Mills' December Sale Event

In this Issue: December Sales Event, Sparkling Wine Festival, Haut Bages Averous, Potel Bourgogne, Millegrand Minervois, Quinta Port, Dow Port Gift Set

December 2, 2009
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This December at Mills we are Kangaroo

featuring the Wines of Australia and Spain in our

Buy One Bottle, get the second bottle of the Same Wine for 1/2 off!

This sale applies to all standard sized bottles, 750 ML. That's over 150 Wines to choose from!

Mills' Second Annual
Sparkling Wine Festival
December 12 to 21
All Bubbly 20% Off

Schedule of Events

Tuesday December 15 - A Woman's Guide to Bubbly. By our own Cheryl Stephenson and Barbara Schwaab

Thursday December 17 - Casa del Mar Spanish Cava. Produced by the new generation Cointreau Family.

Friday December 19 - The Affordable Bubbly of Barefoot

Saturday December 19 - Our Second Annual Champagne Brunch at Cafe Normandie 10am-2pm $42.99 per Person

Saturday December 19 - Pol Roger Champagne 1-5pm at Mills with Nancy Priest

Sunday December 20 - Heidseick Monopole Champagne 1-5pm at Mills with Francois Hurtel

Chateau Haut Bages Averous 2003
From Lynch Bages

Chateau Haut Bages Averous is the SECOND of our SECONDS that Mills is putting on sale this Fall. Since 1978 it has been the second wine of Chateau Lynch Bages. It started as the next door neighbor and has been incorporated into the Lynch Bages property. This wine took a long time to come around by comparison to most 2003's. We tasted it this week and WOW, what a great wine to drink right now. We only have 10 cases to sell so its first come first served with a credit card.

Haut Bages Bottle

Regular Price: $54.99

One Time Only Sale: $29.99

Nicholas Potel Bourgogne Rouge
Cuvee Gerard Potel 2007

This wine is sourced mainly from the site 'Maison Dieu' on the plain of the commune of Pommard, and from a 2 ha plot (purchased in 1978 by the Potel family) just below the Pommard premier cru site 'Clos Epeneaux', planted in 1928. It was matured in second use oak casks. The wine has a deep, purple color. Bright and fresh on the nose, very primary. Ample strawberry and cherry on the palate, with a nice dose of spice. Quite dry, and very well-focused.--Winemakers Note

Regular Price: $24.99
Sale Price: $19.99

Annapolis' Favorite
Southern French Wine
Chateau Millegrand Minervois 2007

Millegrand Label

By Peter Finkelstein Mills Wine Manager: As many of you know I personally discovered this wine several years ago, brought it to Annapolis and it immediately became one of your all time favorites.

While reading the listings of an out of State broker, I noticed he had Millegrand for sale at a price that reminded me of the price I used to sell it for. It took several months to make the arrangements but it is now at MILLS at the lowest price in Annapolis!

For those of you who know and love this wine....come and get it......for those of you who don't.....come and try it!

Lowest Price in Annapolis: $10.99
Mills' Price: $8.99

QUINTA DO NOVAL | PORTUGAL

One of the oldest port houses, Quinta do Noval is also arguably the greatest. It is unique among top port houses in that most of the ports are made from estate-grown fruit and, notably, all of the vintage Noval wines are from the single Quinta do Noval vineyard. In addition, it is difficult to elaborate on Quinta do Noval without mentioning acional, the legendary port made from a 6 acre parcel of ungrafted vines.

A deep history in the Douro
+ Quinta do Noval is mentioned in land registries going back to 1715.
+ Noval has been sold only twice in its nearly 300 year history; once in the late 19th century, and to its
present owners in 1993.
+ Noval established its reputation by making several of the greatest ports of the 20th century.

A tradition of innovation
+Despite being one of the oldest port houses, because it is estate-based and smaller than the other
top port houses, Quinta do Noval has consistently been able to act independently.
+ Noval was the first to introduce blended tawny ports with an indication of average age.
+ Noval introduced the first late-bottled vintage port, in 1958.
+ In response to regulation changes in 1986, Noval became the first, and remains the only, major port house to age, blend and store all its wines at its Quinta, in the Douro.

Since the early 1990s, a new era
+ In 1994 Noval once again made a bold statement, beginning a massive program of improvements, while re-committing to the traditional, and best, methods of port production.
+ A new winery, warehouse and bottling facility were built, and the lodge (warehouse) was greatly improved.
+ All grapes harvested at the estate are crushed in the traditional manner by foot, in lagares that have been made smaller and modified to better control individual lots.

Unqualified Praise
+ In his 2005 book, The World's Greatest Wine Estates, Robert Parker states that there are many top port houses, but only three can be considered the greatest, including Quinta do Noval.
+ Parker goes on to write in his book: "Quinta do Noval is unusual among the great traditional port houses in that it emphasizes the importance of the vineyard. It is significant that the company is named after its vineyard, that it is entirely based on the Douro Valley, and that its principal Vintage Ports are
both single vineyard wines "
+ In its 1999 choice of the 12 "Wines of the Century", Wine Spectator included Quinta do Noval Nacional 1931, the only non-table wine selected.

Quinta Nobel Label

COLHEITAS
Colheita is Portuguesue for "harvest", and refers to a tawny port harvested
in the indicated year. The Colheitas at Noval are all from 100% estate
grown grapes, which were trodden by foot and fermented in the lagares at
the Quinta. These single-vintage tawnies are rarities in the Douro to begin
with; Colheitas from 100% estate-grown fruit are nearly unheard of, and
extraordinarily special wines. The wines spend their entire lives in old oak barrels until the moment of bottling, which takes place only when an order is received. The bottling date is indicated on the label.
The most current Colheita, the 1995, is primarily Touriga Nacional, Tinta
Roriz and Touriga Francesca. It displays a beautiful pale, tawny color. It
has an attractive, intense and mature bouquet, characteristic of tawnies
this age, reminiscent of dry fruits. Sweet and complex on the palate,
Quinta do Noval's Colheitas show an elegant structure, and are
harmonious, with a persistent finish..
1984: 90 WA, 1981: 90 WA, 1974: 90 WA, 1971: 92 WA, 1964: 90 WA, 1937: 92 WA

Once in a lifetime price $449.00

The story of Dow's is unusual amongst all the great Port houses. It began in 1798 when Bruno da Silva, a Portuguese merchant from Oporto, made a journey which was the opposite to that of the first British merchants. Bruno set up in London from where he imported wine from his native country. He married an Englishwoman and was rapidly assimilated into London society where his business acumen led to a fine reputation for his wines. But the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars put his business in jeopardy. Undaunted, Bruno da Silva applied for 'letters of marque' (Royal Assent to equip a merchant ship with guns) to secure safe passage of his Port from Oporto to Bristol and to London. His became the first and only Port company to transport its precious cargo of casks of fine Ports under its own armed protection across the treacherous Bay of Biscay, a strong dissuasion to attack during a period when less audacious companies saw their sales dwindle away.

DOWS 20 YEAR OLD TAWNY PORT

Gift Package

One Bottle, One Dows Port Glass

And gift box

Regularly $69.99 Sale Price $49.99

Only 30 Gift Sets to Sell