Shelftalkin'

Our greatest tasting ever?  Click through to view the whole lineup poster and purchase tickets.

The stupendous 2005 Vintage Port from Dirk Niepoort has been an item that we return to over and over again.  When the occasion calls for a red wine of supreme intensity, we can’t imagine a better fit.  So dense and voluptuous.  For those new to port, only years of superior quality are isolated for bottled unblended.  These are known as vintage ports and 2005 was an opportunity for Dirk to flex his muscles.  Dark and unctuous with a beautiful kiss of berry-pie sweetness.  The ultimate dark chocolate wine.  We’ll be tasting this at the leap year tasting.

The 2006 Cappellano Barolo Pie Rupestris is everything we love about traditionally-raised Nebbiolo.  For those interested in tasting the greatest authentic wines of Italy, Cappellano is a must.  Using only the traditional old oak botte barrels in the cellar, Cappellano also uses a long maceration on the skins to slowly extract all the intensity from this great site (the Gabutti vineyard).  If you open a bottle now, be sure to decant for a long time, because this is truly meant for an extended sleep in the cellar.  In time (10 years or more), you’ll be rewarded with the ideal winter wine - rich and robust with so much savory nuance that you’ll be looking to replenish your stash.  Unfortunately, this might be the only chance to grab some - so act!  We’ll be tasting that at our Leap Year Tasting.

Thierry Allemand likes to wear jean shorts.  And for this reason, he should be trusted.  For some reason, the greatest winemakers have the worst fashion sense.  That’s because their minds are focused on the vineyard.  And Thierry’s vineyards in Cornas are some of the most meticulously farmed anywhere on Earth.  Naturally, the vines are 100% Syrah, but Allemand’s Syrahs are more like a whole new category of wine.  When you take a jaded wine lover and give them an Allemand Cornas in the glass, they begin to unspool all sorts of descriptions, hypothetical intersections and anthropomorphic allusions.  The kind of $100 wine that creates a $100 experience.  Want to expand your mind and quicken your heart?  There aren’t many wines that can do it, but here’s one.  We’ll be tasting this at our Leap Year Tasting.