2007 Domaine du Grand Arc "Cuvee des Quarante," Corbieres

Dear Rene, In a recent "Value Report" edition, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate called this wine from my friend Bruno Schenck of Domaine du Grand Arc, pictured below, "highly recommended" and wrote "This is going to prove immensely versatile and satisfying to anyone smart enough to acquire some." I'm thrilled to see the press is starting to catch on to what Arrowine's customers have known for years! Arrowine introduced "Cuvee des Quarante" to the United States seven vintages ago and our customers have raved about it ever since. It, somehow, keeps getting better with each vintage. The 2007, from the best growing season in memory for southern France, is simply one of the best wines I have ever found for the money. Word is getting out, though. La Revue du Vin de France (a top French wine journal) wrote that the wines of Grand Arc are "among the best Corbieres" and Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate has featured this wine as a top value for two years running. This Corbieres has concentration you won't believe at this price; it is the deepest and fullest Grand Arc "Quarante" yet with more weight and more length than any previous vintage. The aromas are full and expressive. The mouthfeel is powerful yet elegant. The flavors are incredibly complex showing rich black fruit, spicy garrigue, great mineral quality, and excellent freshness and purity. The quality is the best yet and the number of cases available is down from past years since the press is catching on and people around the world are now seeking out Grand Arc's wines. Still, I've refused to raise our price. It's still as low as $13.99 per bottle, a price that has not gone up for four straight vintages. This won't last long,call soon. Doug Rosen 2007 Domaine du Grand Arc "Cuvee des Quarante," Corbieres 2007 Domaine du Grand Arc "Cuvee des Quarante," Corbieres Reg. $17.99 Buy 6 bottles or more at $14.99 per bottle Buy a case (12 bottles) at just $13.99 per bottle Arrives tomorrow March 24th Only 65 cases available I was introduced to this wine and this estate by my good friend and one of the top palates in France, Thomas Calder. It was fantastic then and it's even better today. I have introduced many of my own friends to it in the seven vintages I've bought and sold. This 2007, though, hits a whole new level of depth and concentration. The immense flavors in this wine are why so many in France, and now in this area, love this wine and why many others are eager to try it after reading about it in top reviews. Another reason we love it is the terrific price. The wine is significantly better than past vintages (that have been excellent) but we've been able to keep the same low sale price for four straight vintages. About the wine: This is grown in some of the highest vineyards of the Hautes (high) Corbières, with cool nighttime temperatures that result in wines with wonderful aromatic expression and great freshness. The south facing vineyards are on a dry, windy slope and vines are forced to reach deep for moisture and nutrition. The result is low yields and surprising depth of flavor and concentration. The small Grand Arc estate has 150 hectares of land, but only the best 22 hectares with ideal soils (rocky clay, limestone, and silex),good drainage, and perfect southern exposures are used for vineyards. This allows for fabulously rich and ripe wines, with extremely complex and satisfying flavors. It also means the wine can be made entirely from wonderfully high quality grapes. By only growing grapes in the best spots, they only have great grapes to use. There are no underripe, rotted, or waterlogged grapes to dilute the quality. This Grand Arc "Cuvee des Quarante" is made from about 40% carignan, along with about 35% grenache, 20% syrah, and 5% mourvedre, all of which are grown organically and harvested by hand. The vines average over 45 years of age. The grapes are de-stemmed then undergo a long cool maceration to achieve deep color and intense flavor. The wine is fermented in tank for freshness and maximum fruit expression; only indigenous yeasts are used. About 25% of the wine is then aged in new Alliers oak barrels to give it luxurious texture without imparting overtly woody flavors. The flavors are intense and satisfying with great fruit concentration. The wine is bottled unfiltered. Filtering is thought to strip away flavor, but it is not necessary for wines that are so carefully grown and vinified. The intense fruit flavors make this very enjoyable now, the structure and depth mean this will only become more complex over the next 3-5 years. Here's how it tastes:  There is very deep crimson purple color, nearly black. The nose is rich and intense withblackberry cream, red plums, minerals, spicy garrigue (rosemary and thyme) and licorice. The palate is full of flavor, dry yet rich and bursting with berries, plums, cinnamon spice and a subtle stone dust minerality. The finish is long, powerful, refreshing and satisfying. The wood regime is completely transparent and wonderfully integrated, adding creamy mouthfeel to the dry, long, complex flavors of the finish.This is a wonderfully deep, satisfying, and complex bottle of wine. I would consider it a fine value at $25. That it can be had for only $13.99 makes it no mystery why this is so popular and why it is becoming recognized as a "top value," especially from a great year like 2007. To order, please phone us at (703) 525-0990. We will need your name, phone number, and Visa or MasterCard information with expiration date. This arrives tomorrow, Wednesday, March 24th.  Thank you for your support of Arrowine and the work that we do. Doug Rosen

2007 Chateau de Cary Potet Montagny "Les Reculerons" (Burgundy, France)

Dear Rene, White wine lovers: get to Arrowine as quickly as you can (but, please, don't break any traffic laws)! This weekend we have an EXTRA SPECIAL door-buster sale that will allow you to stock up on a fabulously complex and delicious estate-bottled, single-vineyard white Burgundy from the best grower in the excellent Montagny growing area (located half-way between Meursault and Pouilly Fuisse) in the southern part of Burgundy's Côte Chalonnaise. Not only that, but it comes from the outstanding 2007 vintage!  The door buster sale price is amazing. The lowest price we've found on this gorgeous white wine by searching the Internet is $22.25 per bottle. But you can get it this weekend, while supplies last, for as low as $14.99 or 32% OFF the lowest price we could find. We'll have it open for tasting until it is gone so you can see for yourself what a beautifully flavorful wine this is. Stop by for a taste and stock up for the summer (and for the next few years, this will keep). REMINDER: This is a "Door-Buster Sale" which means this price is available only Friday, March 19th, and Saturday, March 20th. This sale price is for in-store sales only and while supplies last only (we have 75 cases available). Sorry, no phone or e-mail orders. Our price on this stunning white, which has been called a "baby Meursault," is the lowest in the USA by far. Doug hand-selected this wine from several excellent whites produced by the acknowledged star of the Montagny growing zone, Chateau de Cary Potet. This 2007 "Les Reculerons" is the best, most pure, most complex, most refreshing white ever made at this Domaine and Doug made a deal on the spot that makes this special sale possible. We'd like to thank our excellent broker Peter Vezan and our friend Yanni Tsapos of Dionysos Imports for helping make this sale possible. Once you taste this, you'll want to thank them, too! If you ever eat seafood of any kind, or if you enjoy a glass of cool refreshing and complex white wine when the weather gets warm, please don't miss this. It is as expressive, complex, and refreshing as chardonnay gets under $30 per bottle. Jim Cutts Friday & Saturday Door-Buster Sale: Don't Miss This! 2007 Chateau de Cary Potet Montagny "Les Reculerons" (Burgundy, France) Reg. $22.99 DOOR BUSTER SALE: Buy 6 bottles at just $16.99 per bottle Buy a case (12 or more bottles) at just $14.99 per bottle Open for tasting. No further discounts available on this wine and no combining with other offers. Sale is Friday and Saturday only and only while supplies last. In store sales only (sorry, no phone or e-mail orders). This is the lowest price in the country, by far, on this wine! Chardonnay has no finer expression than the fabulous whites grown in Burgundy's revered Côte d'Or in spots like Meursault. The trouble is, it hurts the wallet just to look at some of the grand crus and premiere crus. Finding less famous spots where chardonnay can thrive and deliver expressive aromas, intense flavor, complexity, and refreshing style is one very important reason Doug goes to Burgundy at least twice a year and meets, talks, and tastes with some of the best palates in the business. One of the most exciting such spots Doug has located in a decade of this kind of work is Montagny. Montagny has a handful of growers, led by Pierre du Besset of Chateau de Cary Potet, that are making chardonnays with the depth, intensity, complexity, richness and freshness that even the most particular white Burgundy lovers seek in the most expensive wines from the most venerated areas further north in the Cote d'Or. This estate can be traced back to the 15th century and is located near Chalon-sur-Saone in the southern part of Burgundy's famous Cotes Chalonaisse, about half way between Pouilly Fuissé and Meursault. The Montagny "Les Reculerons" comes from a vineyard composed of low-yielding old vines on a steep slope that has perfect drainage (for concentration), sun exposure (for richness), soil (for complexity), and day/night temperature variation (for freshness and aromatic expression). Stop by this weekend for a taste and see how outstanding this is. Once you try it, you can stock up at by far the best price in the country. Here's how it tastes: With pale straw color, this has a gorgeous Meursault-like perfume of lemon oil, tangerine, baked apple pie, and orange blossoms. The palate is rich and deep with mineral infused green apples and tangerine butter. This is a joy to drink from first whiff to the long, lingering impressions of apples, minerals and sweet spices. It is hard to resist today, but save a few bottles to see how it will add richness over the next year and drink beautifully over the following two years. Don't miss this exceptional value in estate-bottled, single-vineyard white Burgundy. Stop by this weekend. Thank you for your reading. Jim Cutts