02/27/2024 Newsletter

Greetings from the Wine Cellar:
Friday, March 1st, marks ONE YEAR since I took over from Mike at the Old Town Wine Cellar and I couldn’t be happier with how great it has been. To commemorate this first milestone our lineup for Featured Wines of the Week are all Top Rack selections. I would like to thank all my patrons and those that have supported me during this first year, so we are going to party on Saturday, March 2nd starting at 1:00PM. There will be food and a few door prizes, while they last. Hope you can join us this week for a tasting or glass and stop by on Saturday to celebrate with me.

Just a heads up for Saturday, instead of opening at 10:00AM this Saturday, we will be opening at noon, so we can get set up for our ONE YEAR celebration.

FEATURED WINES THIS WEEK

(Sample all five featured wines for $20 or by the Glass)

DAOU Vineyards 2020 Bodyguard Chardonnay (Paso Robles, California) $38.99

The 2020 Bodyguard Chardonnay is a wine of uncommon opulence that offers fragrant aromas of golden apple, buttered toast, honey, and lilac. Subtle notes of Bartlett pear, star fruit, hibiscus, and nutmeg round out the elegant, floral bouquet. The palate is smooth and silky with enticing flavors of spiced pear, Granny Smith apple, golden kiwi, and honeysuckle. A crisp, clean finish shows remarkable length with lingering notes of lemon curd and pineapple.
($15 by the glass)

Long Meadow Ranch 2018 Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley, California) $39.99

The nose is intense and mixing violet, rose and black cherry components. Grace and harmony show on the palate with a mix of gentle spice, violet, rose and red fruit dancing together. The depth and complexity of the wine is obvious and continues with a long and energetic finish. Around the core of mineral notes, it shows balance and freshness. Pairings: Duck Breast with Cherry Mostarda, Grilled Salmon with Chanterelle Mushrooms, or Chicken and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya.
($15 by the glass)

Frog’s Leap Zinfandel 2021 (Napa Valley, California) $35.99

Using their technique of cold soaking the Petite Sirah portion of the co-ferment and then infusing it into the fermenting Zinfandel ten days later, Frog’s Leap locks in the freshness of the fruit. A dash of Carignane adds additional acidity and structure, preserved nicely by aging largely in small concrete tanks. The resulting wine is beautiful: deeply flavored, balanced, and fresh—a great summer drinker to be sure, especially with a quick chill. But don’t be afraid to put a few bottles away in the cellar; like all Frog’s Leap Zins, this wine has decades of life ahead of it.
($15 by the glass)

Stag’s Leap Petite Sirah 2019 (Napa Valley, California) $42.99

Dark, inky, and dense, with layers of bramble berry fruit, touches of earth, and lovely floral tones interwoven with more savory notes of black pepper and cigar box spice, all supported by balanced oak integration. On the palate, ripe flavors of cassis, blackberry preserves, blueberry creme, cherry kirsch, vanilla spice, and dark plum envelope the intense mouthfeel. A silky with voluminous texture, and velvety mouth-coating tannins for a lengthy finish.
($15 by the glass)

Austin Hope 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (Paso Robles, California) $78.99/1 Liter

A beautiful ruby hue with enticing aromas of fresh black cherry, burnt sugar and a slight smokiness. On the palate, flavors evolve with vanilla foam, ripe dark fruit, roasted coffee & nuances of spice. A full-bodied wine with smooth supple tannins.
($20 by the glass)

CORAVIN® BY THE GLASS OPTIONS

Orin Swift 2021 Mercury Head Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California) $175.99/Bottle

An almost-black, opaque garnet core sits in the glass with slow-moving tears falling down the sides. Immediate aromatic notes of ripe cassis, charred ribeye, sandalwood and freshly cut oak pilfer. The first sip is a complex, layered conundrum of blackberry, black plum, fennel, licorice and dark chocolate. More sips peel back the layers to reveal a rich and balanced wine with a deep cassis core. A sweet linger on the finish closes the wine with softly textured chalky tannins.
($35 per glass)

Beaulieu Vineyard 2019 Georges de Latour Private Reserve (Napa Valley, California) $155.99/Bottle

Wow! The aromas to this are really exceptional, with a tangerine edge to the blackcurrants, graphite, lead pencil, flowers and wet earth. It changes all the time. So expressive and refined. Full-bodied with great intensity and depth of fruit. The ultra-fine tannins display millions of layers. The texture on the palate is superb and lasts for minutes. This is the new 1974 George de Latour, which was a legend. Real Napa Valley red here. Drinkable now, to understand it, but truly great in five to six years and onwards.
($32 per glass)

JUSTIN 2019 Isosceles (Paso Robles, California) $89.99/Bottle

Isosceles presents with aromatic notes of ripe blackberry, juicy black plum, and cassis with dried violet, leather, vanilla bean, fresh herbs, camphor, and toasted oak. Full-bodied with baked black cherry pie, fresh mission fig, and black currant on the entry. The midpalate of new leather, fresh wild sage, porcini mushroom, dried black olive, and cedar is carried by balanced freshness and abundant velvety tannins that lead to a long, complex finish of sustained fresh berries, camphor, oak, toasted cinnamon stick, star anise, and dried flowers.
($22 per glass)

DAOU Reserve 2020 Seventeen Forty (Paso Robles, California) $78.99/Bottle

Inspired by the classics of Saint-Émilion, the 2020 DAOU Reserve Seventeen Forty is a Cabernet Franc driven wine with a harmonious complement of Merlot. Beguiling aromas of blackberry cobbler, raspberry, crème de cassis and cherry pipe tobacco anticipate hints of toasty oak, black licorice and pencil shaving. Lush and full bodied, this wine bestows rich flavors of cherry, black plum, dark chocolate and blueberry compote with lovely accents of Zante currant, graphite and cinnamon. Solid structure and fine-grained tannins support a lengthy, focused finish, leaving notes of plum and boysenberry underscored by cocoa and black truffle.
($20 per glass)

Silvio Nardi 2017 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany, Italy) $74.99/Bottle

This Brunello opens with lush, penetrating aromas of ripe dark fruit edged with subtle spice tones, then revealing a whiff of dried flowers in the background. An elegant and richly flavorful wine, this has a velvety and polished texture and a long, refined finish.
($15 per glass)

Zenato 2017 Amarone Classico (Veneto, Italy) $74.99/Bottle

Dense and concentrated, yet still beautifully balanced and well-integrated, this is classic Amarone. Lush aromas of plums, dates and toasted oak greet the nose. It’s rich and full on the palate with layers of ripe, raisiny fruit and super-silky tannins to give it grip on the lengthy finish. A truly elegant, stylish wine.
($15 per glass)

NEW ARRIVALS

Col Solare Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (Columbia Valley, Washington) $145.99

A study in refinement and elegance, fruit takes a back seat to floral, savory and mineral elements in the wine’s aromatics of violet, lavender, sage and subtle black currant. The palate is a velvety mouth-feel and slowly reveals dark-fruit character as it progresses, which lasts long on the palate. This wine will soften with some time. ($30 per Coravin pour/5 oz. glass)

Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc 2022 (North Coast, California) $18.99

This wine opens with enticing aromas of pineapple, mango, peach, lemon grass, and lychee. The palate offers ripe fruit and crisp citrus flavors of yellow peach, apricot, pear, lime zest, and lemon cream. The palate has bright acidity and crisp freshness from the cool, stainless steel tank fermentation, while the subtle oak character from neutral French oak barrels adds body, complexity, and depth. Pairs well with simple seafood and poultry dishes, and with spicy ethnic cuisines such as Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Mexican, and Southwestern dishes.

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter (Yorkshire, England) $6.99

This is a classic, clean, very drinkable, and well-balanced porter. It pours a dark brown color, with a full tan-colored head that lingers nicely. The medium-weight mouthfeel is tasty and attractive, with ample carbonation to lift the rich chocolate malt, molasses and raisin characters. Aromas and flavors of roasted malt, toasted nut, toffee, bitter cocoa and very soft hops carry through to the nutty, smoky finish.

Cheers! Hope you can celebrate with us on Saturday.

Kim Maloney
Old Town Wine Cellar
265 S. Main Street, Suite E
Yuma, Arizona 85364
928-373-0405