The Town of Pouilly on a Cloudy Day

BY: Peter Finkelstein

It seems that the reputation as the finest producer of Pouilly Fuisse has always been handed to J.J. Vincent. His estate, Chateau Fuisse, is usually described as the ultimate PF property. Mills is now able to offer his Marie Antoinette Pouilly Fuisse in Maryland at a price that seems to be the best in the USA. This is all a part of the Mills expanded Burgundy offering program we are in the midst of.

Last night the Marie Antoinette Pouilly Fuisse was included as part of our Cheese dinner at Sam's Waterfront Café. People liked it to such an extent that we sold a record number of bottles. The general feeling was that this was the best Pouilly Fuisse any of us could remember.

J.J. VINCENT

MARIE ANTOINETTE POUILLY FUISSE 2008

MILLS REGULAR PRICE $19.99

Wine Searcher.Com best price in the USA $17.99 (New Hampshire)

MILLS SALE PRICE

$15.99

This Saturday, April 3, 2010 from 1-5 PM at Mills

Taste the J.J. Vincent Marie Antoinette Pouilly Fuisse and many of the other great offerings from J.J.V.

This is an opportunity to see for yourself just how incredible this wine is.

Vincent Pouilly-Fuisse Marie-Antoinette 2008

Producer Background: Marcel Vincent & Fils, producer of Chateau Fuisse, was founded in 1864. Pictured left, Owner and Winemaker Jean-Jacques Vincent is the great-grandson of the founder. He is a professor of enology as alert to modern innovations as he is loyal to proven traditional methods. Jean-Jacques and his son, Oenologist Antoine Vincent (seen right and below), form a powerful winemaking team. Serena Sutcliffe, MW has described the elder Vincent as "one of the most brilliant makers of white Burgundy."

The artisanal "Selections" that bear his name are made with fruit (never juice) purchased from a small number of growers with whom he has long-term relationships. The wine is vinified in much the same way as his own estate wines.

Wine Type: Dry White

Grape Type: 100% Chardonnay.

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Vinification:

This Pouilly-Fuisse is grown in several parcels belonging to the two sisters of Jean Jacques Vincent and the wine is named after his mother, Marie-Antoinette Vincent.  The stony soils of the Vergisson vineyards give the wine refreshing acidity, elegance and a mineral undertone, while the clay soils in the Fuisse vineyards lend full-bodied structure and a generous fruit character. The wine is vinified in small oak barrels by Jean-Jacques Vincent, owner of the celebrated Chateau Fuisse, who blends the different origins to make a delicious, well-balanced Pouilly-Fuisse.

Alcohol: 13.5°   Acidity: n.c.  pH: n.c.

2008 Harvest Notes:
Antoine Vincent reports that 2008 was "a humid and cool vintage that began with an extended flowering of 15 to 20 days and it's usually about half that. The rest of the summer was hardly inspiring but around the 10th of September we finally had excellent weather with a steady north wind and good luminosity. We began picking on the 28th of September under cool but not cold conditions and while the fruit was clean, there wasn't much of it, which means we brought in very low yields of only around 32 hl/ha with little tiny berries. Sugars were good however and there was essentially no chaptalization. I like the vintage a lot and would describe it as basically a rounder 2007 with fine balance." I also tasted the in-bottle '07s and I call your attention to the fact that there are some terrific wines in that group in both red and white.
-Burghound, Oct. 2009

Tasting Notes: "Here the nose is a bit riper with light citrus and white orchard fruit aromas cut with acacia blossom hints that complement well the rich, generous and softly mineral suffused middle weight flavors that are supported by firm acidity but I suspect that this will round out pretty quickly." 87-90 pts.
-Burghound, Oct. 2009

2009 Rose is Here

Domaine de la Mordoree 2009

Cotes du Rhone Rose

"This is a terrific rose offering up notes of watermelon, red berry fruit, and some hints of citrus and flowers. It is fresh, medium to full-bodied, and wonderfully deep and long. Drink it over the next year."
- Wine Advocate (#178, Aug. 2008), 88 pts

Reg Price $16.99 Mills Loyalty Card Price $13.59

Tavel

60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 10% Clairette
Steady pink, brilliant and limpid color.
Very complex nose with flowers, red and white fruits aromas. Round, full bodied with a long lasting aniseed and fruity finish.
Food pairing: cold meat and delicatessen, poultry, white meats, grilled meats, fried fish, fish soup, pastas, pizzas and all Asian 

Reg Price $25.99 Mills Loyalty Card Price $20.79

Mills will be opening each of these wines

As part of our Free Sampling Program

This Sunday

CHOPIN BOURGOGNE ROUGE 2007

Regular Price $17.99 Sale Price $14.39

We were quite pleased to taste this vintage of Chopin's Bourgogne Rouge. This is an estate Mills has been following for quite some time. Fact is, we really didn't expect much from the 2007 vintage and ended up being very pleasantly surprised. Bright cherry flavors, medium bodied, with some terroir. We are also quite pleased with the price as it shows a price reduction from previous years. With the price of Wast Coast Pinot Noir going up and up this is an exceptional value.

La Font de Notre Dame

Gigondas 2000

For seven years our Wine Manager traveled the USA as the primary salesperson for World Shippers and Importers. During that time he met Jean Pierre and Claude Roux, pictured above, owners of the famous Notre Dames des Pallieres in Gigondas. They also owned a tiny parcel called La Font de Notre Dame that they would not let WSI import to the USA as quantities were so small.

Just on a whim, Peter contacted the Roux family recently and asked if any could be had. Surprisingly he was told that they were willing to release some of their 2000 library wine. Of course he grabbed as much as they would let us have for Mills immediately.

It is truly rare to have a 10 year old Gigondas available! Even better is the fact that it has not been laying around some US wholesale warehouse. It has been in the Roux family cellar these last 10 years.

Obviously, nobody has seen this wine as yet to write a review and give it numbers. The on line rating service, Snooth, found some recently at a store in Saratoga, New York and gave it a perfect rating of 5 Glasses.

You simply won't believe the price we are able to offer this at

Equivalent European Price $49.99

Mills Sale Price $19.99

Clipper City - Heavy Seas - "Peg Leg" Imperial Stout 6 pack bottles

on sale 8.99 regularly 9.89

A deep, dark Imperial Stout with loads of malty flavors and creamy and

rich mouth-feel. 8% abv - Packs a wallop!

Bitburger 4 pack 500ml cans 5.99 regularly 7.99

MILLS HAS ITS FINGER ON THE PULSE OF OREGON PINOT

2007

PULSE

PINOT NOIR

BY

RESONANCE VINEYARD

MILLS PRICE

$29.99

MILLS CUSTOMER APPRECIATION

CARD PRICE

$24.99

Mills is the O N L Y Store in this region to be allowed to PULSE....

About the Wine:

Pulse Pinot noir is the second label of Resonance Vineyard. The 2007 Pulse is 100% estate grown and almost exactly the same clonal mix as the widely acclaimed 2006 Resonance Pinot: one-third Pommard, one-third original Wadensvil and one-third 777.

Pulse was fermented in three-year old Rousseau French oak 4-ton fermenters. The Pommard and Wadensvil were co-fermented and the 777 was fermented alone. The 777 and some of the Pommard and Wadensvil were harvested on September 29th. The remaining fruit was harvested on October 12th.  The fruit cold soaked for 4-7 days before spontaneous (no yeast inoculation) fermentation initiated.  This spontaneous yeast fermentation is required by Demeter for Biodynamic® wine production.

Alcoholic fermentation lasted 6-8 days (depending on the fermenter) and all lots were pressed off just before dryness. All the wine went to barrel while still actively fermenting. We feel that the biological process of fermentation helps to better meld the wine with the oak. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation initiated in the barrels and was completed by late February. The wine was then treated with 44 ppm of sulfur dioxide and allowed to rest for the next six months. The wine was aged in Taransaud French oak barrels (25% new) for a total of 10 months before bottling.

Final blending occurred in late August. One lot was fined with gelatin to remove a little tannin. The final blend was filtered using state-of-the-art cross-flow filtration and bottled on September 6th.

All the fruit was Demeter-certified Biodynamic, but the wine is not certified as some common winemaking practices were employed to ensure wine quality and these actions (after malolactic fermentation) lost the certification status for the 2007 Pulse. While not formally classified as 'Biodynamic wine", the 2007 wine is 100% Resonance Vineyard and estate-bottled.

The Pulse name was selected because we felt it carried forward the energetic signature of Resonance Vineyard and owners Kevin and Carla Chambers' biodynamic farming practices.

The 2007 Pulse Pinot noir offers aromas of cherries and pomegranates backed by earth and spice notes.  In the mouth it offers medium weight (only 12.7% finished alcohol) with delicate acidity and a lingering cherry aftertaste. Great with salmon, chicken, pork, creamy casseroles or hard-ripened cheeses. 1004 cases produced.

The Winemaker