Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Lowest Priced 90pt Vino Nobile

2003 La Braccesca Vino Nobile - RP90 points only $12.99 (was $22.99)

You are looking at the best deal on a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano that you can find anywhere. In fact, the 2003 La Braccesca is the lowest priced Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from any vintage that rated 90 points or above in the entire US marketplace. This wine totally over delivers for the price.

The owner and producer is none other than the great Antinori family with winemaking headed by Renzo Cotarella, famous for his work with Solaia and Tignarello. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is made from the Sangiovese Grosso grape (locally called Prugnelo Gentile but it’s the same grape used in Brunello). According to local custom, all Vino Nobiles spend a minimum of two years in large oak barrels called Botti, which permits the wine to naturally breathe and subsequently not be overwhelmed by oak. Instead, the wines are fruit driven and a perfect match with food.

Made from 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot, La Braccesca's Vino Nobile has beautiful aromas of plum, dusty red cherries and spice with a medium body and balanced acidity. As soon as we tasted it, we began to imagine how wonderful it would be with food, especially rustic Italian dishes, meat, and game. There is an old world charm about this wine that frames the beautiful fresh fruit and makes it a pure pleasure to enjoy.

This is an unbeatable value and one you should not pass up – a great choice for an everyday food wine that you can pull out whenever the occasion calls for it. Enjoy!

In Stock

ITALY - TUSCANY

2003 La Braccesca Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Proprietary Blend 750ml - $12.99 (was $22.99)
Wine Advocate, Jun 2007, 90 points: "The 2003 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a plump, engaging effort. A dark ruby, it presents attractive notes of crushed flowers, tobacco, herbs, spices and earthiness. On the palate it is packed with fruit and full of life, showing outstanding persistence as well as notable balance considering the vintage. Though enjoyable today, another year or so in the bottle should help smooth out the tannins. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2015. La Braccesca is the Montepulciano property of the Antinori family. I was very impressed with the wines I tasted from the estate. “At La Braccesca we are aiming for a fresher, fruit-driven style that reflects varietal character,” says oenologist Renzo Cotarella. “Fermentations are generally shorter and unlike our other estates, we use a percentage of American oak to give the wines an extra dimension of sweetness and spiciness.”
JJ Buckley, Apr 2008: "Dark ruby and maroon in the core with a maroon rim. Plum and dusty red cherry aromas are joined by spicy cedar with a note of earth and game over a subtle wild honeycomb note. Good acid in the mouth. Medium bodied. Somewhat earthy and old world in style, but with a nice burst of ripe rich cherry. Spicy chocolate and cherries are matched with a streak of lingering minerality on the finish." - Mike Supple

JJ Buckley Special Find

The Finest in Languedoc - Chateau de la Negly

Following the beaten path in any pursuit can produce satisfying results, but creativity and unique experiences are often sacrificed at the expense of reassurance. At Chateau de la Negly, every effort is made to make a wine that will surprise you, simply knock you off your feet the moment you and the wine make contact. These wines are pure artistry, made by people who understand terroir and demonstrate how great a wine can be if made from draconian yields and attention to every detail.

La Porte du Ciel and Clos des Truffiers are Chateau de la Negly's flagship cuvees. With the assistance of Bordeaux negociant Jeffrey Davies, owner Jean Paux-Rosset and brilliant oenologist Claude Gros have developed the property into what Robert Parker has called "the Languedoc-Roussillon's finest estate" and have crafted "world class wines of great individuality and detail."

These wines explode from the glass with a burst of hedonism that might literally take your breath away. Copious amounts of ripe fruit and spices exude out of the glass while chocolate, cassis, and preserves fill your palate. Every day you open a new bottle, you will be intrigued by some new nuance and subtle flavor to relish. These are well-endowed wines that offer up intense Old World complexity.

Rigorous selection and absurdly low yields (about 1/5 the yields of most Bordeaux wines) are the norms at these properties represented by Jeffrey Davies. The 2004 "La Porte du Ciel," Negly's luxury cuvee, comes from a tiny, 11-year old portion of a 50-hectare vineyard. It is 100% Syrah grown in clay and limestone soils which is hand-harvested before being being table-sorted three times and aged for two years in 100% new French oak barrels. In fact, the 1999 vintage of La Porte du Ciel is the highest rated wine from Languedoc ever at RP96 points while the 2003 was rated 94 points.

The 2005 Clos des Truffiers comes from an even smaller vineyard with compressed clay and limestone soils. Also 100% Syrah, it is hand-harvested, table-sorted three times, and aged for 26 months in 100% new French oak. This wine promises to be a unique tasting experience, incomparable to anything you have had before.

Production is ridiculously small at about 300 cases each and absolutely no expense is spared in making these wines. This isn't something you wouldn't normally find at your local store, so take this opportunity now to try something totally new and utterly superb.

In Stock

FRANCE - LANGUEDOC ROUSSILLON

2004 Chateau de la Negly la Porte du Ciel Syrah 750ml - $109.99
JJ Buckley, Apr 2008: "Deep purple, almost hypnotic in its dark ocean purple. Aroma of new leather, refreshing forest in the morning smells, with a spring like energy. Mouth coating and rich, full bodied and lush. Vanilla is big here. Sweet, voluptuous oak. Well polished like a gem. From entry when it touches your tongue, to the long full finish, one seamless smile! A++. In essence: Total WOW!" - David Derby

2005 Chateau de la Negly Clos des Truffieres Syrah 750ml - $129.99
JJ Buckley, Apr 2008: "Okay, maybe it is because of the name, but this has beautiful aromas of fresh morels, grilled Portobello and Shiitake mushrooms. Flavors of spicy white pepper, Pain grille, and bacon fat over wood fire. The flavor is longer than a summer sunset, and is persistent in its intensity and pure focus of core rapture. This is one seriously #$@%*& good wine! R-rated." - David Derby

Monday, April 7, 2008

Kosher Wines For Passover

The Jewish holiday of Passover is right around the corner and wine is a central and indispensable item at any Passover seder table. During the first two nights of the holiday, no one can opt out of drinking it, which means that you need it...and a lot of it. As you read this, the JJ Buckley buying team is on a tour of Bordeaux, so we thought it very fitting to feature a selection of Kosher wines that many of you probably never knew existed from the region.

For those of you who may not be celebrating this Passover holiday yourselves but have been invited to a seder, one of the best items to bring along would be a bottle of Kosher wine. There is a good chance that your hosts will have not had the opportunity to try most of the wines featured here, so any one of them would be a great choice to bring some wine of quality to the table.

Along with a couple of Sauternes and a Chassagne Montrachet, there is a great selection of hard to find Kosher Bordeaux, including the Kosher versions of some of the most famous chateaux including Leoville Poyferre, Pontet-Canet, and even Valandraud. Jean-Luc Thunevin of Chateau Valandraud is one of the pioneers of the garagiste movement in France and decided a few years ago to produce a special run of kosher wine at his chateau and it has turned out beautifully. This kind of selection of kosher Bordeaux wines are not prevalent on the 'net (especially in Northern California), as these wines are hard to come by.

But no seder would be complete without wine from Israel, and what wine would be better than one from arguably Israel's best winery - Domaine du Castel? After receiving great scores in the recent Israeli wine review in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Domaine du Castel has emerged as Israel's premier winery and their Bordeaux style wine Petit du Castel would serve as a great comparison to it's French counterparts.

Also, be sure to continue checking JJ Buckley's kosher section by clicking here for any new Kosher wines that come in before Passover.

Quantities are very limited and everything is in stock and ready to ship. Put your best wine on the table this year and make this Passover something to write home about.

In Stock - Limited Quantity

FRANCE - BORDEAUX

2002 Baron Rothschild Haut Medoc (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $39.99

2001 Barrail de Zede (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $39.99

2001 Chateau Malmaison Baronne Nadine de Rothschild (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $39.99

2002 Crock, Le (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $51.99

2000 Fonbadet (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $70.99

2001 Giscours (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $81.99

2001 Labegorce (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $60.99

2001 Leoville-Poyferre (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $129.99

2002 Leoville-Poyferre (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $107.99

2003 Malartic-Lagraviere (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $86.99

2004 Montviel (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $74.99

2002 Patache d'Aux (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $48.99

2002 Pontet-Canet (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $108.99

2003 Pontet-Canet (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $129.99

2002 Royaumont Lalande (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $48.99

2000 Tertre-Daugay (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $89.99

2001 Valandraud (Kosher) Bordeaux Blend 750ml - $335.99

FRANCE - BURGUNDY

2001 Anselme Deslar Chassagne Montrachet (Kosher) Pinot Noir 750ml - $57.99

FRANCE - SAUTERNES

1999 Guiraud (Kosher) Sauternes Blend 750ml - $128.99

2001 Piada (Kosher) Sauternes Blend 750ml - $81.99

ISRAEL

2003 Castel, Domaine du Petit Castel (Kosher) Proprietary Blend 750ml - $45.99

1998 Golan Heights Cabernet Sauvignon Galil Gamla (Kosher) 750ml - $31.99

2005 Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon (Kosher) 750ml - ON SALE $7.99 (was $9.99)