This Saturday we’re pouring some big wines from small producers from Ardeche, Chablis, Cahors, and the Rhône.  Start your Labor Day weekend out right by stocking up on these hard working Vins de France.  Let their labor help celebrate ours.
 
2016 Chateau de la Selve, Saint Regis  $15
Viognier
From low-yield, biodynamic vineyards in l’Ardeche, this Viognier is clean and fresh, with aromas of peach, citrus and a hint of mint, but it’s the fine minerality that really distinguishes the Saint Regis. 
 
2014 Domaine Seguinot, Chablis  $20
Seguinot is run by a father and his two daughters.  They produce their Chablis wines on about 15 hectares.  This is a bright, high acid, crisp, mineral driven white. The light calcareous clay soils impart floral, fresh and mineral aromas.
 
2016 Chateau de la Selve, Maguelonne Rosé  $14
40% Grenache, 40% Cinsault, 20% Syrah
This organic and biodynamic rosé has a delicate, aromatic and fruity nose, with red and white fruit aromas and a flowery note.
 
2015 Domaine de Fages, Cahors  $15
85% Malbec, 15% Merlot
The Fages comes from 35-year-old vines that are farmed organically and certified biodynamic.  The plots are planted on 2 different kinds of soil: sandy and ferrous red clay and clay-limestone.  The blend combines the dark smooth fruity character of Malbec with chalk mineral notes from the limestone soil. 
 
2015 Duseigneur, La Chapelle, Côtes du Rhône $15
50% Grenache, 50% Syrah
Domaine Duseigneur is located on the left bank of the river Rhône, in the village of Châteauneuf du-Pape. The 70 acres of the Estate straddle the appellations of Châteauneuf du Pape, Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Laudun and Lirac.  Made naturally from low yield old Grenache and Syrah, its round and supple tannins fully express red fruit aromas and Provençal aromatics of lavender and white pepper.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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.

Casale del Giglio is a family estate of unconventional land in the Agro Pontino valley, some 50 kms south of Rome.  Launched in 1985 Antonio Santarelli and his father Dino gave free rein to their pioneering ideas. by planting of close to 60 different experimental varietals in Casale del Giglio’s distinct soil as well as cultivating some local standards.  Stop by this Saturday and taste the results.

2015 Petit Manseng $18
Originally from the Jurançon region in the French Atlantic Pyrenees, the thick-skinned Petit Manseng’s small berries yield very little juice.  They are not harvested until late autumn.  By this time the grapes have shriveled and their sugar content is at its most concentrated.  The wine is intensely aromatic, fruity and spicy on the nose, fresh, crisp and flinty on the palate with a fruit-filled finish.

2016 Bellone Bianco  $13
Bellone is a grape variety cited by Pliny the Elder and has been present in the Latium region since Roman times.  The wine evokes ripe tropical fruit such as mango and papaya.  It is rich, ample and lingering on the palate with light floral, spicy notes, a pronounced acidity and zesty tang.

2015 Satrico Bianco $12
40% Chardonnay, 40% Sauvignon, 20% Trebbiano Giallo
This white wine takes its name from the ancient pre-Roman city of Satricum.  This hillside settlement, was the site of a temple dedicated to the goddess Mater Matuta.  Remains of her temple can still be seen today close to Casale del Giglio’s vineyards.  The wine reveals a fruity, lightly aromatic yet mineral nose, confirmed on the palate by a pleasing crispness and a lengthy finish.

2015 Cesanese Rosso $15
Cesanses is a local varietal from the Latium Province of Frosinone, once inhabited by the ancient Volsci tribe who conquered the town of Satricum in 488 BC and ruled supreme until the Romans took over in 385 BC.  The wine has intense aromas of Marasca cherry followed by spicy notes of white pepper, black pepper and violet.  The mouthfeel is soft, with persistent tannins and pronounced acidity.

2015 Petit Verdot $19
A red grape variety from Bordeaux, Petit Verdot’s traditional role has been that of a minor partner in blends with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. A late ripening variety, Petit Verdot has adapted perfectly to the microclimate of the Agro Pontino valley where bright sunshine, sea breezes and warm soil allow the grape to mature to perfection and to be vinified as a pure varietal. The wine has aromas of red berry fruit, cherry, myrtle and juniper. Elegant and full-bodied, with rich velvety tannins, the wine presents a spicy, white peppery finish.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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 is lovely weather this weekend here in Madrona — pleasantly perfect by our Northwestern sensibilities.  Here at Madrona Wine we are topping it off by drinking some very pleasure soaked wines from the Iberian Peninsula.  It’s Spain all weekend with a quick dip into Portugal.  Stop by and join us.

Saturday we’re pouring:
2016 Kentia, Albarino Rias Baixas  $12
2015 Avancia, Cuvee de O  Godello $15
2016 Bodegas Muga, Rosado $16
60% Garnacha, 30% Viura and 10% Tempranillo
2013 Bodegas Alto Moncayo, Veraton, Campo de Borja Garnacha  $28
Cossart Gordon Madeira  5 year old Bual  $25

Sunday, we continue our Spanish adventures with two Summer Sunday Spanish Sippers — a Verdejo from the Rueda region, and a Garnatxa Negra from the southernmost portion of Catalunya. 

2016 Bodegas Shaya Arindo Verdejo  $11
A nice little wine with lemon, peach and fragrant floral aromas, a refreshing lemon pucker and notes of pear, melon, and apples.

2015 Altés Garnatxa Negra  $9
Terra Alta is located in the southernmost portion of Catalunya. The wine has dark cherry aromas with hints of hot stone lead to a tasty palate, full of fleshy fruit, with balanced tannins and a mineral thread running through the wine.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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 weekend we are back in Spain.  Saturday we’ll be pouring four Spanish wines that run the gamut from a crisp Albarino to a rich old vine Grenache.  For dessert, we’ll slip across the border into Portugal for a bit of Madeira.  It’s a great line up.  Come join us.
 
2016 Kentia, Albarino Rias Baixas  $12
A lovely unpresumptuous Albarino form the North West of Spain.  The Kentia has ripe fresh fruit with a bracing acidity that cascades across the palate.  Notes of apples, lime, peaches, flowers, grass lead to a cleansing minerality on the finish.
 
2015 Avancia, Cuvee de O Godello $15
This cuvee expresses Valdeorras’ unique slate soils and indigenous clones of Godello. Sur lie ageing and large format barrel fermentation impart a weight and complexity.  The wine has fresh aromas of white flowers and expressive fruit.   The palate offers juicy Meyer lemon and pear flavors that deepen slowly as the wine opens up showing an emphatic stony character on the incisive finish. 
 
2016 Bodegas Muga, Rosado $16
60% Garnacha, 30% Viura, 10% Tempranillo
Muga makes one of the most distinctively delicious rosados in Rioja.  From the cooler sides of the valley that Mugas grows its great reds, this rosé has complex aroma of white-fleshed fruit with stones. In the aftertaste the olfactory notes are transformed into something finer and more complex in which, as well as lychees, apricot and faint reminders of the bakery shop.  The tart fruit is still to the fore, the overall taste is softened by the fine, elegant, well-integrated lees.
 
2013 Bodegas Alto Moncayo, Veraton, Campo de Borja   $28
Garnacha
Made by Australian winemaker Chris Ringland all from Old Vine Grenache planted on mountain hillside vineyards.  The Veraton is aged in 60% new French oak and 40% new American oak for 17 months and bottled without filtration. This is a blockbuster, 100% Old Vine Grenache cuvée, with a deep-purple color, great intensity, loads of blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, with licorice, lavender and touch of graphite and earth. It is full-bodied and powerful. 
 
Cossart Gordon Madeira 5-year-old Bual  $25
Cossart Gordon, founded in 1759, is a Bual specialist, only bottling Madeira from this noble grape variety, which producing a slightly spicy and medium sweet style of Madeira. The 5-year-old shows lovely candied fruits and a rich buttery toffee quality, with refreshing acidity and even some saline notes as well.  It is smooth and lush, with loads of glazed apricot, maple, vanilla and cream flavors.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is at full tilt tonight as chunks of space dust enter the atmosphere.  Our recent orange skies will turn back to blue or at least grey.  Monday the Sun will disappear.  This weekend at Madrona Wine we have a stellar line up of wines that will streak  across the palate and illuminate the taste buds.

Saturday we are tasting some crisp and fresh wines from the Loire. 
2016 Vignerons de Saumur, Saumur Blanc Les Pouches  $10
2016 Domaine Pierre Riffault, Sancerre Blanc  $20
2016 Henri Bourgeois, Chateaumeillant Rosé Amphores $15
2016 Gerard Fiou, Sancerre Rosé $23
2012 Alpha Loire, Cheverny Rouge, Enclos du Petit Chien  $13

Sunday we have a Cotes du Rhone Rosé and a Provence Red to fill out the weekend.

2016 Montfaucon Les Gardettes  $12
Cinsault, Counoise, and Grenache
Les Gardettes is full of strawberry, peach and other stone fruit flavors supported by good acidity and freshness.

2012 Domaine Sorin, Cotes de Provence Tradition  $11
60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Carignan, 5% Mourvédre
A southern French Red powerfully flavored and full-bodied wine with complex aromas of blackberries and peppers. Was $14 now $11

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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.

In honor of the Perseid Meteor showers we’ll be laying out our blankets this Saturday and drinking some crisp wines from the Loire.  Not sure what to sip on your blanket?  Stop by Saturday afternoon and we’ll give you some hints.  Don’t worry about clouds; the wine will light up the night.
 
2016 Vignerons de Saumur, Saumur Blanc Les Pouches  $10
Chenin Blanc
The Pouches vineyard is located on a hillock composed of a shallow soil of very hard limestone.   The favorable exposure on the slope offers good drainage of the soil and a high precocity.  This Chenin is tangy with notes of white fruits, rose and grapefruit with a suave finish. 
 
2016 Domaine Pierre Riffault, Sancerre Blanc  $20
Sauvignon Blanc
A shop favorite, the Riffault Sancerre is blended from different terroirs; the caillottes (clay- limestone) lend fruit and freshness while flint-based soils lend minerality.  The wine is vinified in stainless steel tanks with lees stirring for more body, aroma and favors.   Look for aromas of fern, hawthorn, floral aromas, white fruits, grapefruit zest with peppery hints.   The finish displays intermingling notes of citrus zest and minerals.
 
2016 Henri Bourgeois, Chateaumeillant Rosé Amphores $15
Gamay
Henri Bourgeois is an 11 generation family estate based in Sancerre.   The Les Amphores rosé is made with Beaujolais region’s premier variety, Gamay.   The wine has is a bouquet of wild berry and red cherry, with a sprightly acidity that dances on the tongue.
 
2016 Gerard Fiou, Sancerre Rosé $23
Pinot Noir
Gerard Fiou is a small family domaine in the east of the Sancerre appellation in the town of Saint Satur. There are only a handful of producers here and the soil is unique in that it has a high percentage of silex (or flint) which typically is identified with Pouilly Fumé, which lies just across the Loire river. The domaine has 10 hectares, and they are in the process of converting to certified organic viticulture. Only 15% of the Sancerre appellation has these special silex soils. The terroir, coupled with the older vineyards (an average of 60 years old), gives the wine have a unique and intense mineral expression that is distinctly Sancerre.
 
2012 Alpha Loire, Cheverny Rouge, Enclos du Petit Chien  $13
60% Pinot Noir, 30% Gamay and 10% Cot
The little dog is named after a constellation, but also a reference to Snowy, the faithful dog of Tintin.  No cartoon, the wine offers a powerful nose of red fruits with licorice accents. In the mouth, it unwinds an ample, round and supple material, flattering a gourmet fruity (small black fruits) which finds the freshness to perfect its balance.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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.

Come beat the heat this weekend here at Madrona Wine where the AC is cranked up.  We’ll be exploring wines from around.  Come hit the trail with us.

Saturday, we are tasitng these Festive French wines:
2015 Domiane Haut de Mourier Viognier
2015 Château des Essards Bererac Sec Cuvée Prestige
2016 Domaine de Frégate Bandol Rosé   
2014 Domaine de Petit Romain Costiéres de Nimes Rouge 
2012 Chateau des Roques Vacqueras

Sunday, we are pouring two Corsican wines from Domaine Vetriccie .  These wines are both incredible values.

2015 Domaine Vetriccie Ìle de Beauté Blanc  $10
50% Vermentino, 50% Chardonnay
A Corsican Blanc with aromas of floral citrus, mineral notes, and full but crisp body. 12% alcohol by volume.

2014 Domaine Vetriccie Ìle de Beauté Rouge  $10
40% Niellucciu, 30% Sciaccarellu, 20% Merlot, 10% Syrah
A lighter Corsican red with  Mediterranean spice notes as well licorice and black currants. 12% alcohol by volume.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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 traipse around France sampling some of the local wines. Come join us on the adventure.
 
2015 Domiane Haut de Mourier Viognier  $13
The new vintage of this Languedoc Viognier. The wine is crisp, with floral notes mixed with a peach, citrus and mineral foundation.
 
2015 Château des Essards Bererac Sec Cuvée Prestige $15
Sauvignon Blanc & Semillion
Château des Essards is a 40-hectare estate in the region of Bergerac (east of the more well-known region of Bordeaux). Notes of stone fruit and melon. Low acidity. Medium-bodied. Serve with shellfish, crab, and lobster.
 
2016 Domaine de Frégate Bandol Rosé    $24
50% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, 25% Cinsault
The delicate and complex nose combines notes of red fruit and mineral and spicy nuances. The mouth round and ample is supported by a beautiful vivacity. This very pleasant wine has a good aromatic persistence. A very qualitative rosé.
 
2014 Domaine de Petit Romain Costiéres de Nimes Rouge $13
90% Syrah, 10% Grenache
From Costières de Nîmes in the south of France the Petit Romain reveals fruity and fresh aromas of red fruit and spice. On the palate the wine is fat, round and warm, carpeted with jammy fruit and supported by drying tannins that make you want more.
 
2012 Château des Roques Vacqueras $20
70% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah
A balanced Rhône red with warm aromatic spicy fruit flavors with just a touch of lavender and thyme in the background and a gorgeous powerful finish.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 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.