It has been a very unusual week here in Madrona with the kids home from school, restaurant closures, and adjusting to pandemic preparedness.  But we made it to the weekend!  Here at Madrona Wine we are making a few changes to help with social distancing.  First, we are suspending the cheese and crackers at our Saturday tasting.   The communality of open plates seems inappropriate at the moment, so for the moment it is Bring Your Own Palate Cleansers.  Secondly, we’ll be opening the wine earlier on Saturday for those who would like to slip in and taste before we get busy.  (The shop rarely has 10 people at a time in it, but it does get busier as the day goes on.). If It is knowledge about the wineries you want, our knowledgeable Sales Representative will be on hand from 2 to 4. 

That all being said: It’s Pi Day and the weather forecast has some sun in store for us this next week.  Here’s the weekend lineup.

Saturday we have wines from Sicily & Sardinia by Olianas & Colosi.
Sardinia
2018 Olianas, Vermentino $15
2018 Olianas,  Cannonau $15
2018 Olianas, Perdixi $25
75% Bovale,  25% Carignano
Sicily
2018 Cantine Colosi, Grillo  $13
2018 Cantine Colosi, Nero d’Avola $15

Sunday It is two more Italian winners.
2016 Monacesca Verdicchio Di Matelica  $12
This wine’s heady Spanish broom, acacia and yellow stone fruit scents lift out of the glass. The palate mirrors the nose, offering creamy peach, yellow apple and juicy citrus flavors alongside bright acidity. An almond note caps off the finish.
2018 Miral Nero d’ Avola  $12
A nice everyday Sicilian Red, with a complex taste of dried red fruits and berries, nicely structured with a velvety, long lasting finish.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.

This Saturday we are tasting the wines from Italy’s two biggest wine producing islands.  No travel permit required.

Sardinia –Olianas started in 2000 by Stefano Casadei, Artemio Olianas and Simone Mugnaini to produce not only organic, but bio-integrated wines.  Their 25 hectares of red and white vineyards produce Sardinian varietals with a sense of history. 
 
2018 Olianas, Vermentino $15
The Vermentino has strong aromas and orange blossoms floral notes. In the mouth it is fresh, fruity and elegant.
 
2018 Olianas,  Cannonau $15
Thisi Cannonau is fresh and strong structured with a good tannin presence. It is fruity and floral; a real Sardinian taste.  
 
2018 Olianas, Perdixi $25
75% Bovale, 25% Carignano
A unique wine named after the numerous partridges that populate the estate, the Perdixi has a charming flavor and a pleasant taste of red berries that is harmonious and well structured.  It is characterized by well-integrated tannins with a long and very pleasant aftertaste. 
 
Sicily — Since 1987 Cantine Colosi has been producing native Sicilian wines. Consisting of 24 acres of vineyards in Salina, a small island in the Eolian Archipelago, Colosi occupies an area of the island recognized for both its orientation and for the physical-chemical nature of the soil whose volcanic origins are particularly suitable for vine cultivation. The winery is located underground in order to have a constant temperature for the optimum care of the wine and to respect the strict preservation rules of the Eolian archipelago. With three generations of experience, Colosi is led by enologist Pietro Colosi in collaboration with his father Piero.
 
2018 Cantine Colosi, Grillo  $13
The Colosi Grillo has its own feisty character. It offers aromas of stone fruit, poached pear and baked apple. There are points of saffron and sweet baking spice as well. Aged in acacia tonneaux for a brief four months, this wine is designed to reveal a good amount of that elusive Grillo complexity.
 
2018 Cantine Colosi, Nero d’Avola $15
Made in a simple and easy-drinking style, this unoaked Nero d’Avola offers youthful brightness and variety-driven notes of wild cherry, cassis, licorice, potting soil and chopped black olives. There is a momentary layer of grilled fennel seed, and that completes what is no doubt an authentically Sicilian presentation.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.

It has been quite a week here in Madrona with talk of Corona overshadowing the Super Tuesday results.  But we made it to the weekend.  Sunday, we set the clocks ahead an hour, and there are signs of Spring in the garden.  It is time to have a glass of wine and we have some good ones lined up to sample. We also have a new art by Paul Lockhart up on Sunday — more details below.  Here’s what’s going on.

Saturday, we have wine from one of our favorite Piedmont producers, Podere Ruggeri Corsini.  They are all great values.
2017 Langhe Bianco  $16
Arneis, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay
2016 Langhe Rosso Matot $13
60% Dolcetto, 30% Barbera, 10% Nebbiolo
2017 Barbera d’Alba    $16
2017 Langhe Nebbiolo    $19
2015 Barolo  $30

Sunday we’ll be pouring a couple of discounted wines from France.
2018 Hecht & Bannier Côtes de Provence Rosé                                     $13
60% Grenache, 35% Cinsault, 5% Vermintino
Well-balanced wine with great acidity and a refined finish. It has tasty rose water and chalk notes, with flavors of white cherry, peach, strawberry and cantaloupe. Fruity, crisp, fresh and ready to drink! 
Was $18, Now $13
2014 Léon Perdigal Réserve des Capucins                                               $10
Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah
Côtes de RhôneIntense ruby red color and bouquet of red fruits, spices, and brushwood. Well-balanced on the palate with rich, supple tannins.
Was $15, Now $10

Sunday 3 to 5 is also the Artist Reception for our new show Paradigm Shift –from Realistic to Impressionist by Paul Lockhart.  Come see the show and talk to Paul about his work. 

The Ruggeri Corsini estate is a family-run winery in the province of Cuneo, the heart of the Langhe hills: Monforte d’Alba.  The winery was founded in 1995, by who had Loredana Addari and Nicola Argamante both graduated with specialized degrees in wine-growing and enology. They left their city jobs to buy a small 10 heactares vineyard (which at the time only produced and sold its grapes). It’s a family run business, owned by the two agronomists and Loredana’s brother, Lorenzo. Stop by on Saturday and try their wines.
 
2017 Langhe Bianco Arneis, $16
Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay
This unique white blend from the Langhe immediately impresses with an engaging array of apple, pear and gooseberry aromas and a bright palate of layered fruit and crisp acidity.  Over delivers.

2016 Langhe Rosso Matot $13
60% Dolcetto, 30% Barbera, 10% Nebbiolo
The Rosso Matot is Piedmonte in a glass. Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo harmoniously blend together to result in a rustic wine that offers notes of bark, earth, currants and tobacco. Fresh acidity with a component of dill joining on the finish.
 
2017 Barbera d’Alba    $16
From thier estate vineyards Corsini’s Barbera d’Alba is a typical Piedmontese barbera with fresh cherry fruit and a striking underlying acidity.
 
2017 Langhe Nebbiolo    $19
from two different vineyard sites—one is within the Barolo appellation and the other is just outside the appellation limits. This wine has red fruits, pretty florals and spicy aromatics dominate the nose while the palate is well-structured with a nice fruitiness through the middle. The palate has a light hit of blood orange in addition to minerals and a forest floor note.
 
2015 Barolo  $30
Corsini is known for their single-vineyard Barolos, but this blended example has all the right notes of rose, tea, tar and rich cherry fruit.  We have a very limited supply at this price.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.

Last night’s winds blew an extra day onto the February calendar.  It’s LeapEnd here in Madrona and we have a couple of great events lined up to celebrate.

Saturday, February 29th, we are tasting some fine examples from California’s Counterculture.  We have wines from three young Cali winemakers who are bucking the norm. 
2015 Keep Wines, Lost Slough Albariño   $30
2018 Keep Wines, Delta White Cortese Falanghina  $24
2018 Keep Wines, Counoise  $28
2018 Martha Stoumen Wines, Venturi Vineyard Carignan  $36
2018 Inconnu Wine, Papa Jaja Cabernet Sauvignon  $20

Sunday, March 1st,we have a special visit from Bodegas Frontaura.  The Frontaura estate has 120 hectares of vines producing the native variety Tempranillo Tinta de Toro and in the D.O. of Toro. Nexus is their property in Ribera del Duero where they make Tempranillo with a different flair.  Loreto Herrero from the winery will be in the shop from 2 to 4 pm to elaborate about the wines. 
2015 Nexus One Ribera del Duero $15
Tempranillo
The Nexus has intensity and freshness. At first floral touches appear followed by subtle aromas of red fruit with dairy notes and hints of caramel.
2014 Frontaura Domino de Valdelacasa Cosecha $15
Tempranillo
From Toro the Domino is very intense on the nose, red fruit aromas, strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry are predominate with dairy and well-integrated wood. Touches of eucalyptus, velvety licorice and mineral notes come out. It is smooth, balsamic and very long. It is a structured and complex wine.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.

California Wine are known for big Napa Cabs, and buttery Chards, but in the shadows there are small wineries that focus more on subtlety and finesse.  This Saturday we feature three of these producers. 
 
Keep Wines — Based in Napa, winemakers Jack Roberts and Johanna Jensen create wines influenced by the old world with less ripe fruit, minimal manipulation and great ageability. In the vigneron tradition, they do much of the work themselves from vineyard to bottling.  The wines are typically 12-mid 13% alcohol, have healthy acidities and minimal sulphur additions.

Martha Stoumen, based in Sebastopol, leases and farms around half of the vineyards herself. The other half is farmed by multi-generation farmers who understand their land, and who share the same philosophy–composting rather than adding synthetic fertilizers, allowing predatory insects the ability to outcompete pests rather than spraying insecticides, and doing proper handwork, such as pruning for vine longevity rather than high yields.  In the cellar she uses a minimalist winemaking approach.   

INCONNU based out of Napa, is a meditation on simplicity; believing that less is more. They make their wines with spontaneous ferments, low sulfur, low intervention, and ethically farmed grapes.  
 
2015 Keep Wines, Lost Slough Albariño   $30
From the Lost Slough Vineyard, the cooler air and loamy soil of the Delta gives this wine a rare minerality not seen in most California white grapes. Delicious acid with a slight saline umami quality. Aged in neutral oak for 18th months
 
2018 Keep Wines, Delta White Cortese Falanghina  $24
From the Lost Slough Vineyard, right next to the Sacramento River Delta, hence the name.  The wine is sur lie aged for 6 months before bottling and has a high level of minerality and complexity. Stone fruit pit and Lychee on the nose, river rocks on the palate.
 
2018 Keep Wines, Counoise  $28
These grapes sourced from David Gerard Vineyard in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Keep made this wine using the carbonic method (whole grapes slowly break apart as they ferment). Spiced strawberries, red earth, wild herbs, pomegranate, white pepper, very low tannins and medium acidity.

2018 Martha Stoumen Wines, Venturi Vineyard Carignan  $36
From Venturi Vineyard is in Mendocino County which was planted in 1948; dry farmed; organic.  The Carignan has aromas of dried herbs, rose petals and cherry fruit leather happily greet you on the nose. Bright cherry notes on the palate with a lovely light body and dusty tannins.
 
2018 Inconnu Wine, Papa Jaja Cabernet Sauvignon  $20
Papa Jaja comes from the Clarksburg vineyard is located next to the Sacramento River, and has combination soils of loam and alluvial material with clay and silt. It’s farmed organically, deficit irrigated in drought years, but dry farmed otherwise. The wine is matured in neutral oak for about a year.  It is a great early drinking Cabernet with cassis and blue fruit flavors.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.

We have Mardi Gras on our minds this weekend at Madrona Wine. Fat Tuesday is just around the corner and we have lined up a full weekend of French wines to get your gris gris going.  Stop by and pick up something to go with the gumbo. 

Saturday we’re sampling Organic wines from Bordeaux and the South of France.
Château Sicot Crémant de Bordeaux Rosé Brut .$19
2017 Château de Caraguilhes Blanc AOC Corbières   $17
2014 Château de Caraguilhes Rouge  AOC Corbières  $16
2016 Chàteau Sicot Bordeaux Supérior  $15
2016 Château les Croisille “Silice” AOC Cahors  $20

Sunday we’ll be sashaying in the second line with two more French quaffers.
2018 Les Deux Moulins Sauvignon Blanc   $13
Les Deux Moulins is located between Anjou and Tours, with vineyards made up of gravel and schist soils, which instill the wine with a vibrant and long-lasting mineral finish. The fruit is very bright and lively as well.Notes of lime, gooseberry, and a subtle grassiness. Organic. 12% alcohol by volume
2014 Château Les Marechaux Blaye   $15
Merlot, Cabernet Franc
A dusty and leathery Bordeaux from Blaye. A good match for rich meats. Was $18 now $15.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.

This Saturday we will be sampling a quintet of organic French wines from Bordeaux and the Southwest of France.  A representative from the distributor will be pouring from 2-4pm to explain all the intricacies of the organic/biologic wine making method.

Château Sicot Crémant de Bordeaux Rosé Brut $19
60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
Abundance of fine bubbles. The nose has a nice sharpness with aromas of flowers, pears, and brioche notes (fermentary notes). The mouth is both lively and well rounded. 4 hour skin contact. 7g/liter dosage. Aged a minimum of 12 months. Very low SO2. Hand-harvested. Organic and biodynamic.

2017 Château de Caraguilhes Blanc AOC Corbières   $17
65% Roussanne, 20% Marsanne, 15% Grenache Blanc
Lovely white fruit flavors with a good mineral splash. Aromas of almond flowers, white peaches and apricot are underpinned by hints of citrus fruits, characteristic of our terroir. Silky, rounded and beautifully delicate. Citrus fruits with hints of acacia and fennel – plants indigenous to this area. Balanced with great length. Minimal SO2 and filtration. Organic.

2014 Château de Caraguilhes Rouge  AOC Corbières  $16
60% Syrah, 30% Carignan, 10% Grenache Noir 
Deep and dense ruby red color displaying a nice concentration with glints of violet at the edge of the glass. Silky attack, with notes of pepper and cherry, which underlines the robust quality of the wine. The tannins contribute a good structure which strengthens the balance. Wild yeast , minimal SO2 and filtration. No additives. Organic

2016 Chàteau Sicot Bordeaux Supérior  $15
70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec
Deep garnet color. The nose is intense, black fruits (blackcurrant, blackberry), hint of violet, English candy, spices (vanilla, pepper) and toast notes. In the mouth, a lot of roundness with a certain freshness and elegant tannins. The finish is long. Wild yeast, very minimal SO2 and filtration. No additives. Organic

2016 Château les Croisille “Silice” AOC Cahors  $20
100% Malbec
The grapes used to create this wine were sourced from a very rare terroir, making up less than 10% of the Cahors appellation. This terroir creates wines that are fine and easy to digest. This well-balanced wine is brimming with mouth-watering acidity. Extended skin contact. 100% neutral. Hand-harvested. Wild yeast. Mminimal SO2 and filtration. No additives. Organic

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 3-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday, we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.