Fancy Pants Wines

Don't Forget the Gunther Goodness

Gunther Steinmetz Herrenberg Spatburgunder 2008
(Mosel, Germany):

I am always forgetting to recommend this wine. Customers never (and I really mean never) come in asking for German Spatburgunder* but they do come in asking for Pinot Noir in the $30 price range. And I should be recommending this one. Because it’s good and delicious and something different than the usual Pinot-trifecta of California-Oregon-Burgundy.

But for some reason, it’s always slipping my mind. Actually, I know the reason:

It’s because I’ve tried to sell German Pinot Noir before. (German Pinot Noir…and Alsatian Pinot Noir…which yes, I know full well is from France, not Germany, but they’re both equally difficult to sell.) These wines are very focused, very minerally. They can even come off as a little lean…even mean if they’re not given time to open up. Most customers find them a little scary, especially if their reference point is a soft, fruity California Pinot Noir. But I love them. So I keep buying them – and then being afraid to actually sell them. They wind up being offered at a very deep discount to the few brave customers that try a bottle, like it and come back for more.

But this bottle is different. No, you won’t mistake it for a super rich, ripe Pinot Noir grown in the California sunshine. But it has a little extra bit of plushness that takes it out of the league of lean and mean. When I first tried it, I did a little happy dance because finally, here was a German Pinot Noir that I could actually sell without a warning label!

But memories of my previous purchases still linger, and I keep forgetting that this is one I can sell to pretty much anyone in search of Pinot Noir at a certain price. So if I don’t remember to recommend it, feel free to ask for a bottle of Gunther Spatburgunder Goodness the next time you’re in the shop!

Sale Price: $29.99 (Regularly $32.99)

A Really Good Bottle of Champagne

If I could place a bet on which champagne is going to be the hottest thing going in the next couple years, I would bet on the bubbles of Marie Noëlle Ledru.  This is Grower Champagne produced in the tiniest of quantities. Ledru owns 6 hectares of vines – small enough as it is, but absolutely tiny when you consider she sells off half of that to bigger houses. She farms without chemicals or pesticides, minimizes sulfur additions, hand-disgorges each bottle, and does the riddling on her own.

Yes, all this attention to detail makes for good copy, but the wines speak for themselves. They’re a marvel of ripe fruit, firm minerality, earthy, salty, biscuity goodness. But what’s most amazing is the pricing. A bottle of her Extra Brut is just over $50 on the shelf. Certain perfectly-nice-but-but-definitely-not-hand-tended champagnes are pushing this price point.

But that just-over $50 price tag may not last for long. As I mentioned, Ledru is poised on the edge of being the next big (well, not really big) thing. The people who talk about such things are quietly buzzing about these wines. Their charm, their deliciousness, their sheer value. The distributor has already removed any quantity deals…because what’s the point of a quantity deal when there’s not much quantity to sell.

So next year, when every single cool kid is going on about Ledru, you can say you drank it when.

In stock now:
Marie Noelle Ledru Grand Cru Extra Brut NV: Price: $52.99
Marie Noelle Ledru Grand Cru Extra Brut NV (Magnum): Price: $109.99
Marie Noelle Ledru Grand Cru Brut 2002: Price: $74.99
 
Yes, I clearly have a thing for these wines.

To buy, click through the WINES page and enter Ledru in the search box

SUPERBOWL SUGGESTION: Bubbles… In Case They Win

SUPERBOWL SUGGESTIONS: Big Bottles

It’s simple math. Big Games = Big Parties. And Big Parties call for Big Bottles. And we have plenty of big bottles. We’re extending our MAGNUM MADNESS sale through this weekend, so there’s no reason not to pick up a bottle – or three. Break out a few of these for your guests – you’re sure to score big points! Here’s the scoop:

Buy 1 magnum*, get a 10% discount
Buy 2, get a 15% discount
Buy 3, get a 20% discount

Mix and matching is allowed. To see what's on hand, go to our WINES page, type 'MAGNUM' in the producer/vintage/region field, and hit the search button.

Something Not So New & Different (but still good!)

Vouette & Sorbee Fidele Extra Brut NV

Vouette & Sorbee Fidele Extra Brut NV (Champagne, France): This bottle of bubbles is about the hottest thing going right now. Yes, Bertrand Gautherot’s tiny production estate received biodynamic certification in 1998. Yes, there are cows and chickens roaming his property. Yes, he’s using indigenous yeast, something many Champagne producers might consider outright madness. And yes, his wines are very, very good. Outright delicious and easily worth the price tag.

We’re extremely excited to have laid hands on a bit of the estate’s main wine, Fiedele Extra Brut NV. We’re not so excited to have to actually sell it to other people, but hey, this is a business! If you’re at all interested in learning more about this tip top what all the fuss is about, check out this very good post by Peter Liem, which was part of the Saignee blog’s original 31 Days of Natural Wine series. If you’re interested in actually drinking some, stop by and grab a bottle before it’s gone.

Price: $75.99

A Little Bit Sweet, a Little Bit Funky

Jacques Puffeney Vin de Paille 2003 375ml (Arbois, Jura, France): This stuff is so good, you’ll want to beat your head against a wall and rip off your arms.  You’ll want to counter the intense pleasure with some serious pain…hence the arm ripping and head banging.  It’s made from the same Savagnin grape as the Jura’s more famous Vin Jaune.  But in this version, those grapes are laid out on mats to dry (or maybe just in boxes.)  This concentrates the sugars, resulting in a sweet wine that brings to mind sweet and savory notes of walnuts, brown sugar, maple syrup, and some sort of spice.  If that sounds rich, it is – but that richness is balanced by a sneaky spine of acidity that prevents even a hint of anything cloying.  Yes, it’s expensive.  But it’s delicious and tastes like absolutely nothing other than Vin de Paille.  If you’re feeling spendy, it’s well worth a few bruises and an arm or two.  Seriously.