maybe not entirely clearly, that if you do a site-specific search with Google, you will find results. I gave a text example, but here’s a live link, let’s see if this works:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Roquesante+site%3Agrossoutwine.wordpress.com
To make one from scratch, type your search term, a space, then “site:grossoutwine.wordpress.com” in the Google search bar.
As BargainWhine and I noticed, WordPress does something funny to internal links, so when I tried to include direct links to the comments, they were all simplified to just the top What’s New page. @bargainwhine, whatever you did above worked – hand-coded, <a href="…etc.?
Yes
aubergine, I tried the Roquesante 2018 Rosé ($4) back in Nov 2020. Judged it pretty harshly, might have had storage problems, who knows. Could not drink more than a taste, pretty awful IMO. I’m glad your 2021 vintage was better! Still gun-shy here though.
The plastic encased cork was printed w an explanation, “to maintain freshness” which I found amusing.
*****************************
The shapely bottle and pretty label are the best things about this regrettable Cote de Provence Rose. 😑
🕰2018
💯70/100 🌟1.0
👁-Light salmon
👃👅-Bone dry,faint strawberry 🍓at first,thin,flabby,flavor drops out,then long bitter grapefruit pith finish,green vegetal note and some slight Grandpa’s basement mustiness going on👴🏚.
Not enough fruit or acid to be pleasant at all.
⛽13.5%ABV
🍇 Grenache,Cinsault,Syrah
List price $16
Grocery Outlet $3.99
Renaissance 2020 rosé, Toscana IGT, Italy, imported by Zonin USA, 13% ABV, $5. Flavors are nice, with tart tangerine and less ripe raspberry / strawberry, maybe slight watermelon. Possibly has some residual sugar but with a lot of acid following the initial fruit. “Objectively,” it’s fine for the price, but for my taste it’s too indelicate, unstructured, and acid.
Hedgeline Washington St Pinot Gris, 4.99, seen at Kenmore. I recall that beanwean was a fan of it, so if you’re around Kenmore, beanwean, it’s on the wall with the other whites.
Kenmore is also the only Seattle area GO where I have seen the Bloke Washington St Riesling, as well as the Wilhelm Kraemer Pfalz 2021 Riesling. (None of the other German wines, though, but I may have missed them being out of town for the past month.) Did a back to back taste test to determine which if either we should buy a few more of for summer consumption. The Bloke was the best deal, at 3.99 a bottle, whereas the Kraemer was 5.99. Neither were particularly complex, but both were tasty and perfect for hot weather sipping. My husband and I preferred the acid levels in the Kraemer over the Bloke. Though, given the priced points, it seems churlish to quibble. I ended up buying another three bottles of each!
FC, wasn’t familiar w the Hedgeline name as a WA winery, so had to research it. Search from 2000 to 2023 on Public COLA Registry reveals Hedgeline is the 2nd label of Wine by Joe (Dobbes Family Estate) out of Dundee OR. Wine by Joe 2021 PG runs $14 currently on their website.
Wine by Joe makes a Pinot Noir, Rosé and Pinot Gris in both bottles and cans.
I think I have seen some wine by Joe bottlings being discounted retailers other than GOBM
We were down in South Sacramento running errands and resisted the urge to stop in at the rather tired GOBM next to the Costco (which soaked up all the time we were willing to be out in the heat).
But I just got some emails how a couple Sacramento region GO’s are offering their ‘wine club’ members one day a month where they get a 10% discount, if they buy a 6 pack. The Watt location is participating, and it has a generally tidy/decent wine selection compared to others. I’d just have a hard time finding six items I’d want, or multiples of anything. So keep an eye on the inbox, perhaps other regions are doing this too.
I get the sense wine sales are slowing, I’ve been getting real coupons from Total Wine all of sudden, when historically most of their coupons were kind of junky, only applicable to their own overpriced house dreck.
Has anyone tried the Esteban Martin Garnacha Syrah?
Supposedly Costco has the 2021 for $5 right now, my local GO had the 2018 for $5.99. A neighbor really wanted to try it, even with the price and year difference so I picked up a bottle for her.
Also, wine prices are going up at my GO. Many bottles – exactly the same brands and vintages – have gone up $1 in price from last year.
On a happier note, they still have the fabulous Saltram Shiraz, 2019 for $2.99. It needs to be open for about an hour to really find it’s legs but to me, it’s a great summer red, flavorful but not too heavy. A good cheap thrill : )
So I stopped into the original SF K&L wine store location today, and after clearing security (they ask what your business is!) wandered around for a solid hour. I’ve been a 30 year customer, albeit small one nowadays, so I’m used to their schtick, but I love the store/site.
I walked out with one bottle, a Woodenhead PN that had been recc’d by some prior poster here, whose post I cannot find, despite a few min of searching. I wish the native search function for comments was better here; google site indexing also leaves plenty to be desired.
We’ve been hiding from the heat in our region in the 916 and decamped for a long weekend to the cooler bay area. But I’ve had to watch the sidewalks carefully when walking around, lest I step on passed out drunks or human waste. Even the dogs being walked in the neighborhoods seem unnerved by the general unpleasantness of it all.
So I wanted to thank whoever mentioned that K&L had Woodenhead, assuming I like the wine!
Back in late September last year, I mentioned that I had stopped in at the Redding GO and bought – among others – a bottle of a Woodenhead 2018 Mendocino Ridge single vineyard PN. I didn’t actually open it for a month, and when I drank it, I didn’t find it all that Pinot-like. I too – even from my perch here in Portland – buy from K&L, and saw a couple days ago that a different vintage from them was being discounted. I decided to pass…even though I read a couple positive reviews for it.
I was there today too, between 11:30 and noon. Wonder if I saw you. What they were asking about is whether you had ordered any wine that they should go fetch while you walked around. I actually welcome this, because I had, and my previous orders were ready for me when I checked out, purchasing a bottle of 1999 Calera Reed Pinot Noir.
i had my headphones on, so just nodded and showed them ID. I only bought 1 bottle of the aforementioned woodenhead RRV PN – remarkable self restraint for me – but I was anticipating a long walk ‘home’ but ended up getting a ride. I was there late afternoon probably between 3:00-4:15, walking through every aisle and generally making a pest of myself. there were few regular walk in customers, compared to what I have seen on weekends.
for those who like Bordeaux, there is an exceptional spectrum of high quality Bordeaux all on sale. examples include 2018 Moulin Rouge $14, 2019 Cabon La Pelouse $16. I’m not familiar with 2016 La Tour Leognan which is the 2nd wine from Carbonnieux, but that rouge is $16 and given that the grand vin is generally credible in strong years, that’s probably a good buy too. Label looks striking too.
I had hoped to to maybe get a bottle of BoJo, but nothing seemed to stick out from a price/value perspective. They had a lot of JM Dupre cru wines, but that’s a producer that feels too lean for me.
Aubergine, I don’t think your encounter with the security guy was the same as what Seedboy described as service. I haven’t been to the SF store since the pandemic and as your unpleasant experience in SF you just described, I have no desire to visit the SF K&L. I will call my orders to SF and eventually have the orders shipped to Marin. I have had need to drop by the Redwood City store though.
Darrell, I was just describing what happened to me when I walked in yesterday morning, and what generally happens when I come in, they have someone perched near the door asking if you have any orders waiting for pick up.
SB, as I mentioned earlier, I haven’t been to the SF store and things must have changed. Never was asked by a security guard if he could help.
I picked up a couple of the Woodenhead Anderson Valley and Mendo Ridge PNs a while ago, and MR Zins, but haven’t tried them.
Googling “{search term} site:grossoutwine.wordpress.com” works well:
Hum, not sure what happened there with all the internal links I found on Google. They all got truncated to “https://grossoutwine.wordpress dot com/coming-soon/” but I copy-pasted the direct links to comments.
So they should all be like this:
“https://grossoutwine.wordpress dot com/coming-soon/comment-page-#/#comment-#####”
I guess you can copy-paste them after the main URL yourself:
/comment-page-5/#comment-24847
/comment-page-5/#comment-24639
/comment-page-20/#comment-42276
/comment-page-17/#comment-36245
/comment-page-17/#comment-36257
/comment-page-29/#comment-48532
/comment-page-32/#comment-50312
/comment-page-16/#comment-35276
/comment-page-16/#comment-35215
/comment-page-21/#comment-42475
/comment-page-21/#comment-42517
and one on the old Guest Contributions:
https://grossoutwine.wordpress dot com/gc3/comment-page-10/#comment-36184
er, sorry again, I just tried it, shoulda done it first. It works, but the main URL comes up with the trailing slash, so you have to remove the extra one. Try these:
comment-page-5/#comment-24847
comment-page-5/#comment-24639
comment-page-20/#comment-42276
comment-page-17/#comment-36245
comment-page-17/#comment-36257
comment-page-29/#comment-48532
comment-page-32/#comment-50312
comment-page-16/#comment-35276
comment-page-16/#comment-35215
comment-page-21/#comment-42475
comment-page-21/#comment-42517
Hi DLuber. Apparently, when even a well-known poster includes a large number of links, it gets held for moderation and I have to approve it by hand, as it were.
Equoia 2021 Monterey County PN, $6.99. Produced and bottled by Granite Coast vineyards in Greenfield, CA. The nose is fruity of a raspberry nature and not of an orange rind or strawberry type PN. The flavor is closer to my idea of PN, but still with the fruitiness. There’s medium length and body. No overt oakiness and clean with just a bit of bitterness.
Correction on the price which is $5.99 instead and worth purchasing more even though not a usual CA PN for me.
DARRELL, I’d love to see bottles of Equoia here!
I did a bit of research.
Equoia is a private label made by Scheid Winery in Greenfield CA.
Scheid website lists brands Ryder Estate, District 7, Sunny w a Chance of Flowers, VDR, Metz Road, Stokes’ Ghost, Scheid Vineyards and Grandeur.
Public COLA Registry search over 15 yr span reveals Scheid started this label in 2020, wines include PN, Chard, Merlot, Sauv Blanc and Cab Sauv. Ten labelings in total, 2 out of 4 label approvals in 2022 were for Pinot Noir. An excess of PN that year for Scheid explains their appearance at GO.
I had several of their District 7 v2017 PN half bottles from GO in 2020, very enjoyable! Those were $4 back in 2021, so $6 for the Equoia is a bargain in my book!
(The 2020 Equoia PN received a middling score (86) from Wine Enthusiast’s Matt Kettman noting “tar, charred meat, strawberries, tart plum, cranberry sauce, sagebrush, dank herbs” so perhaps a bit of smoke tainted grapes that vintage, I’m thinking.)
Scheid has large holdings in the west of Salina Valley, and I think they are somewhat south of the fancy Santa Lucia Highlands properties. I will generally buy a bottle of Pinot associated with them. Did not see this at Richmond today but did buy a bottle of the Sisters (not complete name) from New Zealand. While I am here has anyone had any of the xo cognacs that have shown up for $39.99? I see that they year of the rabbit one is at KL for over $100
I like the Sisters’ Ridge Pinot Noir. Good fruit, good acidity, nothing wrong with it. I saw the 2017 on the shelf at K&L for twice this price.
I have noticed more than a few GOBM wines at K&L for much more money. I guess I’d consider that validation of quality, and would buy at GOBM if possible
Ok
SB, thanks for letting us know! Bought a single bottle of the Sisters Ridge 2020 PN for $7 plus the two remaining Lapilli Fiano di Avellino on the shelf ($7) today.
I took my (previously) last bottle of Fiano to the neighbors’ birthday bash Saturday along with Montauk Great White Blend 2018 ($4 last year) plus a bottle of the Viña Marichalar Riserva ($12). (All bottles previously commented in earlier posts)
A couple of the guests asked where I found a NY state wine in our small WA town. I jokingly said “Ancient Chinese secret!” (If any of you remember that old commercial for laundry detergent)
I’m only 3.125% Chinese, but hey still counts so not cultural appropriation! 😉
SB, my son bought a bottle of the rabbit Park Cognac at GO and since you were curious, we and my wife had a tasting of it against other Cognacs I had on hand. The Park is a Grande Champagne of whatever their XO age is. Also on hand was a Dudognon Reserve Grande Ch. about $50, a Remy-Martin VSOP Petite Fine Ch. of some old bottling, which might be a hair different from today’s blends, also roughly $50. Also tried a Deret XO, 30 year old, Petite Champagne, $90 from K&L. All four were tasted and sniffed from the same shaped snifters. The Dudognon was light in color since there is no boisé additive as in most Cognacs. All had variations of vanillin/oak. Dudognon had a floral oak nose. The R-M had a bit of volatility, the Deret an earthy, buttery nose. The Park was similar to the Deret, but there was sharpness in the nose that burned. My wife and son thought it might be alcohol though the Cognacs all were 80 proof. It did burn compared to the others. I attribute the burn to possibly a higher percentage of the heads, the first distillate fraction that comes off a distillation.
That part should have been thrown out or used to clean the bathroom.
Yes, heads are nasty stuff if one ever has the chance to inhale the stuff. I think in some distillations, it is saved and returned to the next one to get the better part of the heads in that redistillation.
Thanks for the notes on the comparative tasting, Darrell.
I’ve tasted the Cognac Park Borderies Single Vineyard thus far, but not the Year of the Tiger bottling yet. Just to say it up front, I have little cognac/armagnac experience. The Borderies seemed to me somewhat restrained in profile versus the couple other VSOP/XO versions I remember having…although a bit richer on the nose than on the palate. I recall that it seemed a little oaky/spicy/floral in its profile, maybe not especially sharp but not really mellow either. Some alcoholic warmth came through at what seemed to be within a normal range. It didn’t knock me out in my first tasting, but I did enjoy it. I’ll have to come back to it and also try the Tiger bottling soon.
Bretrooks, I never analyzed Cognac this way before. Didn’t buy the Park Borderies. I didn’t bother to give the method of evaluating the above bottles. Told the wife somebody wanted an evaluation of the Park Cognac and I wanted some smaller snifters to match the two small snifters on the table. My wife says she would wash the four snifters we picked up at auction, nice large Baccarat gold N painted snifters I had forgotten we had. So four closely priced Cognacs came out. Must have sniffed for half an hour or so since I wanted the analysis to be the nose and didn’t sip a drop until much later. Wife and son said the Park burns on the sniff. I agreed and went back and forth on the sniffing among the four snifters, sniffing as should be done for wine, a short but forceful inhalation through the nostrils. Well, the nasopharyngeal assault was so great with the Park I had to blow it out my nose so I could evaluate further. As said above, my wife and son thought the burn was alcohol, but with equal proof among the four, it wouldn’t be the ethanol content. If the Park was had alone, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to the burn. Figured the offending burn was from the volatile part of distillation, the heads and not the tails. Mention of fusel oils isn’t pertinent to the sniffing since they distill over in the tails, but is when sipping. Cognac burns drunk neat and doubt if I could detect excessive fusel oils. Read up on heads to check on the components of heads and saw methanol and ethyl formate as distilling over before ethanol. Ethyl formate does burn. This exercise has made me appreciate sniffing Cognac and maybe Single Malts should be poured into snifters instead of Glencairns.
Hi Seedboy –
I got a bottle of the Park Rabbit the weekend before last. Took it to a dinner party, we all really liked it and killed about half the bottle. We didn’t get any out-of-range nose burn like Darrell mentioned, although we were tasting it after the end of the meal with much spicy food and wine, and not nosing it compared to other fine brandies.
I will say, to me, all Cognac has more heat for its proof than whiskies typically do; you’d expect more fusels in a spirit distilled from wine. I think musing about the distiller’s cuts (heads/middles/tails) is pure speculation unless you’ve done a lot of distilling yourself…even then. But the warming sensation as you sip is brandy part of the charm. Nothing I’d call sharpness per se, but there are mellower XOs out there.
I think it’s a great bargain for $40, enough that I went back for another bottle to keep. Despite still having a couple of the Landy Excellence, another XO that went for, IIRC, $18 at GO Oakland a few years ago, and is indeed mellower. But cheap enough that I used one to make a homemade orange liqueur that I think is as good or better than Grand Marnier.
They reloaded the Rabbit (2023) and Tiger (2022) in boxes at Richmond last weekend. The loosies are all Tiger, you can tell by the UPS, and the Rabbit has a little rabbit face next to the bar code.
Would love to have your recipe for the orange liqueur….Gran Marnier so overpriced, and making it is more fun 🙂
The “right” way would be to start by soaking curacao aka bitter orange peel, then redistilling. I actually have a bunch on hand, will mail you a bag if you want, it’s old, inherited it from a defunct microbrewery (we brewers use it in Belgian ales).
But at the time I didn’t have those, and was lazy, but I had a collection of essential oils on hand, so I did this, came out great:
Grand Marnier clone
750 mL good cognac
1 mL sweet orange oil
0.5 mL bitter orange oil (peel)
0.25 mL (10 drops) mandarin oil
2 drops tangerine oil
touch of pettigrain oil (bitter orange leaf)
touch of neroli or orange blossom oil
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. glycerin
Dang…where do you find all those different citrus oils? I can get sweet orange at co-op, but doubt they’d have anything much more specific. Online? Mention a site and/or company if you can.
Sounds dynamite!
And are you saying you re-distill, or just mix all this and voíla….?
The bitter orange bags ‘right way’ is intriguing, but I no longer have a still.
(For JJ, on the Grand Marnier recipe – I couldn’t find a way to reply to their last comment – more WordPress oddity)
With the oils, yes, I just mixed with the cognac, added the glycerin and sugar, and stirred, took a few days to dissolve. Volumes were guesswork, but this is the second time. The first time I put a bit too much and some didn’t ever dissolve, floated on top, wicked off excess with a napkin.
Sweet orange oil I use Boyajian, widely available at foodie shops. I don’t remember where I got all the esoteric oils, long time ago, would have to dig them out of the closet, but recently I found this place that has most everything: https://wholesalebotanics.com/
You might want to look for another source for smaller bottles on some.
Thanks dluber….appreciated!
I should have guessed the wine was made at Scheid since I drive by the winery around Greenfield whenever going after red wine fare in the county.
I opened a bottle of this Monterey County pinot from Scheid. It is very earthy with a pretty much empty mid palate. Filled out a bit the next day but not a repeat buy.
I stopped in at the Geary St. GO in SF (is this the one people here refer to as the Richmond location?) and explored. It seems to have more dry goods than the typical small format GOBM, but the neighborhood seems to be able to support that given the scarcity of general dry goods retail in SF proper. The foodstuffs seemed to have high turnover and good stocking (I saw a Spanish egg/potato tortilla in cold case vacuum pack for $4 that looked interesting, many flavors, so perhaps those will be seen in other stores) Their international bread end cap was happily not Pepsi product only, as too many other locations can be. The wine section seemed small given the volume/traffic, but SF has a lot of merchants, and in any case it seemed busy enough.
I did see the Equioa PN mentioned by Darrell, as well as the Kosi Bay SB, at this location. Lots of fancy high end single beer bottles here too.
Also, good quantities of 2021 Chapoutier Rose in screwcap there too.
Never been to the the SF Geary GO, will have to pop in next time I’m there. But no, the Richmond GO is in Richmond, CA – East Bay, my home store. The best wine selection because BargainWhine works there 🙂 Pretty good beer selection too. Lots of great micros, in continuous stock, for a few $ less than Safeway etc., and occasional true GO closeout bargains. Lately, Worthy IPA for I think $4/6, and AleSmith, two different hazy IPAs, $8 for 6 x 16 oz.
The owner of the Richmond (isn’t it actually in El Cerrito?) GO is very actively involved in the wine buying at this store and is knowledgeable. It is the best wine store in the immediate bay area, but Petaluma gives it a run for the money; the owner, Bennie, is actively involved in its wine and liquor program and has his own sources other than the order guide. I once bought Gaja Chardonnay there, maybe the best wine bargain I’ve ever gotten.
Seedboy, you are correct about the owner of the Richmond GO. I am not working there now, and even when I was, the owner almost always did the ordering, even on vacation. I believe the southern edge of the store’s back loading area is right on the Richmond – El Cerrito border, so the store is just barely in Richmond.
DLuber, I have been enjoying the Alesmith “Tropical Marmalade” hazy IPA, which is an outstanding deal as you say. Have you tried the other Alesmith hazy IPA? Any beer I drink is pretty much hazy IPAs these days.
Tried the Alesmith hazy ($6.99 four pack) last week and it does not pour hazy. 🤨 Clean citrus flavor with a slight smokey backend. If your GO has the Worthy hazy 6 pack in black cans for the same price, my friend and I thought it was better. Also pours clear like a pilsner and a good summer quaff.
BW – glad or sorry to hear you left GO, whichever you prefer?
I did try the other Alesmith, Cloud Stream I think, and I liked the Marmalade better. A true GO bargain given the silly beer prices these days. I grabbed a Reata today, will open it tonight.
SB – wasn’t Bennie the former owner/manager of the Oakland store? Quite a while since I’ve been there, but used to have a ton of interesting wines, treated to taste a few upstairs. IIRC, he had his own winemaking thing, and maybe some brokerage? Wasn’t he tied to the Wine Thieves guys? Been quite a while since I’ve been there too, but it’s where I’d take an out-of-town visitor who wanted to grab some bargains – more upscale than GO, less hassle then going to wineries, not a bad bottle in the store when I visited.
DLuber, Bennie was in San Leandro before going to Petaluma.
Hum, shoulda Googled first. Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Wine Thieves, think it’s actually been 10 years. My recollection was they had a nice tasting bar in Lafayette (had a location in Berkeley near the Claremont/Peet’s, but it seems closed), and a range of pricing, including some nice <$10 bottles. No more; the only ones they have near that point are good values but widely available for similar prices:
Pine Ridge Chenin / Viognier $12
Segura Viudas Brut Cava $11
These I've all seen at GO for half or less of what they're asking:
https://www.winethieves.com/product-page/la-fouquette-cotes-de-provence-rose-france
https://www.winethieves.com/product-page/muller-family-vineyards-zweigelt-rose-niederosterreich-austria
https://www.winethieves.com/product-page/muller-family-gruner-veltliner-kremstal-austria
https://www.winethieves.com/product-page/sbragia-chardonnay-russian-river-valley
https://www.winethieves.com/product-page/pratsch-rose
But still fond memories of taking visiting friends there to buy wines to take home; they were happy, I was too. Best buy: a case of 2001 off-label Duckhorn cab seconds. They bought barrels and bottled it themselves as "Le Duc" @ $10. Still have a couple, holding up well.
The Oakland store is owned by the corporation. At this point I don’t know of any of the other stores being corporate owned. Bennie was employed there many years ago as the manager. He brought in some great wine deals, such as a load that was totaled by the insurance company after a truck accident broke some bottles. I think he also managed the Berkeley store, which was also owned by the corporation. I don’t know of him being involved in the San Leandro store, which I believe is owned by his sister. The Wine Thieves guys were, before starting that business, the wine buyers for GO. I’ve not been in that store in years.
Seedboy: …a load that was totaled by the insurance company after a truck accident broke some bottles.
Was that the famous round at Berkeley, before my time, with the Ridge wines that Ridge employees hastily came in and bought up so as not to sully their brand?
Or at Oakland, maybe12-14 years ago, with the Rutz pinots, and Murphy-Goode cab, in which I luckily snagged a couple of well-aged Kistler chards for I think $3? They looked a bit dark & oxidized, but were excellent, with lots of toasty nutty aromas, and honeyed, stone-fruit flavors you’d expect in a late-harvest wine, but dry & minerally.
Think it was first sighted ~3 years ago, maybe a different vintage, but I just picked up a 2017 Lincourt chard, SRH “Rancho Santa Rosa” – 91 WE, SRP $35, for $5 at the Pinole store; only had a few.
DLuber: the totaled lot was sold only at the Oakland store. It included many cases of Ridge Geyserville, which was being sold at about half price. Ridge found out about it and asked them to stop doing that. Bennie refused but agreed he would take it off the floor and he sold it out of the back room. There was also a lot of Burgundy in that lot ($30 Eschezeaux!), and some Champagne by Duval Leroy.
My posts on here are associated with an earthlink email address that I am abandoning. I can be found at rseeds294 at gmail dot com.
And I discovered that Petaluma has Steve The Wine Guy, who was in the Berkeley/Oakland area and gives such good advice. Fabulous store. I signed up for his newsletter as his recs, if I am lucky, also work for the SoCal/LA area.
Steve is Bennie’s cousin. I recommend stopping by there on a Saturday during the fall wine sale and seeking him out.
so what’s weird is that the Geary St store in SF is in a neighborhood in SF that (at least according to Google) is called Richmond. Although in my observation Google Maps neighborhood names are maybe 1/3 of the time more something real estate agents would know/use, and not the residents who live there.
In any case thanks for clarifying. I’ll try to fit in a stop to the Richmond/El Cerrito location the next time I’m in that area.
Yes, the San Francisco neighborhood of the Geary St store is the inner Richmond, but it is not the city of Richmond, CA.
Though not a resident of SF, I am familiar with SF as a visitor and that part of SF is called The Richmond. The Geary GO has a good selection and the owner has tastings with some of the wine staff.
M. Chapoutier Viognier La Combe Pilate, Collines Rhodaniennes, 7.99. Forgot to note the vintage. Seen at the Kenmore GO in Seattle. Did not buy, but probably should have.
Wow I thought these had sol through the system 2-3 years ago. I never saw any down in my region. I love French viognier.
Bought a half dozen here in WA last Sept. 22nd. Have one left.
FC, the LeCombe Pilate 2017 Viognier is well worth buying at $8.
I purchased 5 in Sept 2022, 2 left.
My review on Vivino as I have no clue how to put a previous link in.
****************************
🕰2018
💯89/100 🌟3.9
👁Pale gold
👃👅Dry,honeysuckle,apricot,nectarine,slt citrus,faint chamomile,slt creamy,vanilla orchid,minerality,med low acidity,high alcohol,long finish
🍇100%Viognier
⛽14.5%ABV
🎖️WA91,VM91,JD90,JS90🎖️
💵$30 MSRP
Slightly dry cork, difficult removal,broke.🤦
✅ Northern Rhone
Picked this up at GrocOut for unbelievably $8.
Someone stated distributor of this wine was changed,so previous distribution company undercut price to mess w new distributor.
Running back to buy more!🥂🏃
Still there at Kenmore–in the cheese area. It’s the 2018 vintage…
Robert Mercer Family 2017 Red Blend No.1, 49% Syrah, 27% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 3% Petite Verdot, 2% Mourvedre, 14.1% ABV, $7. Left on its side at home for a couple weeks. Decanted off a small amount of sediment. Pretty tasty right away but fills out, darkens, softens with 3.5 – 4 hours’ air. Tangy dark cherry, boysenberry, plum, probably mostly from the Syrah, dark slightly tarry blackberry underneath, a little stewed or pruney character in the gently textured finish. This is the sort of soft, mature, drink-now deal I like from GO. I keep saying “soft,” but it is not sweet and indeed has nice acid to balance the ripeness. The dregs are not bad at all, so decanting the wine off them is probably not necessary.
I bought one of these today just to see what it was about, along with a couple other recently-mentioned bottles: 2018 Erath Chardonnay and 2017 Yering Station Shiraz Village. I also found a 2019 Marqués del Atrio Rioja Gran Selección ($7.99). Looking forward to checking them all out.
The most intriguing thing I saw on the shelves today in SLO wasn’t wine but cognac – which I only have a little experience with but have generally enjoyed. Our GO had both Cognac Park Borderies Single Vineyard at $34.99 (vs. $70+ in most online listings) and Cognac Park XO Grande Champagne Year of the Tiger Limited Release 2022 at $39.99 (vs. $90+, K&L had this at $109.99). I picked up one of each to try.
Let us know what you think of all of those, especially the Cognac.
China economy must be slowing down to see fancier Cognacs sold stateside on closeout racks
The Erath Chard is available in small quantities here in the Portland area. (Perhaps you all know that – many years ago – Dick Erath sold his winery to Chateau Ste. Michelle. Sadly, Dick died a month or so ago…he was the first winemaker that I ever met. Fine man!) I’ve opened one bottle of it, immediately filled an empty screw-top 1/2 bottle and put it in my fridge. The rest I drank and found it fresh and balanced, but a bit monolithic and fairly closed. The next night, I opened the 1/2 bottle, and it was much more interesting! More nuanced, and some spicey details had started to show. The next time I saw it, I bought a couple more. $7.99.
BW reviewed the Yering, I’ll add another thumbs-up, well worth the $5 (?) and drinking nicely now, maybe drink soonish.
Glad to hear another positive comment. We’ve been out of town and haven’t gone through much in the way of wine lately, so I haven’t tried that or the Erath Chard yet. The Rioja was fine and seemed reasonably priced, but I didn’t pick up more last time I was there.
One quick update: I did open the Yering 2017 Shiraz on Friday night, and we liked it enough that I went back for a few more over the weekend. At $5, it’s a pretty nice low-cost red.
I didn’t see a ton of new beers, but I did pick up some Alesmith Cloud Stream to try, even though it sounds like those of you who’ve tried it haven’t enjoyed it as much as some other options.
This morning I bought another bottle of the Robert Mercer Family 2017 Red Blend No.1 and opened it this evening. It really strikes me as a different wine than the first bottle I had, described above. Tonight’s bottle, with the same amount of air, was more sweet, syrupy, simple, lacking richness. I decanted only about 2/3 of the bottle, but I still dumped a bit. I expect I’ll dump most of the saved 275ml screw-cap bottle, too, whenever I open it. I suspect there were different batches under the same label.
Kosi Bay 2022 Sauvignon Blanc, Wine of Origin Western Cape, South Africa, imported by W. Direct, 12.5% ABV, $6. The 2021 Kosi Bay SB was delicate and subtle, with some New Zealand-like gooseberry character, but this is unabashedly South African: yellow melon / pear, golden kiwi, lemon / lime, and yes some gooseberry but not particularly delicate, melon rind minerality. Less subtle than the 2021, but still delicious!
It sounds like a private label wine? I found very few instances of it on Wine Searcher….
The Kosi Bay was actually created by & for an English grocery chain. I believe there was also limited distribution of that wine in Sweden, of all places. It was pitched to me when we were having problems with obtaining NZ Sauv Blanc via close out or DI. The wine actually turned pretty good after some tweaking with the winery…Their first few submissions had something else blended in: Chenin or Muscat. The wine sells VERY globally throughout all our stores.
Thanks for that information. Having seen various documentaries on how NZSB is made on that their vast lands/facilities, I’m surprised it could be in shortage.
However I’ve noticed that a household staple (Joel Gott SB) has been creeping up in price. It’s now hard to find for the usual $8-9, and now tends to run $12ish. Still worth it of course, especially if one is drinking blind, without the need to impress/represent.
https://wd-direct.com/
” W. Direct is a wine import company based in the US. We provide an alternative to the most common Three Tier System of distribution in the US by allowing international wineries to have control of their own sales to distributors around the country. Some key advantages that our clients have working with us:
• Our clients decide the products they want to bring to the US.
• Our clients have access to sell to any distributor around the country, maintaining control of their own sales.
• Our clients eliminate the importer’s profit allowing them to be more competitive and profitable.”
I really only trust Direct Imports from a small handful of retailers, like K&L or Garagiste. That’s their whole business, and they know their craft well. If one was in the NY/DMV regions then Chambers, MacArthurs would qualify too. Zachys might have at one point, but I’m been out of touch with them for a long time.
Too many direct importers are in the ‘I need a $3 ketchup to fit in the spot on the shelf’ and they are searching around these parameters first — price and margin — then maybe commercial terms and availability next. Sadly, the big grocers who like house brands and DI are some of the worst offenders in this.
Total Wine has their Winery Direct wines, many of which look like junk, but I’ve had some nice ones and good bargains. Availability varies by area, but here in the SF East Bay, I go to Pleasant Hill. After a southern Italy trip, I got more interested in those wines, got a few good ones there, much better selection than at K&L. The Borgosole Brindisi was a winner.
I had liked a few Cameron Hughes wines at GO and Costco. Now they only sell mail-order; just got my first case from them, haven’t tried any yet.
In nearby Berkeley, CA, we have the famous Kermit Lynch, who brought us the great $5 bottle of La Vielle Ferme way back when (spun off now, but still good last time I had it, been a while, still only $8-10). They directly import I think everything they sell, just France & Italy, occasional Austrian. Never had a bad bottle; some of their prices are silly, but definitely an interesting portfolio. I usually only bite on bargains there (and I’m always a sucker for oddball grapes). They send you a lot of sale and coupons if you sign up for the newsletter, which is fun, breezy read.
I just got a case of their “Simplicity Sampler”, some light, summery reds, whites, and rosés, discounted 25% off list, and they let me use a $25 off coupon, so it ended up being $12.84 per bottle. All the wines are described on the site, you just have to search, they annoyingly didn’t put links in the ad. The only one I’ve had before is the Monferrato Rosso, quite nice. The Il Gocetto by the same winery, Tenuta La Pergola, is also good.
Probably shouldn’t post coupon codes on a public forum. PM me, or just sign up for their mailing list, it’s good through the end of August.
See my previous missive about Terry Theise for German and Austrian wines, although not a retailer, and now out of the biz. Eric Solomon (France & Spain) on the label is another quality indicator. Don’t think it’s K&L exclusive, but I’ve had a few great red & white Rhône from Lafage there, seems to be a grower/negociant.
Bringing the convo back to GO – knowing they’re good bargains at SRP, I snapped up w/o hesitation a few Bastide Miraflors, a joint Solomon-Lafage project, at GO for I think $8 in early ’22 IIRC. Opened one so far, perfect.
Just note that current Cameron Hughes wines are a ‘brand’ and that Cameron Hughes himself has his own label ‘de Negoce’. His older portfolio of ‘Lot #’ wines was pretty good especially in his sweet spot (CA CS and Chard) and I’m still enjoying some of the cabs 10-11 years later. Especially his vineyard designates. The newer stuff….I’ll pass on.
His biz model was de Negoce requires customers commit to solid cases, and basically I don’t have much interest in doing that for a blind bottles. I can get plenty of deals on known wines as it is.
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If one likes Kermit Lynch, or Terry Thiese, they both have pretty good books I would recommend. I’ve been getting the formers paper catalogs/flyers since the 90’s and just read one last night actually. I’m sure the samplers are a good deal….but again I don’t want to buy grab bags. There is enough stuff on my drinking ‘to do’ list as it is….
Solomon has one excellent blanc from the south of France I recommend: Novellum, chardonnay grapes which sit on viognier lees. It’s kind of a ‘product’ in that its consistent, and manipulated, but it’s great for that style. Anywhere from $10-$15 depending on the deal/site, but can easily pass for a $40 california chard.
Cameron Hughes had to reorganize his business at some point, and ended up leaving his namesake company, and the new owners retained the brand. Strangely, I listened to a podcast (with his ex wife) where she lightly alluded to some of this stuff. I think she stayed on with the old firm, so presumably the parting was not joyous.
Regarding Cameron Hughes, past & present:
His first company (with Lot #’s) did well for a while, but he went all-in at Costco (as his primary channel) and ran into cashflow crises. He sold to Vintage Wine Estates, where his (now ex) wife became head of Marketing. VWE screwed it up, like most other ventures they tackled (check out their IPO crash, caveat emptor). Cam then launched Phoenix Wine Co, (new DeNegoce) and has done great with it. Those “ in the know” realize the awesome bargains to be had – presuming you like his style. We do, and I now buy 80% of my vino thru DeNegoce (even though I’m in the wine biz and get tons of deals/discounts). Super pricing, great service, unique offerings. Just go for it, you’ll be pleased.
Joel
Agree the de Negoce business model is intriguing, opened two Cabs last weekend, #’s 66 and 80 both 2018 Napa appellation, drinking like solid $35-45 Cabs for less than half that price. I think CH puffs the MSRP a bit in his sales pitch but his descriptions are reasonably accurate and informative.
My work around on the futures full case requirement is I have 1 to 3 willing partners so I rarely commit to more that 4 bottles and if something lights my fire I circle back on bottle shop sales to back fill and a slight price premium.
If you know what you like, it is worth your attention.
Thanks for the tip on DeNegoce, Joel/Zoel, I’ll put them on the radar.
And aubergine, yep Novellum! The secret is they referment chardonnay on viognier lees, so I heard. Been on my bargain list for a while, and I actually got some at GO a while ago!
Zoel, I found the business concept of DeNegoce intriguing.
So the gist is, one purchases bottles of wine based on AVA, vineyards, cepage, vintage, Cameron Hughes’ tasting notes, sometimes description of winery and occasionally scores of past vintages by professional reviewers.
On one Columbia Valley Cold Creek VY CS, it was emphatically stated this was NOT a Chateau Ste Michelle product.
On Wine Berserkers, people were throwing out guesses on which winery made which lots based on grapes and vineyards.
Being a purchaser yourself, once bottles are in hand, are you finally informed which winery made the wine you received or does the mystery remain forever unsolved?
Nope, rarely does Cam ever share the source of the juice. That’s part of the mystery and fun. Both WineBeserkers and DeNegocants websites take educated stabs – but Cam told me they’re almost always wrong. Some guesses do make good sense, while others are far off-base. And so what? We’re enjoying the quality of the vino without the hype and branding.
Often times, wineries have some great juice without an outlet. You can’t just gin up a new label/brand without some investment, and it might not mesh with the brand either. Finally, cam’s winemaker is typically finishing the wine in his/her style (unless he bought shiners), so there are significant influences at play as well.
With a success rate > 95% (for my palate), DeNegoce is a no-brainer – I drink great wine at 70%-90% below retail. But Cam has also conditioned us to wait for his sales events, when the discounts are greater.(thx!)
For some perspective on de Negoce (coming from someone who has bought maybe 5 cases from Cam from 2009 onwards, and actually consumed most of them) there are some real considerations:
* it’s a futures biz model – pay now, get wine at some future point. the customers are financing the inventory because normal banks won’t.
* shipping, storage, and general operational excellence / customer service are concerning for those who are not used to their overall gestalt. imagine getting a case shipped out in the heat (or cold) when you are out of town… in that vein I see some folks leave wine in storage with them, which I think is ill considered given the history of retailers in this matter.
* Cam has great taste/connections in some regions…less so in others. but the customer base can’t determine that because it’s sold blind, and many have not tasted what they have bought yet. Look at that coop Barolo deal he did last year – it’s the same grower coop wine seen in GO (or K&L) for $15-20, that they presented blind, as a case purchase, up in the $30’s handle. Some regions it’s easier to identify the wines based on DO/DOCG tagging. Same thing for another Rioja deal which was presented as some amazing deal for $20 per, in a case lot. Most no name, direct import Rioja (reserva level) is worth at most that. That’s a category worth supporting, but I think consumers should be circumspect about what CH’s strong suits are. Some regions that structurally are oversupplied/underexported (Australia, maybe South Africa etc.) could really use someone like him.
* Some years ago I got some Chardonnay from them that was “Sandhi” corked. It was superb. I’m assuming that was a shiner, but it’s hard to know a priori what anything might be, but I always felt that that I had good results in north Coast type of cabs/blends, and all chardonnay. His taste in PN didn’t line up with mine, but that could have been a function of that era/vintages/availability and I’d be willing to check it out again….but large pre commits make me leery.
* all this motivating me to pull some older Lot #’s cabs for this week!
Intrigued by the convo here, I signed up at de Négoce. Some of the purported negatives appear be outdated info. They still offer futures by the case, although the offer I got this week ($25 for a supposedly stellar $75+ SRP Atlas Bench Cab Sauv) also had a 6-pack option.
I’m a little shy buying a quantity untasted, and anyway, my cellar is full and I prefer mixed cases. But futures sales have been in the wine biz for centuries, with some sources citing origins in 58 AD. Nobody regretted buying 1982 Bordeaux en primeur.
But there’s also a bottle shop with ~150 wines, ~40% with producer labels, including the famed Xavier Vignon, albeit a mystery-source negociant himself. Although most were unfamiliar, you can at least Google them. As for shipping in heat, I chose to ship in October ($5 fee).
I got a sampler case of all de Négoce Lot #s for $129. Will update later this year or early next after we taste a few. The only negatives so far are the lack of customer reviews, like they have on CH Wine (although there are reviews on Denegociants and Wine Berserkers, as noted, and CellarTracker), and the number of emails dN sends me, but that’s what they all do; although some have options to reduce it, couldn’t find one at dN.
Consider reading the most up to date issues with dN, as detailed on the WB board.
Happy to find a Torrontes at Mira Mesa here in San Diego. $5.99 Alto Molino. A touch old, perhaps, which only shows in slight bitterness on the finish. Otherwise, this is everything you’d want in the varietal. That slight minerality evaporates quickly, so if you like that, drink up.
Year is 2020, btw. This isn’t a deal to begin with but it is nice for the price.
My thoughts on it here, when I found it for $4. I’m surprised there was such a large price difference.
Checked my receipt and it was indeed $3.99. Seems like $3.99 whites and roses are pretty much not available at this point but this is a nice find.
Would love to find this Torrontes (or any Torrontes), but alas! none here in my neck of the WA woods.
I stopped at the Watt GO yesterday, and the wine dept looked the best I have ever seen it. Every shelf was fully stocked, tidy and labels tagged properly. It was almost bizarre given how slipshod other stores often are, and how this store typically is not very operationally tight for normal food stuffs.
Picked up a single bottle of the $4 Chapoutier Rose which was the 2021 vintage. I assume the 2022 has landed. I’ve had this before and its a functional enough ‘made’ wine. These big negociants basically aim for consistency and generally rose (in my house) isn’t being tasked with anything complicated/tough – just be liquid/cold/non vinegar.
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My general impression is that actual deals on interesting foods have been thin the last 4-6 weeks. But I have also been stopping in less often, especially to the ones near their local distribution center, which have always seemed to have the most inventory turnover, and lowest promotional prices.
I’ve been out of town for three weeks and thought I check on the local GO scene as I was replenishing our grocery larder. I hit Crown Hill, Kenmore, and Lake City in Seattle and am sad to report that Crown Hill had by far the lowest general grocery stock and nothing but push wines in their wine section. This store got new owners about a year ago, and I have cut them some slack as they get their feet wet, but honestly, there is no reason to shop there if you can shop at any other Seattle area GO. Sad, because till the ownership change, they had probably the best wine selection. They still have the best cheese selection of those three stores, however.
Lake City also got new owners around the same time, and their wine selection has improved considerably since then. Not in the same league as the late lamented SODO GO or the previous incarnation of the wine section at Crown Hill, but much better than they’ve had in the past few years. Also, they give a 10% discount on mixed cases every Wednesday. I’m not in the ‘buy a case’ phase of wine purchases anymore, but if you are and are in Seattle, you might check them out.
Kenmore was, as usual, in the middle of the two.
Thanks for that color. It’s so crazy how different the selection/gestalt of GO can be from store to store in the wine dept experience.
New to Pullman store:
*Sisters Ridge 2020 Pinot Noir Canterbury NZ (price not posted) (2018 was $6, presumably $7-$8 now) 3.9 Vivino past vintages, no rates for 2020
*Clos des Lumieres 2019 Le Vigne de Papy Marselan (no price posted) 3.5 Vivino past vintages
*L’Aréte de Thau 2022 Picpoul-Teret blend ($8) that BW & Lim mentioned & reviewed.
Looking for some wine for a group pizza party on Friday, but my friends are not fans of PN, roses, whites or French wines.🤷🏻♀️ Guess I’ll dig around in my stash.
Sisters Ridge is a good winery. I hope that is available next week in No Cal when I return from vacation
SB, you might be thinking of Two Sisters Vineyard in Cromwell NZ which is 3 hours southwest of Sisters Ridge “Winery” address in Canterbury NZ. I cannot find an actual winery for Sisters Ridge. Two Sisters PN priced $80, Sisters Ridge 2017 PN retail is $14. Found one Wine Enthusiast review for 2017 Sisters Ridge PN 84 pts.
GO price $8, a bit more than half price. Hope this helps clarify! (Call me a cynic, but I can’t help thinking the name “Sisters Ridge” was chosen to be intentionally misleading.)
It seems that Sisters Ridge is a second label for Mt. Beautiful, whose Sauvignon Blanc has turned up at GO in the past, and was quite good as I recall. Sisters Ridge is a famous mountain area near Canterbury, so I don’t think it is a ‘stolen valor’ moniker.
I haven’t tried this wine, although I did see it at the Lake City GO, but based on its parent winery, it might be fine. One caveat is that NZ Pinot Noir tends to vary quite a bit year to year, given the grape’s sensitivity to climatic conditions. Of course, that can be true of Pinot Noir elsewhere, but in my limited experience it is particularly so for NZ Pinots.
K&L is currently selling the 2017 Sister’s Ridge Pinot Noir for $14.99. When I searched its site they indicated that this is associated with Mt Beautiful.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1496602
Filari Galasso 2021 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOP, Italy, imported by Tri-Vin Imports, 12.5% ABV, $6. After 4 hours of air, tangy dark cherry and red / purple plum, purple grape, with the slightly gritty finish that’s (as I recall) typical of Montepulciano. Becomes decently full and supple. I don’t recall having liked Montepulciano very much, and I have mostly avoided it, but this one seems pretty good for the price.
I went to the Folsom location yesterday, and it was very picked over. The wine dept was just all the detritus of the Gallo dregs (Stella etc.). Food section was also pretty lame. Maybe it was the holiday long wknd.
Today I stopped for a few min at the Marconi location – after they had sent an email claiming they had Chapoutier rose – but it was just an empty slot on the shelf. I doubt it sold out, I think their inventory system and email is not really aligned with the stocking reality. Probably sitting in the back or something. Again at this location the foodstuffs were pretty lame too.
We had some ok wines (not GO sourced) over the weekend: Vielle Ferme rose, nothing special, functional and screwcapped. A quite good Rochioli S-B, but those are pricey.
Surprisingly Gallo does not own Stella Rosa. It is owned by the Riboli family, which owns the San Antonio winery in downtown LA
I think it’s distributed by them? I see it in the Gallo quadrant in some markets.
Erath 2018 Chardonnay, Oregon, 12.5% ABV, screw cap, $9. Light yellow apple quickly followed by less ripe lemon, hint of lime zest, melon rind / citrus pith minerality, polished with light oak. Body is light for Chardonnay and the flavors delicate; long minerally and acid finish. Nice finesse for $9, but not for those who like ripe, buttery, oaky Chardonnay.
Erath 2017 Pinot Noir, Oregon, 13.0% ABV, screw cap, $14. Opened on the day it arrived at the store. 1st day: fairly simple, dull fruit with tight tannic finish with minerality. 2nd day: made progress softening and darkening, but still had some tight tartness. 3rd day: open 4 hours, nose still weak. Light raspberry tartness, softer and riper red cherry, light orange / earth, sappiness in the finish. Nice Pinot but not especially interesting for this price at GO. Would be a fine price elsewhere. Probably it took so long to come around just because it had so recently arrived at the store.
After I wrote the above, I web searched this wine and found this link to Costco Wine Blog, where they reached a similar conclusion.
I haven’t been posting much, since I have not been going to various GO’s in my region nor drinking bottles obtained from them. (Been drinking other stuff!) but some generic commentary
* For those in the Raley’s / BelAir/ NobHill footprint (western US states) some stores have wines on sale/closeout. I didn’t think anything looked particularly interesting (either from a quality/price standpoint) but usually these sales take a few weeks to run their course, and prices change. Ever since Curtis Mann MW left a couple of years ago their selection has grown dismal/boring. They have allowed distributor reps far too much leeway in how things get stocked at my favorite location. (The Wagner rep dumps all the smoke vintage Belle Glos single vineyard designates there at $30/per knowing that there is no internet/online sales so that price will not leak out into the world)
* For those in the Safeway/Albertson catchement, some stores might have the 2016 l’Argentyre [Medoc] on closeout for $5. Needs to be manually entered by the cashier, but that’s a real estate Bordeaux from the Sichel’s, in a decent vintage. I picked a singleton up, because as interesting as it might be, I have a lot of this ilk, so it’s not really cellar accretive.
* GO’s near me are sending out more unrealistic coupons ($5 off $50, $10 off $100 etc.). Given that they exclude alcohol, it seems like it would be hard to normally hit those spend minimums. I have not seen that many compelling deals either, on food or pet stuff. I’d rather stores have interesting items and well stocked/labeled shelves at fair enough prices, than coupon foolishness.
* I can’t understand why GO can’t get a better spectrum of more serious / interesting white wines that are getting closed out. It would seem like that category gets tired faster, and it would need to be flushed out of the system. For examples: items like the $4 Chapoutier rose some have mentioned. There is some of that floating around non GO local stores (but the 2014-2017 vintages!) for $10ish, but those are likely long dead. In the main, I would not buy any rose older than 2021 at this point.
Happy Independence Day!
Thanks for the tip on Raley’s/Nob Hill. There wasn’t much at my store, but there were a few 50% offs (albeit, 50% off their inflated list price).
Local Safeway is doing seemingly 60-70% off more than a few closeouts. Picked up some solid bottles.
GOs nearby (Bay Area) seem to be going back to Owl Block/etc. mostly.
Yering Station 2017 “Village” Shiraz, Yarra Valley, Australia, 14.1% ABV, $5. Aired a few hours to show tangy purplish red plum with a little skin / pit, earthy oak, lighter body for Shiraz, fairly acid. Ok for this price but I’m not really a fan.
I opened a saved screw-cap bottle of this tonight and I liked it a lot better than the first night. It had smoothed out, softened, ripened, and integrated the stemminess into a nice complexity. So, this is fine after all, if not quite as ripe as some vintages. I really should wait to taste the saved bottle before I comment…
Bouchard Aîné & Fils 2021 rosé of Pinot Noir, Vin de France, imported by Boisset America, 11 – 14% ABV, $6. Light, juicy tartness of tangerine, less ripe strawberries, pink grapefruit, slight chalky (limestone?) finish. Very much like previous vintages. Here is my note on the 2019.
Okay, I couldn’t stand the suspense plus what if I love it, want to buy a case and they’re all gone? 😱
Popped open the Belleruche 2021 CdR Rosé $3.99 13.0%ABV
🕰2021
💯87/100 🌟3.7
👁 Light salmon
👃👅Bone dry,raspberry, rhubarb,citrus note grapefruit? faint herbal,a touch of saline minerality,med high acidity,med long finish.
A touch too austere for me but this could be perfect for others.
🍇75%GRN,25%CIN
🌄France
🕰No tech sheet
⛽13%ABV
💯?cases
Screwcapped top.
🎖️90 pts WE, 91pt JS🎖️
💵$20 release,$14 online,$4 GOBM
Imported by Folio Fine Wine Partners owned by Michael Mondavi.
Screaming deal if bone dry Rosé is your preference 🏜️ 🌹
I like a touch of sweetness to balance the citrus.
I’ll probably buy 3 more for impromptu gifts to friends/neighbors if still on shelf.
Personal preference is the bottom line, eh, WORN? A decent rose’, but just too dry and austere for what you prefer. I know I’m not talking about GO wines here, but have you tried Barnard Griffin Rose’ of Sangiovese (Columbia Valley) or Thurston Wolfe Lemberger Rose’ (Yakima Valley)? Both are in the $10-$15 range, are fruitier and more deeply colored? Those are two of my perennial favorites. The paler rose’s tend to be (but not always) the drier ones.
Hi Lim, thanks for your suggestions! I occasionally see Barnard Griffin wines at Moscow Food Coop, but never any Thurston Wolfe. My fave Rosé out of the 40+ I’ve tried (Vivino keeps track) is by Merry Cellars, my hometown winery. Theirs is a Syrah/Mourvédre blend, but at $24 too pricey now that I’m retired.🫤
Hey WORN: leave it to me to recommend a rose’ when there’s been considerable stylistic differences. I had a bottle of the 2022 Barnard Griffin Rose of Sangiovese tonight and it’s much different than previous vintages…paler and bone dry with fairly high acidity. So I’m thinking you may want to pass on this vintage unless you’ve already bought a bottle. My apologies for “leading you astray”.
Lim, thanks for the tasting update on the Barnard Griffin Rosé! I’m wondering if mixing the Belleruche w Snoop Dogg’s Cali Rosé will hit a happy medium! 😂
Lim, the Merry Cellars Rosé is now $28 a bottle!
“Salt in the wound”, WORN? That’s way more bucks than I pay for rose’ too. I was totally unfamiliar with Merry Cellars…except for location. (All WA residents know Cougar Country is in Pullman, right? I’m a fairly good mail order customer of WSU Creamery cheeses.) So I just checked out the website and didn’t even find the rose’ there. Every time I read WA winery reviews it’s staggering seeing the number of producers I’ve never heard of. 1100 wineries is a far cry from the 4 that existed when I started in the business in 1974.
Lim, the Merry Cellars Rosé never makes the website because it sells out every year, extremely small batch and very popular despite the price. They just had their Summer Case sale last week, Rosé was not on the list of half price bottles according to a friend who attended. She also updated me on the price!
I recall dropping into Preston Cellars way back when 1979, on the way home to Pasco from college at WSU. Johannisberg Riesling was a favorite back then!
Never spent much time with Bill Preston, but knew his kids, Cathy and Brent pretty well. I used to run into them frequently at wine conferences and I even bought some Pinot Noir grapes from them one year when my wife and I were making wine with another couple for 10 years. That’s the last wine we ever made. I still have a couple of bottles. One I opened a few years ago made great dry sherry (oxidized). And I’m currently working on another bottle that had turned to very tasty vinegar! 😁 Rob Griffin from Barnard Griffin Winery was their winemaker at the time. Rob’s 1978 Chardonnay won Best of Show at the NW Enological Festival one year.
I’m drinking the Belleruche now, and though I often complain that an acidic + dry wine is too “austere” or “lean”, I’m really liking this one; let’s call it “zippy” or “zingy”.
But (and to aubergine’s point, yes I look for recent vintages of whites and rosés) the 2019 Torres De Casta Rosado I got at Richmond last week is holding up wonderfully, and is very fleshy, toward the red side of rosé, with good fruit and maybe just a tad of residual sugar, but lower acid, more tannin. Give it a try if it’s at your store.
DL, thanks for your Rosado recc! Haven’t seen it so far but will certainly keep an eye out for that Rosé!
From your description, I got a couple bottles, and will let you know what I think whenever I open one.
Agree with your notes. What I’d say is that on the first day there was a bit more bitterness in the finish than I would prefer for sipping on its own. The second day, though, the bitterness had integrated and diminished to where I thought it was very good.
Recommended to me by another customer at Richmond, CA: 2021 Latitude 34 St Barbara Pinot Noir “Private Reserve”, “Small Batch” – pretty good, decent fruit and identifiably PN, a bit hot, thick, & alcoholic, not my favorite style of PN. Forget the price, not much. Goes down too easy for the EtOH level, satisfying but not super complex.
Also simple and satisfying, liked the Arete de Thau Picpoul-Tarette white – crisp summer sipper with a bunch of fruit, off-dry but zippy; $8. Very similar wine for $10 at K&L now:
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1644926
Also picked up a Yarra Yering Shiraz-Viognier based on past good luck with this house and cuvee. Forget the price, $24 at Wine Access https://www.wineaccess.com/catalog/2019-yering-station-shiraz-viognier-yarra-valley-victoria-australia_aefb9bdc-0841-4de3-aa30-f0b91c168bf5/
DL, Public COLA Registry search reveals the Latitude 34 Special Reserve PN to be made by E2 Family Winery (owned by Ehlers Family) out of Lodi CA. They also make Latitude 28 PN [ed. note: I assume this should be “Latitude 38”], Primrose Trail PN, Owl Block PN, Post House Road, Cal Fresco, others. Their own labels are Zagan’s Fire, Cali*esta, Herman Walter. They offer private labelling to businesses.
Thanks I saw the Lat 34 at a nearby GO location. Those sound like names to pass on for me. Unless its Kirkland or (the old) Cameron Hughes I’m leery of that style of ‘manufacture’
Had the Latitude 34 PN tonight which WineObsessedRN (sounds like my significant other who is an L&D nurse) mentioned from E2 Ehlers Estate. Felt it was 83/100. Not offensive nor memorable. GOBM in Redwood City for $7.99. Have seen other GO stores very sloppily mark displays with Latitude 38 & 34 interchangeably with wrong wines.
Also picked up today:
Mirconia 2015 Ribera del Duero tempranillo/merlot-crianza blend and
Opta DAO 2020 Touriga Nacional/Alfrocheiro/Tinta Roriz
both for $6.99/btl and excited to try both as they were highly rated.
Does your Significant Other work at Kaiser RWC? Reason I ask is there might have been an encounter with my daughters.
I saw this at Tacoma 6th Ave yesterday and quickly had issue looking it up – not Latitude 38 (very similar label as it is the same company), and there is a same named winery (34) in Australia = possible trademark issues.
RG, yes, Latitude 34 Private Reserve 2021 Pinot Noir Small Batch, Santa Barbara County is not found anywhere using Google. I searched “Latitude 34” on Public COLA Registry. There is one entry in 15 years, a Pinot Noir label approved May 23, 2023. The address of the company that applied for the label (E2 Winery) has the same address as on the wine bottle I saw at GO, Highway 12 in Lodi CA.
Regarding international registered trademark violation re: Latitude 34. Perhaps neither winery has an internationally registered trademark for the name.
I looked up the Madrid Agreement, both Australia and US are on the list of 130 countries agreeing not to violate internationally registered trademark.
At any rate, it’s very time consuming and expensive to pursue litigation.
Unless companies have an extremely well known name (ie, Apple, Disney, Sony), a legal department and very deep pockets, it’s unlikely either will proceed with legal action.
Over the years, I’ve noticed a ton of closeout wines show up at Wine Access, that get a fancy email / picture and then presented to their client list as if they are brand new releases. It doesn’t matter what it is, could be a sparkling Loire going for $6 in the non internet, physical retail world – and via online/shipping WA will ask for $26, and pretend to give a slew of discounts. I’ve seen it happen so many times that I almost expect that 20% of the time if I start googling up some unknown ‘deal’ in the real world, it’ll show up on a WA link. At least WineEx – which does this too – doesn’t take as big of a piss out of the consumer, and tends to have far more unique / bizarro items.
I buy very little wine online/mail order anymore.
Belleruche 2021 CdR Rosé by M. Chapoutier, screwcapped, $4 in Pullman.
I returned for 3 more of the Subsoil 2019 Merlot.
This rosé was highly rated by a fellow WA Vivinoite who frequents GO, so I bought three (he paid $7 at his GO).
I lost out on the Bloke Riesling.so didn’t want to miss out on this Rosé.
At $4 on the end cap, it will fly outta there in a few days.
Has anyone tasted this yet? I already have 2 other bottles of wine open so can’t get to the Rosé anytime soon.
I found that bretrooks mentioned buying a bottle of this a while ago, but hadn’t opened it yet…so left no notes. I bought a few bottles of the 2020 at Total Wine last year for $11 a bottle and loved it. So my guess would be that you’ll love the 2021 as well, WORN…for a lot less money. Please let us know. I think I saw it at the Silverdale GO yesterday, so I might grab a few if it’s still there..
Lim, thanks for your input! I was pretty sure others had purchased this long ago, our store seems to get wines much later than the rest of you on the West side of the state. I did find a pro rating for the 2021 Belleruche Rosé for 90 pts by Wine Enthusiast, so I’m hopeful. I asked the other Vivinoite why the difference in price. He was mistaken, his bottle had been $4 as well.
Another Mercer wine in Pullman, Subsoil 2019 Merlot.
I liked this much better than the Subsoil 2018 Malbec that was available last fall, and better than the Gordon Estate wines. Reminded me quite a bit of the Double Canyon CS in some aspects.
🕰2019
💯88/100 🌟3.8
👁Deep garnet ruby
👃👅Dry,black fruit,dried herbal note,tobacco,vanilla,black cherry,plum,cocoa powder,med high acidity,dusty tannins,med finish,med full body,balanced. Delicious Merlot!
🍇85%ML,14%SY,1%MB (v2018)
🌄Dead Canyon,Zephyr Ridge, Spice Cabinet VYs
🌄 Horse Heaven Hills,Prosser WA
🕰20 mo 25% new French & American oak barrels (v2018)
⛽14.1%ABV (seems higher)
💯?cases
Jeremy Santo WM who subsequently moved to Bookwalter in 2021
No pro ratings found.
💵~$20 release,$6 GOBM
Spectacular QPR!
One of Mercer Bros many labels.
No tech sheet found for the 2019 so unsure of exact cuveé/barrel aging. I did notice the Robert Willis 2019 ML was aged 18 mo 18% new French and American oak, the 2018 Subsoil ML aged 20 mo 25% new French and American oak, so somewhat similar oaking programs for their ML in same price category. The grapes for both Merlots are sourced from the same vineyards in HHH.
I picked up a bottle of the Subsoil 2019 Merlot at the Richmond, CA, store today ($6). I look forward to trying it.
You are dead on with the Subsoil Merlot, WORN. Your comment of “Spectacular QPR!” is so right on (dating myself). I created my notes before reading yours and there are a number of similarities. I said “Clear deep garnet; wonderfully fragrant nose of dark cherry, black plum, cocoa and perfectly integrated oak; not an overload of tannin, just enough to provide decent structure and a little chew; acidity’s about right; tons of cherry and plum fruit in the mouth with a bit of tobacco on the finish; a really pleasant red reminiscent (for me) of what made Merlot the darling of WA state reds in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Tasting great right now, so I’ll likely return for a few more.” I’ve had a lot of red from Spice Cabinet and Zephyr Ridge (by Thurston Wolfe) over the years, but never Merlot. This is good stuff.
I’m so glad you like the Subsoil 2019 Merlot, too! I’d buy a case if I had storage. It’s shocking to me that it’s priced at $6, an incredible bargain. Friends of mine bought a case of Ferrari Carano 2017 Merlot at $20/bottle (case discount price) and had it shipped a few years back. (They drink a lot less wine now due to health problems). The Subsoil is better balanced with more acidity. (Incidentally, FC bought by Foley in 2020).
True Myth 2020 Chardonnay, Edna Valley, CA, 14.5% ABV, $7. I liked the True Myth 2016 Chardonnay, and to a slightly lesser extent, the 2017. The 2020 vintage strikes me as very much in the same vein as the previous two vintages I’ve tasted, with what strikes me as well balanced fruit, acid, and buttery oak, with some thickness in the mouthfeel (viscosity). So if you liked the ’16 and ’17, you’ll almost certainly like the ’20, and if you disliked the former (e.g., Lim13 found it too sweet), you’ll most likely dislike the latter.
Confusingly, there’s also a 2019 bottling, but it says 2020 on top of the cap. This is the Ryder Cup vanity bottling with the gold label; there’s a Paso Cab Sauv with the same label, haven’t tried it. The 2019 Chard Ryder is $17 at Wine.com, and apparently the secret sauce is a dollop of viognier and grenache.
https://www.wine.com/product/true-myth-ryder-cup-chardonnay-2019/780030?state=CA
I liked the 2019 better than the 2017, which I still have a few of, the bitter tinge is dissipating, and the 2020 (butterfly/face label, like the 2017 – pretty for a mid-shelf, screw-cap wine) to me seemed a bit zingier, maybe more steel and less oak, or just more acid. All are well worth the ticket price for a daily drinker +
I picked up a bottle of True Myth 2020 Chardonnay earlier this week, assuming that it had been long enough since I’d had one that it must be a new vintage. Disappointed I was when I looked it up here and found I’d already discussed it last June. However, I liked this bottle distinctly better than the last one. Here, I thought the fruit, acid, bitterness, and oak were all nicely balanced, with good body / texture, although it probably would still be too sweet for Lim13. Maybe DLuber was right that it needed a little more time.
New additions in Pullman:
*Little Leaf 2022 Semillion/SB 70/30 $7 ($15 elsewhere) 11%ABV Australia
*Distant Cousins 2022 Semillion/SB 70/30 $7 ($22 elsewhere) 11%ABV Australia
These are both made by Wine World Australia, same importer, Plume Ridge Imports, Claremont CA. I’m wondering if they’re the same wine w different labels.🤔
I had returned to grab a bottle of Bloke Riesling, too late, all gone. Bought the Little Leaf as another Vivinoite loved it. My Vivino review.
*******************************
Semillion SB blend from Australia.
Perfect Porch Pounder!
🕰2022
💯88/100 🌟3.8
👁Straw
👃👅Dry, citrus, gooseberry, lychee, kiwi, slt green herb, med high juicy acidity, light bodied, refreshing, totally gluggable!
I keep reaching for more!
(No oaking noted, no butter, cream, dairy or pastry notes.)
🍇70%Semillion,30%SauvBlanc
🌄Australia
⛽11.0%ABV
💵$15 MSRP $7 GOBM
Fantastic QPR!😍
Move over Fiano, new house wine is here!
I’ll probably pick up a couple bottles of both Little Leaf and Distant Cousins wines as I prefer whites in the summer.
The relatively low ABV is very nice as well.
Unfortunately, the flavors of the Little Leaf Sem/SB did not last. Next day, flavors faded, tasted more like a Pinot Grigio. Drink all on first day.
Little Leaf glass bottle is a very light green tint, Distant Cousins a dark green glass bottle.
Picked up 4 bottles of Riesling at the Silverdale, WA store today…all of which I believe I recall being discussed here previously. Wines can be slow making their way to WA, particularly the stores I shop. Got 3 German wines: 2022 Weinhaus Schlink, Rhine ($6.99), 2022 Kreuznacher Weinhaus Piesporter Michelsberg ($7.99) and 2022 St. Boniface Piesporter Michelsberg ($8.99), both Mosels and one WA state Columbia Valley Riesling, 2018 Bloke ($3.99) from Paterson, so likely a Columbia Crest product. Thought it interesting that all three German wines were in dead leaf brown/green bottles. Rhines typically come in brown glass and Mosels in green. Any of them decent? We shall see. Feel free to remind me if you’ve already had these and your “analysis”.
Lim, I look forward to hearing about the Germans. Turns out I’m a fan of the Bloke. I found it quite bright, full and tasty in its Riesling characteristics, nice acidity, refreshing summer wine. Great alone, and stood up to a variety of foods. I usually skip Rieslings these days, particularly domestic…but I bought more of this one.
Tell us what your impressions are of that one too.
I opened the 2018 Bloke Riesling tonight. Brilliant pale straw; green apple, lemon and grapefruit on the nose and in the flavors; slightly tingly on the tongue (something I ‘ve found quite often lately on both German and domestic Rieslings), which adds to the refreshing quality of this wine; while it clearly has a bit of residual sugar, it shows more toward the dry side thanks to almost bracing acidity; nicely balanced with a tangy, lemony finish; what impresses me most is the mouth-coating texture; Columbia Crest, who likely produced this, knows what they’re doing with Riesling ( and all of their wines) and has access to some of the best Riesling vineyards in WA state. Chill this puppy well and have it outdoors when the weather’s fine. Would go great with Asian fare, fresh crab or creamy chicken or seafood dishes. Plus it’ll likely do fine in your cellar for years, as do most Rieslings. For me, this wine is a bargain at four bucks and I’ll be getting more. Boy…that’s a lot said for a four dollar bottle! Oh well. I’m also including this link because it shows the bottle…though the blogger actually says little about the wine and I’ve never visited James Alfred’s site before.
Lim13 – Wow! That sounds awesome!
I am not a fan of sweet rieslings, but this sounds fresh and balanced, great for summer. I am going to be by one of my better wine GO’s this weekend – I will look for it. Thank you for the detailed review!
Hi Lim13. The Kreuznacher is a newer vintage from what I tasted earlier. I’ve seen the 2022 around here, but haven’t tried one, so I’ll be interested to read what you think.
Thanks for your previous post, BW. I thought I remembered your trying these wines (even though different vintage). You’ll be hearing from me.
I tried the 2022 Kreuznacher Weinhaus Piesporter Michelsberg ($7.99) tonight. Brilliant pale golden; more on the peachy/nectarine side of the spectrum with some lemon/lime, rather than green apple in the nose; definitely sweeter than the Bloke WA state Riesling and very soft in texture…bordering on flabby; needs more acidity to balance the sugars; the flavors were similar to my description of the nose. I found it to be rather blah and uninteresting and completely lacking in complexity. No more for me, thanks. I would say skip this one, JJ and BW…but try it if you’re looking for a sweeter, softer Riesling.
Hi Lim13. Thanks as always for your notes, although sorry to hear it’s even softer than the 2021. I’ll have to look around here for the Bloke.
Tonight I opened the 2022 St. Boniface Piesporter Michelsberg ($8.99). Brilliant pale straw; red apple and apricot nose; much better in the acidity level compared to the Kreuznacher that I didn’t like at all, but still a little softer than what I’d prefer; flavors of peach, apricot and honeysuckle; could use a bit more texture, but certainly serviceable. I’d still prefer to spend $15-$20 for a better quality “inexpensive” German Riesling…or $4 for the Columbia Valley Bloke that I just bought six more of. Three down and one to go.
O.K. then…I’ve had my GO Riesling pig-out (for which I’ve waited a long time) and here are my notes on the last of the four I recently bought. 2022 Weinhaus Schlink Rhein Riesling ($6.99). Brilliant pale straw; rather restrained green apple nose; slightly sweet on the palate, but with decent acidity to balance the sugar; nice mouth feel, giving it texture; flavors of more green apple with some stone fruit qualities too (white peach and yellow plum); lemony finish; could use more pronounced flavors, but it’s pretty tasty and refreshing with low alcohol (8.5%), so perfect for quaffing.
So for me, the two least expensive Rieslings of the group…one German, one WA state, were the tastiest!
Thanks Lim!
Very helpful, and makes me even more grateful to have a half dozen of those Bloke Rieslings left in the summer cellar 🙂
I enjoyed a second bottle over a few days, as much as the first.
Wise choice on the Bloke, JJ. But you really should try a bottle of the 2022 Weinhaus Schlink. It’s a little sweeter and more expensive than the Bloke, but really pretty well balanced and tasty. And the acidity showed even better the next night.
On your recommendation, I shall seek it out!
What’s the price on it?
$6.99
La Galope 2021 rosé, Côtes de Gascogne IGP, France, imported by Bridge Imports, 12% ABV, $5. I liked very much liked the La Galope 2018 rosé, but this one is not quite up my alley. The flavors of cantaloupe, tangerine, red berries are lovely, smooth, and nicely delineated, but it’s a bit too softly fruity for me, with not enough acid and minerality, suggesting a touch of residual sugar. However, these qualities made it a reasonable match for a sandwich of Spam with jalapeños and mayonnaise, so YMMV.
bretrooks had a different take but similar verdict here.
Interesting – thanks for sharing your experience. Our bottle seemed more like what you described at first sip, but something seemed really wrongly green with the finish, and it seemed to get worse over time. I don’t know if it was a bad bottle or what…maybe something on our glasses (even though nothing changed about how we wash them)? Some chemical that the two of us are particularly sensitive to?
One way or another, I’ll be trying something else next time we’re short on rosé.
I was really looking forward to a Côtes de Gascogne Rosé, as I love a good Gascogne Columbard or Gros Manseng.
But that Rosé I found quite insipid. Could get very little off the nose or in the mouth….and it didn’t change over time.
Wouldn’t repeat it either…
BW, I would say the rosé that has that pyrazine betrooks mentioned would be a good combo and complement your Spam with jalapeños and mayonnaise.
Perhaps these have been mentioned before but at the GO on Marconi I saw
2019 Amayan Single Vyd Malbec [Mendoza] $8
2019 Belhara Single Vyd Malbec [Mendoza] $8
2020 Amayan Malbec [Mendoza] $6
These appear to be all from the same producer, and are some variations on their bottling. A few of them have WE stickers noting some score, so presumably they are drinkable enough.
Given how strong the dollar is, and how soft the Argentine peso is, I would think there is quite a bit of profit in those prices.
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At the GO on Watt, which tends to have poor operational management, I saw a
2018 Reges [Bordeaux] $9
I’d never heard of it, but sub ten spot basic AOC Bdx is getting to be less frequently seen.
This is location has resorted to periodic couponing, but if they just tightened their ship more perhaps they might be able to avoid that.
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I’ve mentioned before but between various coupons, discounts, promotions, and credit card discounts with Chase — but consumers can end up with wines that are often at GO like prices if they have a BevMo nearby. One needs to order via GoPuff and use a shopping portal like ebates to get the best deal, selecting pickup. Recently I’ve purchased a blanc Graves for $6 net, and a decent red Crozes Hermitage for $12.
Alto Molino 2020 Torrontés, Cafayate Valley, Salta, Argentina, imported by Vinocopia, 13.% ABV, $4. This is a very good Torrontés for the low price, dry but not bone dry, with typical flavors of perfumed melon, plenty of acid of lemon and white nectarine, magnolia, minerality and bitterness of melon rind. The fruit is reasonably ripe and it has a little of the fleshiness typical of Torrontés. My brief praise for the Alto Molino 2016 Malbec is here.
Thanks for commenting on this one – I picked one up this weekend but haven’t tried it yet. One bottle of the 2021 M. Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Rosé Belleruche too, also at $4. Really not much new in SLO, though, especially in reds.
Also, we opened a bottle of the 2021 La Galope Côtes de Gascogne Rosé over the weekend, and it had strong green/pyrazine notes that were overwhelming on the finish. My wife’s review: “That’s a big glass of nope.” We ended up pouring it out.
I didn’t know anything about Côtes de Gascogne wines and looked it up and found much of the red and rosé wines have a high proportion of Bx. varieties and therefore might have that high pyrazine you detected especially in a rosé which might be picked earlier than their reds. I rather enjoy pyrazines in moderation and don’t object to some of the Chilean and South African Bx. variety reds that have it. Some Bordeaux wines have this character, too.
Thank you for the Torrontes review! I am a fan, my husband is not so when I saw that well priced bottle I was tempted… But passed. Nice to know I could buy it as a treat for myself, knowing it’s good.
I ended up buying the El Pescaito Finest selection (a white table wine from Spain) for $4, and found it surprisingly enjoyable. We were having a few neighbors over for drinks and snacks and had bought some nice bottles of red – then the evening was unexpectedly warm. The Pescaito was chilled so, that became the evenings pour. Not too sweet or heavy, refreshing and tasty. Alcohol 11.5 percent so perfect for a warm night. A repeat buy for me as we head into summer.
P.S. My husband also is not a fan of sauvignon blanc (but trust me is a great guy otherwise!) so I was surprised when I saw the bottle had 25% SB, blended with Viura, which turns out to also be known as Macabeo. It was a sipping/learning day for me : )
Hi HB! Thanks for including “is a great guy otherwise” because, wine snob that I am, I had indeed mentally gone, “Whaaat?!?” when you said he didn’t like SB. Thanks also for the El Pescaito recommendation.
Tried the Alto Molino Cab based on the other reviews and tasting the Torrontes. The label back talks about their high-altitude vineyards, but the designation on the front is just Argentina, so could be from all over. Tastes a bit like it; a passable Cab but I’ll pass on any further. Seems like they mixed some under & over-ripe grapes.
IIRC, the Alto Molino wines are from Salta, not from around Mendoza.
Fire/smoke threat to Red Mountain, WA last week quickly put under control…
https://www.northwestwinereport.com/2023/06/benton-complex-fire-touches-edge-of-red-mountain-appellation.html
At the Rosemont location
2016 Sequoia Cellars ‘Petit Verdot’ [Santa Clara Valley] $10 That’s an AVA I don’t see much. It sort of looks like an offshoot of Sequoia Grove (tree is similar?) but who knows.
2016 Valley of the Moon ‘Barbera’ Reserve [Sonoma Cty] $18 From the historic Madrone estate, according to the label. Seems pretty high priced for GO, and for the varietal. (I bought some Schiavenza barbera from Piedmont a year or so ago for $9 or so, and that’s a pretty real producer)
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I’ve noticed many grocers in my region have started having single day of sales on fighting varietal bottles, usually at the $5 price point, and people might want to familiarize themselves with what is available just so they can calibrate whether GO offers a deal. Today I saw Gabbiano Chianti for $5/btl, Woodbridge reds the week before, and I think Bogle before that.
I would not buy those for home consumption, but Bogle’s Petit Sirah can be handy when out of town.
Odd to see that Petit Verdot. It came through in 2018. I highly recommend the 201? Michel Schlumberger Petit Verdot from the same AVA. It’s $12.99 but very solid and what PV should be.
GOwinelover – my cousin introduced me to the Michel-Schlumberger Petit Verdot this past fall. It’s more than we normally thriftily pay for a bottle, even at GO’s prices but it’s so good that whenever we see some there, we buy it to share with friends. It’s made a lot of people very happy! Sadly, I haven’t seen it in SoCal for a while…
I’m leery of PV as a mono varietal; it seems like it would be too green / pyrazine laden. I have a spanish one I need to drink up which will probably cure me of all these inclinations for some years.
I think one of the reasons why all these are so cheap at GO is that these are essentially blending grapes, and when there is leftovers, after the master cuvee has been assembled, its basically by product and needs to be sold off. They can try to hold on and save it, but then one just gets the situation where brokers/bottles are selling NV or 2014 labeled wines, years later after they have come up with some new more balanced blend. That’s probably a worse outcome (financially) I suspect.
L’Arête de Thau 2022 Piquepoul 55% Terret 45%, Côtes-de-Thau IGP, Hérault Department (Mediterranean coast), France, imported by Grape Expectations, 12% ABV, $8. My notes for the first day: “light yellow apple or quince / white pear, lemon / sweet lime, green apple candy, aspirin-y minerality in the finish. Not much structure but nicely delineated nonetheless. Has good acid but not especially crisp. Interesting in its novelty for me, very pleasant but not especially engaging. Fine but not great for $8.” However, the second day showed development of flavor complexity and intensity: “much more interesting with prominent tropical flavors of pineapple, jack fruit, still the candied-ish green apple, aspirin-y finish, acid much more zingy in the finish although has a little fleshiness / viscosity of riper fruit. Very interesting and yummy after all. Needs to warm up from fridge temp for the flavors to burst forth.”
Found the 2022 L’Arete Piquepoul & Terret at the Silverdale store today for the same $8 BW found it for in CA. Picpoul lover that I am, I picpouled up a bottle to check it out and will report back soon. I also grabbed a 1 liter bottle of #GVLTAT Austrian Gruner Veltliner for nine bucks. Customer reviews I found online were mostly very good, so I’m hoping the wine is better than the tacky label. Will report on that one too.
Meant to include a bit of link info about the Terret variety and the Cotes de Thau region where this wine is from, as I knew nothing about either…but experienced a brain fart. So here are the links I found:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terret_blanc
https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-igp+cotes+de+thau
Opened my L’Arete de Thau tonight and I think BW summed up its qualities quite well. I’ll post my notes though, as I found some flavors and aromas that are a bit different than what BW found. Brilliant pale golden; lots of lime, green apple and an abundance of pineapple, guava and passion fruit on the nose; bone dry with flavors nearly identical to the aromas; decent lemony acidity, but it manages to seem soft on the front of the palate; best at cool room temperature. I was unable to save any for next day tasting like BW. Tasty enough, but I believe I prefer 100% Picpoul, so not a rebuy for me.
Had the 2021 Austrian #GVLTAT 1 liter bottle of Gruner Veltliner ($8.99) this evening. I found it to be a rather non-descript white to go with its seriously ugly label. Brilliant pale straw; some lemon/lime in the nose, but it’s pretty subdued; light and lilting in texture with more lemony flavors and maybe a touch of grapefruit; very dry and fairly tart with a somewhat watery finish. There’s just not enough of anything here to hold my interest…and it’s no GO deal at nine bucks…even in the slightly larger bottle.
Well usually ugly labels are a good sign that a deal at GO is going to be justified. Presumably someone would have tasted it before stocking it, and the crazy label helps them drive a bargain.
GV is a bit peppery so I don’t buy it much. Maybe we’ve had two bottles in the last few years, I think from Nigl or Dom. Wachau.
I’m not sure the #GVLTAT qualifies as even a GO “deal”. A few years ago I was introduced to a single vineyard GV, Gruber Roschitz Hundspoint at Total Wine for around $18. It’s quite unlike any traditional GV I had ever had…almost Alsatian Gewurz or Pinot Gris-like and quite flavorful.
A slew of new wines in Pullman.
*Berceo – 2020 Graciano $7 (Rioja, Spain)
*W Selection – Bloke 2018 Riesling $4 (Columbia Valley, Paterson WA, Walmart brand)
*Calculated – 2018 Pinot Noir Monterey (Precision label) $8
*Cedargreen – 2019 SauvBlanc $5
(an actual winery in WA)
*Clos de Lumiere – 2019 Eclipse Gris (Rosé) CdR, France $5
*Hedgeline – 2019 Pinot Gris (WA wine bottled in Graton CA) $5
*La Playa – 2021 Dry Rosé (Colchagua Valley, Chile) $5
*Montazo – 2016 Garnacha Cepas Viejas $7
*Recri – 2022 CabSauv-Merlot (Argentina) $4
*Senorio de Irati – 2021 Seleccion Garnacha (Navarre, Spain) $7
And finally 3 from Silver Lake winery in Zillah WA:
*Silver Lake 2020 Roza Rosé $6
*Silver Lake 2019 Roza Red Blend $6
*Silver Lake 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Roza Hills VY $8.
Silver Lake is one of 3 labels owned by Washington Wine & Beverage Co, started w 1200 investors in 1997 to cash in on winemaking. Their other labels are Roza Hills and Roza Wines, all out of Zillah (Rattlesnake Hills).
Tried the Silver Lake 2019 Roza Riesling and 2017 Merlot in the past, okay, not spectacular.🤷🏻♀️
Did not purchase anything new since I blew my wine budget in Walla Walla last week. 💸💸💸
Not that it would be all that interesting to anyone on this blog, but WORN’s post above was the first one I received email notification of in weeks. And I have no idea what happened. My absence from making any comments in that time was due entirely to “out of site, out of mind”…and I can honestly say (as much as I enjoy reading most posts) after more than 10 years of reviewing and commenting on the blog, I really didn’t miss it. It was like a vacation.
Anyway, my wife and I stopped in at the Silver Lake facility (the old Quail Run, then Covey Run winery) in Zillah two years ago on our way home from visiting our winery friends in Prosser. We were entirely unimpressed with any of their wines. Silver Lake began over here on the west side of the mountains, in Silver Lake near Everett, many years ago.
As for the 2019 Cedargreen Sauv Blanc, I and others reviewed the 2018 vintage last September. My comments were, “Brilliant pale straw; serious whiffs of sulfur in the nose that never really seemed like it would blow off, so it was 90 minutes before I got any pear or grassiness (two aromas I generally look for in WA state Sauv Blanc); lemony, citrusy notes were eventually pretty flavorful; what impressed me most was the texture…almost chewy and mouth coating, so I’m assuming it got a fair dose of skin contact before pressing; leaning toward high acidity, so it should do really well with shellfish…think chilled raw oysters on the half shell. My best advice is open it an hour or two before drinking. It’s really pretty tasty after that.” So I would give the 2019 a try…if I was buying wine. But like WORN, I shot my June (& July) wine budget on two bottles of delicious Chateauneuf du Pape from Total Wine.
Lim, so very glad you’re getting notices re:posts again! Maybe it was the long length of my post that knocked things loose! 😂
Thanks for your input on the Cedargreen SB & Silver Lake wines, btw.
I blew my budget on 2 bottles of Mark Ryan Dissident, and a Saviah Cellars GSM.
I’m not buying much of any 2020 vintage in WA as it was a big forest fire year.
I remember being warned to stay indoors due to dangerous levels of particulate matter in the air, so thick it was blocking out sunlight. Really smokey air for many days.
I’m a big fan of Mark Ryan’s relatively inexpensive Board Track Racer “The Vincent” white (very lightly oaked or unoaked Chardonnay). Perfect for someone like me who’s not a big fan of that variety.
Lim, I like the Vincent Red very much! At $20, it’s a good value! Unfortunately, the Board Track Racer Tasting Room (formerly called The Mark Ryan Annex) no longer sells Vincent Red or the Vincent White in quantities less than 6 bottles at a time. You can’t buy 3 reds plus 3 whites, must be 6 of one. You can’t even just forego the tasting complete ly and just buy a few bottles, must be quantities of 6. People were buying just enough Vincents to cover the tasting fee, so they put this rule in place plus restaurants buy cases, so why bother selling a few at a time.
The threshold of most wineries to cover the tasting fee is now prohibitively high.
One winery (Balboa) threshold was $100 wine sale to waive one fee ($20), which made no sense to me at all. Much less incentive to buy wine.
I remember in 2014 when I went winetasting w friends in Walla
Walla the first time, some wineries were still doing free tastings, all others waived the fee with purchase of one single bottle. Those days are gone, never to return, I’m afraid.
Yeah, WORN, it’s hard to take what wineries charge for tastings when I grew up with free tastings at almost ALL wineries everywhere for years. But that was many years ago. I’ve been buying my Vincent White at Total Wine for $15 (mix 6 bottles of any Winery Direct wines and it’s $13.50). The Red is $20 ($18 for Mix 6).
If the tasting rooms are expected to be pure stand alone profit centers, it’s hard to rope in as many new prospects if the entry ticket is fairly high. People can go to a wine bar and sample there, without all the pressure to ‘join the club’.
Tasting Rooms are one of the better ways to develop sticky, high profit DTC sales, so I’d think that producers would be willing to share some of that cost….rather than having high fees and then calling GO a couple vintages later when the warehouse is filled to the rafters with fading wines.
Well stated, aubergine.
I’ve never been to a winery tasting room in Washington but it sounds like the business model there is one that Napa has pretty much completely abandoned. When I first started going there in the 1980s it was a belly up to the bar, a short pour into a small crappy glass sort of thing. You would not likely be served the winery’s best bottlings, although every February you could taste Heitz Martha’s Vineyard, for free. You could do 6 or 7 wineries in a day, if your liver could handle it.
Now it is completely different. First you probably need a reservation. Second, you are going to have to pay for it, and not just a token amount. $50 a person or more is what you’d expect (many wineries are charging $100 or more). You will likely be seated at your own table, and your server will bring you 2 ounce pours in good stemware, you’ll taste 5 wines or so, some of them one at a time, sometimes more for comparison’s sake. You will be offered samples of the winery’s best bottlings. Food might be available, for an additional charge. It will take roughly an hour, and you’d best tip your server.
Frankly I prefer the latter model. In our friend group each couple has one or two club memberships that entitle them to free tastings for four, and four of us will go to a couple of places, sandwiched around lunch. It is way more civilized. My club membership costs about $650 a year, and for that I get a case of wine that includes some pricey bottles (I think I get 15% off retail). For that I get unlimited tastings for four, and a tasting followed by a picnic is a nice way to entertain friends.
I am 100% a fan of the former.
Those days you could stop into a modest winery and its surrounding vineyards, taste great vin (if you had some knowledge and a friendly countenance they often shared well beyond the ‘daily pours’), they’d often show you around the vats, and would so appreciate you’d come all the way down those long winding roads to see them…they wouldn’t dream of charging YOU a fee. Probably, you’d buy a reasonably priced bottle or two of your favorites, maybe picnic outside on the grass…and move on down the road to another gracious experience.
I miss those days, which were available to all.
This is in response to Seedboy’s comparison of Napa to WallaWalla.
I don’t know what abandoned business model Seedboy is referring to.
I apologize if I gave the impression I was unhappy or dissatisfied w the wineries in Walla Walla. Quite the opposite.
I purposefully planned this tasting trip to only go to wineries that could accommodate walk ins if not busy (reservations recommended, but not required). Any place that required an online deposit and reservation was a no go.
My goal was to taste as many wines as I could in one afternoon, one full day and one morning. I planned this trip w great care.
Most tasting fees were $15-20.
One place was $35, waived w $50 purchase.
There were 3 of us, we shared 2 tastings, I had only 2 sips of most wines as I’m a lightweight. We visited 10 wineries in total, 61 wines tasted.
I purposefully planned this for Wed to Friday morning. Weekends are too busy to accomodate walk-ins.
We always were shown to our own table w very comfortable seating, padded chairs and/or couch w a table. The stemware were Riedel or Sophienwald.
We tasted anywhere from 6 to 8 wines, half were their top wines at $60-75/bottle. We received unhurried pleasant service at every tasting room.
We had a novice wine drinker that asked many questions which the staff were happy to answer. There was no pressure to join a club or buy bottles.
We were asked if we wanted to revisit any wine that was poured. Each winery gave at least one bonus taste separate from the tasting menu, two gave 3 extra bonus pours just because.
At no time was I pressured into buying wine or joining their wine club, no hard sell at any place. We did buy wine at Mark Ryan and Saviah, had tasting fees waived.
We were offered a menu of small plates at a few of the wineries but declined as we had lunch plans. Two wineries served crackers or french bread slices. All set our table w water carafes and water glasses.
At the other 8 wineries where we didn’t purchase bottles, we just paid the tasting fees ($15-$20 at 9 out of 10 wineries) and a well deserved generous tip.
At several wineries, I chatted w staff or owner, and got great info on where to eat dinner and lunch next visit.
We live too far from Walla Walla (2 hrs) to join any wine club there.
I can relax at the winery here in town anytime w friends, but my goal for my 5th Walla Walla visit was to maximize number of wineries visited and wines tasted.
I’m with you, JJ. The less pretension, the better. I miss the “good old days” visiting wineries and maybe having the opportunity to chat with the owners/winemakers. Like WORN, I never visit on weekends, holidays or open houses when there are thousands of visitors, many of whom arrive inebriated in limos, vans or busses.
Not sure what you meant by “We live too far from Walla Walla (2 hrs) to join any wine club there”, WORN. We’re about 3 hours from Prosser, where I belong to my only WA state wine club. We may go once a year to the winery for the club party, but we get 3 bottle club shipments four times a year, 25% off all wine purchases and free shipping to anywhere on all wine purchased in the month of December…and free tastings for us and a couple of friends when we do make it to the winery. Other than the price of the wine, all we pay for is shipping…or we can pick it up at the winery if we happen to head in that direction.
Lim, three hours is quite the trek, but for those with spouses who also enjoy wine, it’s an enjoyable journey.
My husband doesn’t drink alcohol due to his family’s history. He has absolutely no interest in visiting any winery anywhere, not even the one in town 10 minutes away where I’m a member.
So, I visit Walla Walla in the summer when our daughter visits.
I go to other closer wineries in the area with my friends, Colter’s Creek tasting room in Moscow is 8 miles away. Sometimes we travel as a group to Lewis Clark Valley and go to Lindsay Creek winery where they know the owners/winemaker.
I understand completely, WORN. I guess my point was that the best part of being in the club I belong to (beside the owner/winemaker being an old friend) is that I get a great deal on good wines delivered right to my door…even if I were to never visit the winery.
Lim, thanks for the heads up on Vincent at TW! Just looked it up, prices raised on Vincent Red to $25 here at Spokane Northpointe store ($22.50 if 6 bottles purchased). No Vincent White. Inflation, I suppose! (Selling for $28 at the tasting rooms)
Yikes! Like GO, prices obviously vary from shop to shop. That encouraged me to check again a few minutes ago…thinking maybe they raised the price here overnight. But our prices are unchanged in Silverdale TW. I’d be curious what Seattle’s prices are for those wines.
Getting notifications of new postings seems very much hit or miss, mainly miss. Not sure why, but the vagaries of WordPress are my guess. Despite the poor wine selections in the Seattle GOs these days, I do check in here from time to time; mainly to post about Other Bargains, though.
Go figure, FC. WordPress under impresses.
I’d be leery of any mono varietal graciano or mazuelo bottlings from Rioja. My (admittedly) limited tastings of them is that they do not keep well, turning leathery and sour. The traditional Riojanas kept them to blending components, and small ones at best. I had an especially crummy magnum of one over the summer, which had some fancy shelf talker, and was cellared for some years, and it still underwhelmed.
For the South Puget Sound folks, the Lakewood Grocery Outlet on Pacific Highway (just off I-5 and WA-512) suddenly closed in the middle of May due to a lease issue with new owners of the complex – Private Equity group out of Florida and the entire complex is now vacant (was a Costco in the 80s to give you an idea of the size, even had an indoor go-kart track). GO had been there over 30 years. I wished I’d known as they had a one day 50% off sale (only announced the day prior). There are rumors of a new store in Spanaway (not far away, just south of Tacoma).
Sorry to hear that. Private Equity seems to specialize in killing golden geese, so good luck to them in finding someone to take over the lease, given how much large retail space is currently empty. Meanwhile, back in Seattle, there is a grocery store in the Wedgwood neighborhood empty for over two years, with Kroger still paying the lease on it apparently simply to block another grocery store from occupying it. I keep hoping when the lease expires in 2024 that a Grocery Outlet will move in. It is the perfect size for a GO, plenty of parking, and a walkable neighborhood to support it.
Oh damn! I had no idea — I frequent that store on my way between Oly & Puyallup, and they had some real gems on hand still (bought a bottle of the Flume Pinot Noir just a couple of weeks ago). This makes me sad 😦
I’ve been in the Folsom Blvd, Marconi Ave, Rosemont, and Rancho Cordova locations in the last few days. Not really anything new in the wine department, and if anything, the selections are thinly stocked. It looks more like the aftermath of the semi annual sales, rather than how a normal retailer should look going into graduation party weekend.
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I suspect the Rosemont location, which is the closest to a regional distribution warehouse, handles a lot of items that are a day or two away from expiry. I see more turnover, and deals, there than at the other dozen locations in my catchment area.
In Walla Walla for our summer Winetasting trip. In 2021, Walla Walla location had several local wineries overstock (Dunham Cellars 3 Legged White, Bontzu Claret, Bergevin Lane Calico Red) which I did snag that year, hoped to find more.
1. Vino Casasmith 2020 Rose $5 (Charles Smith’s screwtop bulk wine label, not the good stuff. Bottled by Milbrandt’s facility in Mattawa, label owned by Constellation. Free on Horizon flights.) Tasted it earlier this year, not a buy. Many, many cases here.
2. Deloach Block 1950 PN v 2018 $12 (I already have more)
3. Günther Schlink 2022 Riesling $7
4. Canoe Ridge The Explorer Merlot $10 (Precept label) (A year ago, the 2018 CS was $8 so price increase of 25%)
Many cases of this. Too pricey, IMO.
Sadly disappointed in their selection, left w no wine.
An aside, visited 10 wineries in one afternoon (Wed), one full day (Thurs), and Friday morning, 61 wines tasted. We split 2 tastings btw 3 people.
I usually took just one or two sips. My 32 yr old daughter and her boyfriend bore the brunt of the wines.