It looks to be a fine weather here in Madrona as the sun burns its way through the morning haze that makes one think of wildfires and be thankful that we live on this side of the mountains.  This weekend at Madrona Wine we are getting back to basics with two days of tastings.

French is the new black, and Saturday we’re pouring some sleek, elegant and stylish wines from France that offer a solid foundation for any meal. You don’t want to miss the L’Opaline, Provence Rosé and the 2010 Xavier Gigondas is on a class by itself.

Sunday we’ll be pouring two Sangiovese meant for everyday enjoyment.  One is from the Old World.  One is closer to home.  Come see which world you prefer.
2013 Loggia del Franchi Sangiovese $9
The L & F is a good everyday Sangi from Puglia with spicy aromas, plum and dark cherry flavors and a touch of old world earth.

2014 Cavatappi, Sangiovese  $10
A juicy Washington Sangiovese jumps in a great price due to it being Washington Wine Month once again.  It is a nice friendly little sipper.  Special price for the month of August.

Swing on by and join us.

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.

Sometimes you just have to go back to basics.  This Saturday we’ll be pouring a solid line up of basic French wines that offer a solid foundation for any meal.
 
2012 Le Petit Xavier Blanc   $12
50% Sauvignon, 30% Picpoul, 20% Grenache Blanc
Blended from grapes from the Languedoc and the Rhone and designed to be “Fruit, flowers, spices & foremost fun”. The blanc offers notes of citrus, tropical fruit, and floral white flowers with a fresh palate.  Normally $17 now $12
 
2014 L’Opaline, Provence Rosé  $14
65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Cinsault
From vineyards at nearly 1,200 feet  this Provence Rosé benefits from warm days and cool nights that produce full but aromatic wine.  The L’Opaline has fresh red berry flavors accented by dried red fruits, mineral overtones, and a crisp, dry, and elegant finish.  12.5% alcohol by volume
 
2011 Domaine de Venes, Minervois  $12
80% Syrah, 20% Cinsault
Frantz Venes’ family has owned the estate for 300 years and his Domus Maximus is one of the top wines of the region.  This more down to earth Minervois has lots of dark plum, smoke and garrique that float off this juicy Southern French red.  Organic
 
2012 Château Le Grand Moulin Bordeaux $13
70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc
Château Le Grand Moulin is located in Saint Aubin de Blaye in Bordeaux. The wine has aromas of ripe, almost candied fruits, harmoniously combined with roasted and wooden notes. It is a soft mellow Bordeaux with elegant and melted tannins. 
 
2010 Xavier, Gigondas,  $35
100% Grenache
Xavier Vignon, is an oenologist for a large number of Châteauneuf du Pape estates, including Raymond Usseglio, La Gardine, Jerome Quiot, Beaurenard, La Nerthe, Mont Redon, Marcoux, and Grand Veneur.  In 2002 he decided to start making his own wine from purchased grapes from his many contacts and has had great results.   “A sleeper of the vintage, the blockbuster 2010 Gigondas is a spectacular effort from this appellation. Fashioned from 100% Grenache (somewhat unusual), it exhibits a deep ruby/purple color in addition to copious amounts of concentrated red and black fruits intermixed with hints of wet rocks and spice.” 92-94+ points — The Wine Advocate

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 Sunday we have two wines in bottle or box. The Campuget Rosé is from French Syrah and Grenache grapes. The Italian Barbera is more straight forward. Come check out these oddballs.

2014 Château Campuget Tradition Rosé    ($11)
70% Syrah, 30% Grenache
From Southern France, this Chateau de Campuget Rosé has an intense peony pink color. Its bouquet is aromatic, with scents of red fruits such as raspberries and black currants. The finish long, leaving a delicate impression of fruitiness. Perfect for summertime meals around the pool, with fresh salads or barbeque. Also available in a 3 liter box for $27 ($6.75 per bottle)
13% alcohol by volume

2013 Cantine Povero Barbera d’Asti    ($12)
100% Barbera from estate vineyards in Monferatto, traditionally vinifed in large-format Slavonian oak. Bright red cherries, soft tannins, and mouthwatering acidity make this a perfect everyday red, clean and focused with great balance.
Also available in a 3 liter box for $30 ($7.50 per bottle)
12.5% 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.

We look all over to find delicious wines. This Saturday’s tasting is a prime example.  We’ll be tasting wines from Italy, France, Spain and Columbia Valley.  They come in different colors and styles but somehow together they all fit.  Come find the common denominator.

2013 Casale del Giglio, Satrico  $13
34% Chardonnay, 33% Sauvignon, 33% Trebbiano
From a 100-year-old winery in Lazio comes this uncommon blend of international and local varieties that really works.  Fruity, lightly aromatic with mineral aromas which are confirmed on the palate along with a pleasing crispness and a lengthy finish.

2014 Dupeuble Beaujolais Rose  $15
Gamay Noir
Domaine Dupeuble has been running almost continuously since 1512. The wine according to how Google translates their web site has “Dress salmon with raspberry nuances with many tears.  A fruity nose spawning and reveals aromas of gooseberry and white flowers.  Bouches fresh, drinkable, light and round.”

2009 Torre Oria, Reserva $9
70% Tempranillo, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon
This 100 year old winery in Valencia Spain kicks out some good juice for a very low price.  The wine has aromas of wild fruits with spicy notes and a vanilla background from its time in oak. The palate it is full-bodied with long persistent notes of forest fruits that are accompanied by sweet tannin ripeness that is well integrated into the structure of the wine with a long and pleasing finish.

2012 Matteo Correggia, Roero Nebbiolo.  $17
Matteo Correggia’s one hundred percent Nebbiolo Roero DOC comes from a single vineyard in Canale d’Alba. The Nebbiolo is aged for 12 months in neutral barrique and then eight months in steel vats.  It is very pure, clean, expressive and loaded with varietal cherry fruit, spice and fine tannins.

2013 Owen Roe, Abbots Table $20
41% Zinfandel, 34% Sangiovese, 11% Malbec, 9% Blaufränkisch, 5% Merlot
Reminiscent of the bold Abbot’s Table blends of past vintages, this 2013 bottling is rich and structured. Sweet aromas of baked blueberries, pomegranate, violets, pencil shaving, clove, pepper and Grand Marnier. These sweet aromas give way to a more serious palate brimming with blueberry, white pepper and black tea with lasting tannins.

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 Sunday we have two wines from Château Teulon. How can that happen? Cross-border trading. Phillipe Teulon continues the family tradition, as the seventh generation steward of this estate, founded in 1696, in Saint Gilles. The hallmarks are zesty whites, and profound rose’.

2013 Château Teulon Costièrs de Nîmes $10
Roussanne
Mango, creamed pineapple and Cassava melon. Exuberant and perfumed, with notes of marmalade, buttered citrus and orange rind. 13% alcohol by volume. Organic

2014 Château Teulon Nimes Rosé $10
85% Syrah, 15% Grenache
Rich, mouth-filling, medium-bodied, and broad. It speaks of woodland strawberries, but also of garrigue, rosemary and thyme.

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 a toasty Sea Fair weekend in Madrona with planes booming overhead and fast boats doing circles on the water.  The boats have arrived at the wine shop as well.

Saturday we are tasting new wines from Corsica and the Loire.  The container just got unpacked this week with three new wines from Domaine de Granajolo..  The wines from this new Corsican winery are all bio dynamic, organic and delicious.  We’ll also be tasting a new Pinot from the Loire and the ever popular Curot Sancerre.  That’s the kind of spectacle we like.

Sunday we are pouring two wines from Château Teulon.  An organic estate in Nimes.  The white and rosé are perfect for the sunny weather.

2013 Château Teulon, Costièrs de Nîmes Blanc  $10
Roussanne
Mango, creamed pineapple and Cassava melon. Exuberant and perfumed, with notes of marmalade, buttered citrus and orange rind.

2014 Château Teulon, Costièrs de Nimes Rosé  $10
85% Syrah, 15% Grenache
Rich, mouth-filling, medium-bodied, and broad. It speaks of woodland strawberries, but also of garrigue, rosemary and thyme.

Come stock up for your Sea Fair activities.

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.

Sometimes it is just too hard to wait.  Usually when a new wine arrives we like to give it a few weeks to settle down and then try it and then see if we want to put it in our Saturday tastings.  But we are so excited about a new arrival of a Corsican producer that we couldn’t wait.  These wines are just off the boat and we are braving bottle shock to pour them right away.  The Corsican wines come from Domaine de Granajolo a 20 hectares estate of organically farmed vines tended by Gwenaele Boucher.  Their vineyards are found on the stark granite hillsides lying around Sainte Lucie de Porto-Vecchio in the southeastern corner of the island These wine-lands are mostly planted with local varieties Niellucciu (related to Sangiovese), Sciaccarellu and Vermentinu (aka Vermentino or Rolle). Like many simple grape growers in their time, Gwenaele’s parents were members of a co-op, followed by an interim stint where someone else made the wines; and it wasn’t until after she took over the estate in 2003 that they built their own cellar.  We are excited to try the new vintage (the notes are from the last vintage).  We’ll also be showing two new wines from the Loire.  Come and join us.

2014 Domaine de Granajolo, Corse Porto-Vecchio Blanc $15
Vermentino
The Corsican white shows juicy banana-scented fruit, a concentrated & crisp palate with aromatic fruit and a rounded texture.

2014 Domaine Curot, Sancerre Blanc  $21
Sauvignon Blanc
This 23 acre family estate started in 1860.  150 years later they are still making classic Sancerre and a great price.  The Curot is crisp and complex with gooseberry fruit and a good mineral backbone surrounded by crisp dry notes of salt and a limey finish.

2014 Domaine de Granajolo, Corse Porto-Vecchio Rosé$14
Sciaccarellu
This indiginious rosé has lovely juicy fruit and mouth-feel with elegant touches.  It is a tasty quaffing rosé yet serious enough to go with a variety of foods.

2014 Domaine de la Rablais, Val du Loire Pinot Noir $13
Domaine de la Rablais is located in Touraine, not far away from the Sancerre region of France.  This VDP Pinot comes in at half the price of Sancerre rouge, so we are excited to try it.

2013 Domaine de Granajolo, Corse Porto-Vecchio Rouge $16
Niellucciu
Granajolo’s red shops great contrasts of delicious licorice & savory notes, very ripe with ‘tar’ like tones too with  wild herb edges It is an enticing sweet/savory combo to finish.

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.

Georgia On My Mind –but not that one down south. These two whites are from the country of Georgia where they have been making wine since 7,000 BC. Come see history in action.

Marani Mtsvane    ($10)
From Kakheti in Georgia, this dry white is made from Mtsvane, a grape that has very floral notes and flavors of tropical fruits, green apple, lingering to the crisp and zesty finish.
12.5% alcohol by volume

Marani Rkatsiteli    ($10)
From Georgia, this old grape dates back to at least 3000 BC. The wine is dry with light floral notes and flavors of white peach, honeysuckle.
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.