Dear Rene, The southern Rhone's amazing 2007 vintage received a98 point vintage rating by Robert Parker, tied with 2000 and 1998 as his highest rated vintage ever for the region. Yet our price today on the excellent Vacqueyras from Domaine les Ondines, one of our favorite Southern Rhone reds, is as low as $15.99 per bottle, lower than many generic Cotes du Rhone. This is a deal you won't want to miss. It will disappear fast, though. There isn't much of this wine to go around. Simply put, this wine is a no-brainer. It will impress collectors as much as infrequent wine drinkers just looking for a delicious glass of wine. And it will do it at a shockingly low price, as low as $15.99 per bottle. If you normally spend $25 or $30 per bottle for Rhone wines, this is your chance to save some real money without sacrificing anything.  I would also like to invite you to a special Wednesday Winemaker Tasting, tomorrow from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Meet and taste with Maria José Lopez de Heredia of Haro, Rioja Alta Spain. The Lopez de Heredia family has over 130 years of winemaking experience. Their name is synonymous with Rioja. Lopez de Heredia is the oldest winery in Haro and still crafts wines that epitomize the "classic style" of extended maturation in cooperage crafted from the finest American oak. The barrels are made at the winery. Each wine then receives years of bottle aging before release. This dedication to traditional methods has made Lopez de Heredia amongst the most sought after and respected names in Spanish Wine. Please take the opportunity to meet Maria Jose tomorrow, March 25th from 5:30 to 7:30 and taste through her exciting portfolio of wines. Maria Jose will be pouring her 1987 Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva, 2000 Vina Bosconia Reserva and 2002 Vina Cubillo along with several others. See you then! Doug Rosen
 2007 Domaine les Ondines Vacqueyras (Rhône Red) Regular: $19.99 Half Case (6): $17.99 each Full Case (12): $15.99 each Save over 20% Wine guru Robert Parker has called the rich reds of the Rhône Valley "the world's most delicious red wines." Vacqueyras is among the top growing areas in the entire Southern Rhône. And today's offering, the 2007 Vacqueyras from Domaine les Ondines, is one of the best values in all of Vacqueyras. Domaine les Ondines has it all. It has excellent "terroir"-- a beautiful location with excellent sun exposure for ripeness and good drainage for concentration. It has wonderful old vinesthat produce very low yields, even by the strict standards of Vacqueyras, allowing them to achieve excellent complexity. They use no chemical herbicides or pesticides, instead relying on hard work in the vineyards. This blend of 60% grenache, 30% syrah and 10% cinsault comes from old vines (many over 50 years of age). Despite all this, Domaine les Ondines and others in Vacqueyras remain in the marketing shadow of their much bigger, more historical neighbor to the east, Châteauneuf du Pape. Being less than half the size of Châteauneuf du Pape and having been recognized with its own official appellation (AOC) 67 years after Châteauneuf du Pape (not until 1990) means that, though the wines can be very similar, the prices for Vacqueyras are generally significantly lower than Châteauneuf du Pape. And the price on the Ondines is even better than almost all Vacqueyras wines because of their commitment to value and because this is brought directly to Arrowine by our friend Ed Addiss of Wine Tradition. It shows a beautiful garnet color. The perfume is a beautifully intense combination ofripe blackberries, violets, and crushed herbs such as sage and thyme. It hits the palate with a juicy, opulent and easy-to-like blackberry and dark plum character, but then fills the mouth with herbs and spices and a very subtle minerality. The finish is medium in length and immensely appealing with lots of spicy black fruit and a gentle tannic structure. This is already excellent, but will improve for a year and hold for four or five more. This compares to many wines at double the price and will make an excellent companion to grilled or roasted meats, especially lamb or duck. This superb find has an exceptional quality/price ratio - a feature shared by many wines selected by importer Ed Addiss of Wine Traditions. It is luxurious on the palate, but easy on the pocketbook! To order, please call 703.525.0990 or reply to this email. We need your Visa or MasterCard information including expiration date. Wine arrives tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25th. Thank you for reading. Jim Cutts |
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
2007 Domaine les Ondines Vacqueyras
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
2008 Maipe Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina
Dear Rene, After winning the 2008 red wine BOTY ("Bargain of the Year") trophy with their Malbec, the Maipe winery is back with our leading contender to date for the 2009 prize! Don't miss this impressive Bonarda. Haven't heard of Bonarda? Don't be afraid to try something new, this is outstanding and the price is way way low for the quality. Here's what Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate had to say about it... "The purple-colored 2008 Bonarda offers an enticing bouquet of smoke, mineral, and blueberry. Round and ripe on the palate, it has surprising depth and length for its humble price. Drink this succulent wine over the next three years. 89 points. ($13)." Dr. Jay Miller, Wine Advocate (Dec 08) If Dr. Miller was surprised by this wine's excellent depth and length at the "humble price" of $13 per bottle, how pleased will you be if you get this wine at just $7.99 per bottle? That's more than 38% off the suggested national price. If you're a fan of deep, long, flavorful reds and if you don't object to a true bargain, get to a phone and call us soon to reserve your case(s) of Maipe Bonarda (our number is 703-525-0990). Wines offering this incredible combination of high quality and low price just don't come around very often. A NOTE ON THE SECOND SHIPMENT OF MAIPE MALBEC: If you ordered the Maipe Malbec in December and are waiting for the next shipment, it is expected at Arrowine on Friday, March 27th. Also, we have a few spots left in our Grand Barolo & Barbaresco Tasting and Dinner at D'acqua Restaurant on March 18, 2009. Please see below for details. Jim Cutts
 2008 Maipe Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina National price: $12.99 Our Reg.: $9.99 each Super Case Special: $7.99 per bottle Only 112 cases available-- this will go fast! The estate-bottled Maipe Bonarda comes from the excellent Lujan de Cuyo zone, in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The excellent winery where Maipe wines are made was the first stop on my trip to Argentina last year. The winery was impressive, with a noticeable energy and a focus on improving every aspect of their production. As noted in a recent Wine Advocate article, "Alberto Antonini (think Altos Las Hormigas) is a consultant at Maipe which in and of itself is an indicator that the winery is focused on quality." The quality showed in customer favorite 2007 Maipe Cabernet Sauvignon and their 2008 Malbec, our 2008 BOTY winner. This Bonarda makes the quality focus of this winery even more obvious. Here is the review from the Wine Advocate: "The purple-colored 2008 Bonarda offers an enticing bouquet of smoke, mineral, and blueberry. Round and ripe on the palate, it has surprising depth and length for its humble price. Drink this succulent wine over the next three years. 89 points. ($13)." Dr. Jay Miller, Wine Advocate (Dec 08) One thing we'd add is that this impressive fruit-filled bonarda is more food-friendly than the malbec. You'll enjoy this with everything from herb-roasted chicken to a charcoal grilled steak.  More on Argentina: Argentina is very quickly becoming an extremely important wine country and sales of Argentine wines are rocketing upward. Both Doug and I traveled to Argentina last year to identify the best areas and the best wines. If you haven't yet explored Argentina's wines, or if you've only tried Malbec, this bonarda would be an excellent way to try something new. The price can't be beat and the wine is outstanding, coming from 30 year old vines. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate recently featured an article titled "The Love Affair with Argentina Wine Continues," in which Dr. Jay Miller made the case for why sales of wines from Argentina "continue to explode despite economic hard times in the USA." The reasons U.S. imports of Argentina wines tripled from 2002 to 2006, boiled down to several factors:
To order please call 703.525.0990. We need your Visa or MasterCard information including expiration date. Wine arrives tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11th. Thank you for reading. Jim Cutts |
Thursday, March 5, 2009
2006 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Picotins" Vieilles Vignes
Dear Rene, At only $19.99 a bottle by the case (the lowest price in the country by far) this is easily the best buy in estate-bottled, single-vineyard Red Burgundy you can find. A bold statement, but true. I challenge you to find a Burg that tastes this good for twenty bucks! I've been working on getting this wine into your hands for almost two years. Shem and I selected the tastiest six barrels of "Les Picotins" in the Spring of 2007 with our good friend wine-broker Peter Vezan and had it raised and bottled to our taste. With the help of Yannis Tsapos of Dionysos Imports, (thanks Yanni) we squirreled it away until this delicious moment. It's ready to enjoy now, or will age quite nicely. In fact, I retasted it last night, and my wife, who is most definitely not a "pinot freak," said it was "delicious!" The 2006 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Picotins" Vieilles Vignes combines the elegant and racy qualities of the region with a rich concentrated complexity. It does all of this at prices that harken back to 1996. Red Burgundy from a famous single vineyard and star winemaker at $19.99? Now THAT is reason for pinot freaks to rejoice! And if you haven't had enough pinot, we're tasting some of Oregon's best this Saturday. Please come by this weekend for our wine, beer and cheese tastings. Check out the delicious cheese and charcuterie specials Perry has, this week from Italy. I look forward to seeing you. Doug Rosen
 For years I have been extolling the virtues of Jean-Luc Dubois and the wines he produces in Burgundy's Côtes de Beaune. Jean-Luc inherited his 7.5 hectare estate from his father in 1988, and hasn't looked back since. The quality of the wines has soared. Once fully in control of the family estate he:
 2006 Savigny-les-Beaunes "Les Picotins" Vieilles Vignes, Jean-Luc Dubois Reg. $29.99 3 bottle special: $24.99 each (Save 16%) 6 bottle special: $22.99 each (Save 23%) Case (12) special: $19.99 per bottle Save 33%! This is one of my favorite Red Burgundies every year. Due to the unwavering hard work in the vineyards and the confident yet light handed approach in the cellar, Jean-Luc Dubois seems to never miss. The 2006 is no exception. It is just this sort of wine that Allen Meadows' Burghound.com was talking about when he said, of the 2006 vintage: "At their very best, the Cote de Beaune 2006s are classic burgundies that mirror the finest wines from the Cote de Nuits. This is to say that they are exceptionally aromatic and elegant with the best transparency to the underlying terroir since the 2001s, all wrapped in admirably persistent finishes with fine detail and a more pronounced sense of minerality than most vintages possess. " The other happy news about the vintage is drinkability. This 2006 is still young, but it is already starting to show the beautiful fruit, perfect balance, and exceptional complexity that are the hallmarks of great Burgundy. It promises to get still better over the next year and keep beautiful for six or seven more years. In other words, this is a wine you'll be able to drink in the near future, unlike many of the 2005s that will require many years of additional cellaring. Here's what it tastes like: It the glass this has deep dark ruby color. The perfumed aromas start out shy but blossom as the wine airs to show violets, black cherries, and ripe raspberries. The palate shows a deep, rich, and serious quality with ripe cherry fruit, soft vanilla spice, and a clear sense of minerality. The flavors seem to unfold and expand as the wine airs. This has plenty of deep rich fruit and it's all wrapped in bright, silky, racy structure. Wines of this quality/price value are rare indeed. Buy enough to experience it soon and also see how it evolves through 2015. If you are already a pinot freak, load up. If you're not, try this to see what all the excitement is about. I've tasted many $40 pinots from Oregon without this much character and class. To order please call 703.525.0990. We need your Visa or MasterCard information including expiration date. Wine arrives tomorrow, Friday March 6th. Thank you for reading. Jim Cutts | ||||||
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
2005 Bordeaux from Ed Addiss
Dear Rene, It's not surprising to me that Ed Addiss' 2005 Château Chabiran was singled out by Dave McIntyre of The Washington Post last Wednesday. Our phones have been ringing off the hook with people in search of this wine. I've secured as much as I could for your drinking pleasure. This delicious 2005 Bordeaux is only $10.99. Yes, that's right. This is not a typo. Ed Addiss has scored again! Email or call us right away! You'll be glad you did. We are finalizing our Empson pre-sale order of Barolos and Barbarescos. If you have not yet placed your order, please take a moment to read through our offerings and call us by Friday, March 6 at noon. Priority orders will be given to those received by noon Wednesday. Doug Rosen
 There's never been a vintage like 2005 in Bordeaux. Nearly all critics consider it the best ever; better than 2000, better than 1982, even better than 1961 or 1945. Maybe that explains why last Wednesday's Washington Post article, "Aim for These Bordeaux, and You Can't Miss," generated so much excitement. Dave McIntyre's article wasn't about $500+ classified growths; it was about 2005 Bordeaux for the rest of us. Great wines from a great region from a great vintage that are $20 or less per bottle. Of the recommended wines, only one was called "Gorgeous", "Excellent", and a "Great Value:" the 2005 Château Chabiran Bordeaux Superieur, which, not surprisingly, is imported by our good friend Ed Addiss of Wine Traditions. Our email promotion allows you to get this excellent, under $20, 2005 for considerably less: Only $10.99 per bottle by the case. You know the drill: Ed brings this from the château to Arrowine. He cuts out a middleman or two and you save! 2005 Château Chabiran, Bordeaux Superieur National price: $14.99 per bottle, Usual local price: $13.99 Our regular price: $12.99 per bottle 6 bottle special: $11.99 per bottle 12 bottle special: $10.99 per bottle Château Chabiran is located near the appellation of Fronsac. Year in and year out it is one of the best buys in Bordeaux. Luckily, production is too small to have ever been reviewed by Parker or The Wine Spectator, otherwise we'd never see any. But the estate has been noticed; it's a favorite of wine professionals and novices alike. The property was singled out by Michel Rolland (the world's most famous winemaker) as one of the greatest Bordeaux Superieur properties. Though it's good every year, in 2005 it's great! This is how Dave McIntyre described it in the Washington Post: Two Stars (Excellent). A great value. Low yields and densely planted vineyards give this wine tremendous concentration. It is modern in style, with plum, cherry, cocoa and a hint of clove in the flavor mix and soft, grippy tannins on the finish. Gorgeous. Don't wait. Order soon. This is a small Château and there is limited wine. As The Post said: "...in the under-$20 range, we don't have to worry about the drama. We just need to worry about availability, because these gems from 2005 will not be around much longer. If you haven't tried them, now's the time." To order please reply or call Arrowine at (703) 525-0990. We will need your name, phone number, and Visa or MasterCard information (with expiration date). Wine arrives Wednesday, March 4. Thank you for reading. Jim Cutts | ||||
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