Dinner-Ready Reds

"One of Pauillac's most consistently brilliant wines”. Very successful for the vintage, Pichon-Lalande’s 1988 has a dark garnet color and an intriguing nose of compost, earth, black currants, licorice, and weedy tobacco. The wine is medium-bodied with a sweet, relatively expansive mid-palate and slightly rugged tannins in the increasingly attenuated finish.         The Pichon-Lalande, the 1988 is hardly a weak link and the wine is outstanding in its very classical styling and proportions. The bouquet offers up a lovely, cool fruit blend of cassis, dark berries, menthol, tobacco leaf, gravel, cigar smoke and a judicious foundation of toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is fullish, pure and impeccably balanced, with a good solid core, melting tannins and fine focus and grip on the long, complex and very classy finish. This does not have the exotic topnotes of a sunnier vintage, but it has a lovely base of Pichon’s inimitable terroir and has no cause to apologize for anything! Fine, fine juice cut from an utterly classical cloth and a dramatically underrated vintage of Pichon-Lalande.

"One of Pauillac's most consistently brilliant wines”. That sumptuous pleasures await those who purchase either the 1996 or 1995 Pichon-Lalande. It is hard to choose a favorite, although the 1995 is a smoother, more immediately sexy and accessible wine. It is an exquisite example of Pichon-Lalande with the Merlot component giving the wine a coffee/chocolatey/cherry component to go along with the Cabernet Sauvignon's and Cabernet Franc's complex blackberry/cassis fruit. The wine possesses an opaque black/ruby/purple color, and sexy, flamboyant aromatics of pain grille, black fruits, and cedar. Exquisite on the palate, this full-bodied, layered, multidimensional wine should prove to be one of the vintage's most extraordinary success stories. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2020+.    A MEGAWINE , with layers of fruit and various levels of character. This exceptional Bordeaux is full-bodied and very tannic, with masses of rich fruit, berry and tobacco. Very velvety.

Dense purple, this wine comes across as the most austere of any of these wines. This dense, rich, elegant wine displays impressive notes of espresso roast intermixed with blackberry and floral-infused blue fruits, but in the finish the tannins kick in, and the wine seems closed and in need of considerable aging. Good to drink it from 2026 or after. Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon.  

The 2006 Melbury has a dense plum/purple color and a big, sweet, scorched earth, creme de cassis and blueberry nose, with hints of charcoal, spice box, and graphite. Rich, well-made, and showing exceptionally well from bottle ,very perfumed with currants and flowers.  Very balanced and deep full bodied wine with a long silky finish. it is a wine that will certainly evolve for 35 or more years. Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon.  

FREE shipping. Winemaker Notes: 2010 Cherryblock is deep and dark with notes of tea, dried herbs, blackberry, black cherry and graphite. The palate is lithe and plush with persistent fruit flavors and well integrated tannins. This is a beautiful, seductive wine that showcases both the cooler conditions of the vintage and the unique character of this historic site.  

 FREE Shipping. "The Best California Merlot Ever" by Nick Passmore, we completely agree that our Three Palms Merlot is among the best of the best. Three Palms. One of California’s first single-vineyard Merlots, this full-bodied wine reflects Three Palms’ unique terroir and has been a consistent benchmark for New World Merlot. This is a classic expression of Three Palms Vineyard, with vibrant red fruit bursting through on the entry, followed by layers of licorice, wet stone and earth that reveal themselves on the mid-palate. Though the tannins are prominent, adding gravitas to this iconic Merlot, there is a lovely refinement to them that beautifully accentuates the flavors of blueberry, warm spice cake and Santa Rosa plum.  Varietal Content: 89% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot; Cooperage: 100% French oak château-style barrels (60 gallons); Age of Barrels: 75% New, 25% Second Vintage. 

Variety : 100% Cabernet Sauvignon;  Typically tannic, in the way of Spring Mountain Cabs, the '05 is a dramatically structured wine that dazzles with power. Made entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon, it shows classic varietal flavors of black currants, cherries, licorice and spices, while mostly new French oak adds the perfect facade of smoky wood. Fabulous now with decanting and over rich fare such as steak, the wine should age gracefully for at least a decade. Superripe, though balanced and richly flavored, with tiers of succulent currant, wild berry and blackberry fruit that's broad, expansive, intense and persistent. 450 cases made

FREE Shipping. 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec & 1% Cabernet Franc: Aging: 26 months in new French oak barrels. WINEMAKER NOTES:The Insignia from this growing season is a deep, black cherry red color, with aromas of roasted black fruit, licorice, cedar and spice. The tannins are rich and full in flavor and texture to give this wine incredible depth and length in the finish. RP: 1999 possesses a healthy deep ruby/purple color along with an open-knit, sweet, candied nose of red and black currants, loamy soil, underbrush and forest floor as well as a touch of oak. This medium-bodied, fresh, lively Insignia exhibits tell-tale acids with much of its tannin already resolved.

The best Sassicaia of the last 10 years, the 2004 vintage is an outstanding achievement. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc highlight the beauty of Tuscany and portray the region in terms of thick chocolate fudge, succulent cherry and currant, exotic spice and vanilla seed. Beyond those big aromas are little teasers: blue flowers, Mediterranean herbs, cola and light mineral shadings. It’s lush and full in the mouth and will hold 20 or 30 years.Cellar Selection

Grapes: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon & 15% Cabernet Franc. Aromas of sweet tobacco and plum with hints of cigar box. Medium- to full-bodied, with sweet fruit and a silky texture. Herbal.Dark berry fruit and exotic spice scents fill the high-toned penetrating nose...smooth tannins frame the very long finish, leaving one with the impression of persistence and balance.88

Served at the table of King Charles II in 1660, Château Haut-Brion has never stopped writing history since. Certainly the most legendary wine from Bordeaux; deep and powerful, this premier cru classé from a domain founded in the 16th century will need to age for a good few years before expressing its full elegant, noble majesty.  The harvests are manual, and the grapes are sorted several times throughout the process. Limited yields and a long maturation of 22 months in new oak barrels contribute to the production of this magnificent wine. Haut Brion develops velvety notes of ripe blackcurrant and has a mineral profile with legendary finesse. In its best vintages, it can be aged for several decades. This blend is made up of  Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with a hint of Petit Verdot.    The prestigious Château Haut-Brion surprises by the number of first places it occupies in many situations. Created in 1553 by Jean de Pontac, Haut-Brion was the first wine of Bordeaux's history to have the same name as the domain. At that time, the wines were sold anonymously. First chateau to practice techniques which are now unavoidable, such as racking or aging in oak barrels. Therefore, it will be the only classified Grand Cru in the Graves appellation in 1855, and is number 1 of course! There is no small vintage at Haut-Brion, owned by the Dillon family since 1935. In 1983, the Dillon family bought La Mission Haut-Brion, Haut-Brion's neighbour. It is always exciting to compare the different vntages of the property. In great vintages, it is perfectly able to age for several decades. Some vintages, such as the 1961 or 1989, show the incredible potential of Château Haut Brion, one of the greatest red wines in the world.

FREE shipping.Named Chateau Angelus because the sound of the Angelus bells, from three, different, nearby churches that can all be heard in the vineyard at the same time, for eight generations the De Boüard de Laforest family have owned and run Chateau Angelus which is situated in Saint-Émilion. Grape Varieties: 50% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. 1994: inky, purple/black colored wiine, the 1994 offers up heavenly scents of smoked meats, barbeque spices, hickory wood, and plenty of cassis and kirsch. The fruit's phenomenal purity and denseness, as well as its overall balance, is admirable in view of the massive, muscular personality of this huge, full bodied wine oozing with extract, It is a tour de force in winemaking.

FREE shipping.Named Chateau Angelus because the sound of the Angelus bells, from three, different, nearby churches that can all be heard in the vineyard at the same time, for eight generations the De Boüard de Laforest family have owned and run Chateau Angelus which is situated in Saint-Émilion. The 1989 Angélus is a vintage that I have tasted multiple times from various formats. It remains one of my favorite of that era. Still quite deep in color, it has a glorious, almost hubristic bouquet of layers of lush black cherries, cedar, sage and meat juice aromas as it moves assuredly into its secondary phase. The palate has always been very harmonious and smooth, the tannins finer than preceding vintages. There is lovely grip here, and black truffle and smoky notes appear on the finish. A quite marvelous Château Angélus. Tasted at the château. Neal Martin - Vinous Media 96

First Growth. Premier Grand Cru Classe in 1973.  Deep and dark, garnet red, shading slightly at the rim, while the complex nose displays notes of leather and wax with a slightly animal cast, all elegantly set off by a floral underpinning and attractive oak. The supple and precise palate shows good balance, with well-integrated tannins and an opulence that enfolds the structure. The flavours linger on a long, fruity finish.