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Wine Talk by Art of the Table
May 24, 2011
honig sbThis past weekend we had a nice dinner with some friends and deemed it time to take out a few wines from the cellar.  This weekend was a winery called A. Tofanelli 2003 Cabernet that is only available from the winery, so I'll not tell you how wonderful that was...
...and also from Liparita Winery, their 1999 Cabernet from Oakville in Napa. (The 2006 is their current vintage and available for $62). 

Needless to say, I was in the mood this week to talk Napa. 

 

We often think of Napa Valley as the creme de la creme of American wine making.  We also think of movie stars and famous people buying chateaus and starting wineries with exorbitantly priced wine that only gets sold to the finest restaurants.  This can be true about Napa...but there is another side,

the original side, the still pure side.

Wine making essentially starts with good farming.  Napa Valley is ripe with wonderful farms and vineyards with excellent produce and grapes for producing wine.  Guys like Nils Venge and Michael Honig care more about their land and the wine they make than the image of being from Napa.  This is something we particularly like.  Guys like these are in Napa because they can produce the best wines possible for their visions based on the varietals they are working with, the soil quality and the warm valley temperatures.

Speaking of which, Napa gets hot!  It's much warmer than both Sonoma to its north and even Santa Barbara County to its south and west.  It is one of the key factors of why Cabernet Sauvignon (the king of Napa) grows so well there.  Others such as Merlot, sometimes Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc and even Chardonnay can thrive in Napa, but it's too hot for most delicate varietals like Pinot Noir.

Because Napa is on our mind...

we are hosting a

FREE

in-store tasting this Thursday

5-8pm

with three of our store's Napa selections.

parcel 41 

No need to make a reservation,

drop in, try some cheese, bread & oil

and a bit of awesome Napa.


A Few of our Selections 

We had an opportunity to purchase some discounted cases of 2005 & 2006

Napa selections that we thought really rocked:

 

 

Seavey 2005 Merlot Napa ~ St. Helena 

 
2005 Merlot 750

Still family owned, the Seavey winery is renowned because of the family's efforts in winemaking as well as their current winemaking team, Jeremy Weintraub & Phillipe Melka.  This astounding 2005 vintage can be described best by Seaveys themselves, "the lush nose of ripe blackberries with hints of cedar, clove and dark chocolate gives way to an exceedingly long and rich finish. The wine's opulence is a signature of the classic 2005 vintage. To our core Merlot blocks we added Cabernet Sauvignon & Petit Verdot from the very top of our vineyard, a portion we call 'Masochist Hill'  because of its extreme slope."

Regularly $50,  Our price $40
By the case $34


Paradigm 2005 Merlot Napa ~ Oakville 
Paradigm Winery is also family owned by two great winegrowers and handcrafted by Heidi Peterson Barrett of bigtime wine fame!  All Estate bottled, their wines are "a rich expression of the vineyard we've been farming now for twenty-nine years."
They make a tiny amount, only 6000 cases, all Merlots see French oak for 10-14 months.
Regularly $50,     Our price $34
By the case $28.90

 

3 Stones 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine is made by a family, now in its third generation of ownership (since 1974), now known as Clark-Claudon Vineyards.

Their business was founded in the old tradition of family winemaking where the art begins in the vineyard and ends with a beautiful bottle of wine. The name Clark-Claudon and the logo's meeting of the two feathers represent a joint commitment to the pursuit of their dream and to the preservation of the environment that supports it.  Fascinating wine and ready to drink with friends this glorious holiday weekend!

Regularly $55,  our price $40 

By the case $34

  

 

 

   

From Amy:  Holding near and dear to our hearts, Honig is like family to us. They are always willing to take the visitors I send and treat them royally, their story and dedication to their art is fascinating:


Honig
"Bartolucci Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon

The Bartolucci Vineyard is located at the base of Spring Mountain on the west side of St. Helena, and has been farmed by the Bartolucci family for three generations.  That aside, this wine is outstanding. New world Cabernet Sauvignon with balance and structure and just loads of good fruit and earth.  Blackberry and black cherry with hints of smoked tea, sweet mint, cedar cigar box, potting soil and toffee.  We feel this is the best wine in Napa Valley at the "top dog" level.  Best part is, we got a deal on it, and so will you!
Regularly $130, our price $92

 

 

Honig Sauvignon Blanc-Napa Valley

This crisp and clean white sports tangy lemon, peach, fresh cut grass and passion fruit aromas over a lithe body with focused flavors of lemon-lime, grapefruit, green apple and honey.  It's "light on its feet" and pairs beautifully with roasted blackened corvino with garlic smashed potatoes.  We also think it's all around the best Sauvignon Blanc coming out of the United States.

$18.25

 

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We also have selections of really delicious Napa Valley wines at value driven prices.

 Pozzan's Anabella Cabernet Sauvignon     $17.00

Sean Minor 4 Bears Cabernet Sauvignon     $18.00

Parcel 41 Merlot     $18.25

(we just got to try this last weekend, great nose and held up for hours!)