We have a little break in the rain today in Madrona.  The sun feels good and gives us something to think about besides football. We are opening two Italian White wines to match the day and make halftime all the more pleasant.  Come by and have a taste.

2019 Fattoria Svetoni Opera  $10
100% Vermentino
Intense and persistent bouquet with notes of peach blossom, jasmine, and ripe white fruit. Well balanced and persistent that makes it fresh and pleasant.
Was $12 Now $10

2018 Gabbas Manzanile  $15
Vermentino di Sardenga
A benchmark Vermentino from renowned Sardinian winemaker Giuseppe Gabbas. This elegant Mediterranean wine is smooth and well-rounded, with zesty fruit flavors. Notes of chamomile, apricots, dried herbs, almond are flanked by a lovely minerality.
Was $20 Now $15

Shop Hours
Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6PM

Don’t bother with the linen closet.  Check your wine rack and come stock up on these discounted white wines for the Winter season.  We’ll be pouring them thorough the weekend, stop by and see what is open.

2019 Fattoria Svetoni Opera  $10
100% Vermentino
Intense and persistent bouquet with notes of peach blossom, jasmine, and ripe white fruit. Well balanced and persistent that makes it fresh and pleasant.
Was $12 Now $10

2014 La Zorra Teso Blanco  Sierra de Francia,  $15
60% Palomino, 30% Rufete, 10% Moscatel
A unique Portugese “Orange Wine”  — aged under a thin layer of flor for 5 months in 3-year-old French oak barrels — unfined and unfiltered.  Aromas of grapefruit pith, jasmine, chamomile, and iodine, with a zesty mineral top note. Dry on the palate, offering incisive lime rind and orchard fruit flavors with complicating notes of green almond and bitter quinine.  Wild stuff!
Was $23 now $15

2018 Teutonic Wine Co. Sprockets  $15
Scheurebe, Huxelrebe, Pinot Noir
Sprockets is a field blend from the High Pass Vineyard that consists of medium bodied with rich aromatics of orange zest, apricot and capsaicin. The flavors continue through the palate with a very fruit finish.
Was $22 Now $15

2018 Gabbas Manzanile  $15
Vermentino di Sardenga
A benchmark Vermentino from renowned Sardinian winemaker Giuseppe Gabbas. This elegant Mediterranean wine is smooth and well-rounded, with zesty fruit flavors. Notes of chamomile, apricots, dried herbs, almond are flanked by a lovely minerality.
Was $20 Now $15

2017 Graville Lacoste Graves Blanc              $25 — 1500ml —
75% Sémillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Muscadelle
This Graves is distinguished by its high percentage of Sémillon. Lychee, citrus zest, petrol, lemongrass on the nose. Tangy acidity plus minerality, but with a surprising fullness on the palate. White grapefruit pith and lemon zest.
Was $35 now $25

Shop Hours
Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6

We made it through New Years and it is back to business as usual, tasting wine and looking for value.  Here is one we found this last week.  We only got one case of it, but why not open a bottle and let you taste too.  Stop by on Saturday and check it out.

2015 Barone Cornacchia, Vizzarro Colline Teramane $20
Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo
Cornacchia’s flagship wine named for the founder.  Intense, complex and fine bouquet with hint of ripe red fruit, jam, black pepper.  The flavor is round, persistent and balanced, harmonic, with velvety tannins.  Organic
Was $35 now $20

Shop Hours
Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6PM

We are counting out the end of 2022 and getting ready for the big 1 on Sunday.  While we know we’ll need some bubbles on New Year’s Eve, we much more enjoy thinking about what we are going to drink with dinner on New Year’s Day.  You have to start the year off right.  In the mean time we’ll be tasting some good wines as we count the days.

Thursday
2019 Remo Farina Valpolicella Superiore Classico Ripasso  $20
Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara
Partially rasined on the vines, the Ripasso has fragrance of pepper, fruit marmalade (cherries, prunes) and spices, licorice and ginger.

Friday
2019 Kila Cava  $15
40% Xarel·lo, 40% Macabeu, 20% Parellada
Ripe orchard/pit fruit aromas are complemented by subtle herb and candied orange zest nuances. Broad and spicy on the palate, displaying pear nectar and honey flavors and a touch of fennel

Saturday
It is bound to be good. Just drop in and see what we have open.

We will be closed New Year’s Day and reopen on Wednesday January 4th as we resume our most of the year Wednesday-Sunday hours.

Shop Hours
Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6PM

We’ve boxed up boxing day and are getting ready to welcome the new year, but before we get there let’s take a deep breath, relax and have a glass of wine.  The next two days we’ll be tasting a couple of good mid-week refreshers.  Stop in and have a sip.

Tuesday

2015 Gerard Bertrand, Art de Vivre Rouge  $15
Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre
Oddly packaged in a ceramic bottle.  The Vivre has some nice Balsamic notes that add a touch of class to the black cherry, red plum and wild raspberry notes of this juicy red, with savory touches of mineral and herb on the clean finish.
Was $20 Now $15

Wednesday

Flegenheimer Bros. ‘Out of the Park’ Sparkling Shiraz NV  $12
96% Shiraz, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon
This sparkling Shiraz from Australia has a bouquet of rich berry fruits, dark cherries and soft lingering hints of integrated oak. On the palate bright juicy red fruits and sweet plum are balanced with silky tannins and a velvety smooth finish.

Shop Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 12-6PM
Closed Sunday, January 1^st
See you again Wednesday, January 4^th

Things are getting busy around here with the lords a leaping and the pipers piping.  But it keeps them warm with the cold weather nipping at our nose.  The other thing that keeps us warm is a sip of wine.  We’ll have some open the next couple of days.  Stop in and have a taste as well.

Thursday

2019 Château de Montfaucon,  La Côte, Côte du Rhone  $18
50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Carignan, 10% Cinsault, 5% Counoise
This Côtes du Rhône is full-bodied, tannic, with leather notes, herbal notes, cranberry notes.

Friday

2017 Franchetto, Valpolicella Ripasso  $30
Corvina, Molinara, Rondinella
A rich and full Ripasso.  Aromas of cured cherries, black pepper, spices and a palate packed with Bodacious summer fruit – black berries, cherries, vanilla, lush body and supple tannins.

Shop Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 12-6PM

What to do when you realize you didn’t get anything for the eight maids a milking, nine ladies dancing, and your wife’s cousin Richard who are all showing up at you house this coming weekend?  Don’t worry, Madrona Wine is One Stop Shopping for those on your list who are 21 years and older.  To make the shopping easier we’ll be opening a few things to taste over the next few days.

Tuesday brave the snow is the way to go.

2017 Saint-Jacques de Siran, Bordeaux Supérieur  $19
42% Merlot, 29 % Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon
Château Siran dates back to 1428.  At one point in time, it was owned the grandparents of the famous French painter, Toulouse Lautrec. Their Saint-Jacques cuvée is sourced from a plot adjacent to their Margaux holdings, but outside that appellation and hence much more affordable. This wine is smooth, rich, and beautifully structured.
Wednesday Winter Solstice

2009 Siglo, Rioja Grand Riserva  $22
Tempranillo – with a bit of Garnacha & Graciano
Cool and foresty in tone, this wine feels integrated, with a lovely weave to its tannins and fruit. The wine melds tannins from oak, fruit skin and seeds in notes of caraway and walnut, with a vegetal anise scent adding complexity. The texture is plump and silken, with a ping of fruit that accelerates those tannins into a savory power drive. Classical Rioja.

Shop Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 12-6PM

‘Twas the week before Christmas and our heads are spinning with visions of sugarplums, gold rings and geese a laying.  To clear our heads we are tasting some great wine this weekend.  Châteauneuf-du-Pape on Saturday and on Sunday a lovely white Malagousia from the Aegean Islands.

Saturday –-gold rings

2019 Domaine Comte de Lauze, Châteauneuf-du-Pape  $48
80% Grenache, 20% Syrah
This wine opens up onto a lovely bouquet surprising in its youthfulness; with red fruit, spice and garrigue (Provençal herbs) notes. The cherry and white pepper flavors open and lengthen out onto a refined licorice feel. The palate is full and shows elegance that is further demonstrated by the ripe tannins at the end.
We also have a couple of Magnums of the 2017 vintage for $85

Sunday — lazy geese

2020 Moraitis, Malagousia $23
100% Malagousia from the Aegean Islands. Intense peach aromas with a lovely purity of fruit that flow onto the palate. Crisp acidity and fresh with a lasting finish.
Organic

Monday we are talking the day off to watch the swans swim.  But we’ll be back on Tuesday with more wine to open.

Shop Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 12-6PM

There is a lot of poultry this time a year so we are popping the corks the next two days to help wash down four calling birds and three French hens.  Even if you are a vegetarian, you should swing by the shop and have a sip.

Open late ’til 8.
The Madrona Neighborhood association is promoting a holiday shopping event this evening in the hood with cookies and raffle tickets and a lot of the local businesses staying open until 8pm.  Take a halftime break from the Seahawks game and come get a cookie and a bottle of wine.

Thursday

2016 Il Nespoli, Romagua Sangiovese Superiore Reserva  $28
100% Sangiovese
A wine of great complexity combining typical marasca cherry, blackberry and plum notes of the Sangiovese variety together with notes of licorice and roasted coffee beans which come from the aging in French barrique, following by stainless steel tanks. A touch of vanilla is coming from the wise but modest use of American oak. Soft and warm, with well-balanced tannins, it has an excellent potential for ageing.

Friday

2016 Château Moncets, Lalande de Pomerol  $21
86% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc
A good Bordeaux from a good vintage.  This wine, hugely rich and packed with tannins, has equally powerful black fruits . . . rich texture and blackberry and licorice flavors

Shop Hours
Tuesday-Sunday, 12-6PM