2007 Château de Jouclary, Cuvée Tradition, Cabardès Rouge

Dear Rene, I know few other wines that offer you as much complexity, depth, and value as Chateau Jouclary does at $11 (o.k. it's $12-$15 elsewhere in the country, but it's still a good deal at those prices). It's been a perennial customer and staff favorite for six years straight. These guys get it right every year. But 2007 is an exceptional year, it is the fullest and deepest Jouclary yet. And our Door Buster price is our lowest price EVER on Chateau Jouclary, just $7.99 per bottle by the case. Even with our great e-mail specials, our previous lowest price for any vintage was $8.99 (THAT was the lowest price in the U.S.A.; today's price is the lowest BY FAR). REMINDER: This is a Door-Buster Sale meaning this price is available only Friday, February 12th, and Saturday, February 13th. This sale price is for in-store sales only and while supplies last (we have 150 cases available). Sorry, no phone or e-mail orders.  Previous vintages sold out quickly. Since then, customers have called again and again asking for more. How often do you see a price tag like this on a wine with flavors that have drawn comparisons to Châteauneuf du Pape? This special wine and special sale prove once again that working closely with local importers saves you money. Friends like Ed Addiss of Wine Traditions bring the wines directly from the vineyards to Arrowine. I visited the property with Ed and can attest to the fact that this is fabulous winemaking from fabulous vineyards in a fabulous terroir. It's another way we work diligently to ensure that our customers get the best possible values in the market. There are only 150 cases available. Doug Rosen Friday & Saturday Door-Buster Sale: Don't Miss This! 2007 Château de Jouclary, Cuvée Tradition, Cabardès Rouge Regular: $10.99 per bottle Door Buster Sale price: Only $7.99 per bottle by the case (12) Sale price on solid cases only. No further discounts and no combining with other offers. Sale is Friday and Saturday only and only while supplies last (150 cases available). In store sales only (sorry, no phone or e-mail orders) This is the lowest price in the country by far on this wine! Okay, what is Cabardès Rouge? Located just outside the medieval walled city of Carcassonne in the Southwest corner of France, this is the only appellation that requires the use of both Bordeaux and Rhone varietals in the blend. Cabardès has the best of both worlds: the depth and structure of a fine right-bank Bordeaux, and the bright fruits and spice of Mediterranean (Rhone) wines. All that depth, generous mouthfeel, and complexity of flavors, and yet a wine that issmooth enough to just drink by itself! At our regular price of $10.99 (or even at the $12-$15 price it sells at in most of the U.S.) this has got to be one of the very best values around. This is especially true in an excellent year like 2007. At our Door Buster price, it's a steal. The Cuvée Tradition is an un-oaked blend of merlot, syrah and grenache, each grown in the type of soil conditions which allow for ideal varietal expression. That's possible in this case because there are two distinct soil types on the property, visible even to the untrained eye: the merlot thrives in heavier clay soil, while the 70 year old grenache vines thrive in lighter limestone soil. This wine truly reflects the special vineyards where it is grown. How does it taste? Tasting this wine we all agree that the old-vine grenache is the most prominent flavor component, with gorgeous floral and spice box aromatics and delicious black raspberry fruit. Red flame plum and dried cherries round out the fruit expression while subtle nuances of cinnamon bark, licorice, and cumin spiceadd a fascinating array of complexity. The wine has a silky suppleness of texture and a delicious lingering finish. There's a lot going on in this wine, much more complexity than other wines at this price. This may be the only $11 red in the store that the staff simply refuses to spit. What else need we say? Jouclary is amazingly food versatile or enjoyable all on its own. Fancy foods, simple foods, hearty dishes, light dishes, cassoulet, pasta, chicken, lamb, you name it. This is the kind of wine restaurants dream of - it tastes great with anything! For a simple evening meal after a hard day's work uncork this with plate of charcuterie and cheese. For a perfect cheese match, try the award-winning "Uplands Pleasant Ridge Reserve", a firm, flavorful, and delicately nutty cheese from Wisconsin's excellent Uplands farmstead creamery. Our salame, paté, or cured meats can round out the simple and fabulous meal. Enjoy! -- Graham Reid and Jim Cutts

2007 Arnoux Vacqueyras "Chapelle St. Arnoux"

Dear Rene, This is a deal you don't want to miss. The 91-93 point rated Vacqueyras we are offering today is one of the greatest values we've seen anywhere from the historically great 2007 vintage in France's Rhone valley. In case you've somehow missed it, here is some of what world famous wine critic Robert Parker has said about the 2007 vintage Rhone reds: "Tasting the 2007s out of bottle has confirmed my thoughts - this is a truly historic and profoundly great vintage.... this may be the most compelling vintage of any viticultural region I have ever tasted.... I have never tasted better Côtes du Rhônes, Gigondas, or sumptuous, rich, complex Vacqueyras than the 2007s. " Robert Parker, eRobertParker.com "You can't buy enough of the 2007 Southern Rhônes ...from top to bottom, this is the greatest vintage I have ever tasted in any viticultural area.... The wines are just hitting the distribution channels in the United States and Europe, so move quickly. Despite the worldwide economic woes, these wines are disappearing at a rapid pace." Robert Parker, eRobertParker.com No set of wines has ever created quite the same frenzy as the 2007 Rhones (not even the 2005s from Bordeaux). Anybody who has even a slight interest in wine should be trying all the 2007s they can from France's famous Rhone Valley and stocking up on their favorites. The wines are THAT good. Today you can order a highly rated (91-93 points) red wine from the historically great 2007 Rhone vintage and from the excellent area of Vacqueyras. Though Parker pegs the price of this red Vacqueyras wine at $25-$42 per bottle, you can order it today, while supplies last, for as little as $12.99. Don't wait. Call now to order (703-525-0990). We are receiving 200 cases tomorrow and, with a deal this good they are likely to all be spoken for by the time they arrive. Jim Cutts 2007 Arnoux Vacqueyras "Chapelle St. Arnoux" 2007 Arnoux Vacqueyras "Chapelle St. Arnoux" Release price: $25 Our reg.: $16.99 6 bottle sale price: $14.99 per bottle 12 bottle sale price: just $12.99 per bottle **200 cases available** The Chapelle St. Arnoux estate has been family-owned since 1717. The Arnoux family owns 40 hectares of vineyards in Vacqueyras and also makes wine with carefully-selected purchased (negociant) fruit. Marc Arnoux, a stickler for high quality, is the current oenologist and vineyard manager. The quality of this producer is starting to attract a great deal of positive attention with the international press. Since 1978 they have received 30 Gold Medal awards. Arnoux's 2007 vintage wines, in particular, have attracted the attention of critics and wine lovers everywhere; they are outstanding. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate has rated many of the Vacqueyras and Gigondas cuvees very highly. Of the many excellent 2007 Rhone wines made by this estate, though, the Vacqueyras "Chapelle St. Arnoux" offers, by far, the most impressive combination of high quality (Parker's rating calls it "An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character.") and a great price (especially at Arrowine). Here is the brief note from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2007 Vacqueyras Chapelle St.-Arnoux is nearly identical to the Jean-Marie Arnoux. I could not find much difference between the two in their composition, upbringing, texture, flavor, or intensity. It is a super, unfiltered effort. All these 2007s merit serious attention. 91-93 points ($25-$42)." Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #181 And, to understand more about this review, here is the lengthier review of the Jean-Marie Arnoux wine that Parker called "nearly identical": "The 2007 Vacqueyras Jean-Marie Arnoux is superb. Its blend is somewhat different, with the Grenache dominating (70%), but 25% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre, all from 50-year or older vines included. This stunning wine exhibits a dense purple color along with abundant quantities of blackberry fruit, pepper, bouquet garni, spice box, and meaty notes. Full-bodied and opulent, it is a superior Vacqueyras from a great vintage. 91-93 points ($25-$42)." Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #181 To order your case of 2007 Arnoux Vacqueyras "Chapelle St. Arnoux" for only $12.99 per bottle, please call us at 703.525.0990. We will need complete Visa or Mastercard information. This combination of high quality and affordable price is rare, especially on a category of wines as sought after as 2007 Rhones. This will be extremely popular. Please call soon to order; if all of our lines are busy, please call back. Jim Cutts

2007 Domaine du Moulin Gaillac Rouge

Dear Rene, Just wait until you taste how pure, complex, full of flavor and soulful this wine is. Domaine du Moulin is the perfect Bistro red (goes with any kind of food) with flavors of black raspberries, black cherries, black tea and stone dust; try it with roast chicken, meatloaf or pasta with red sauce. This week-night wine will magically transport you to your favorite Parisian Bistro or just take the chill out of an autumn evening. And the price (as low as $8.99 per bottle) is downright silly for a wine with all this flavor and complexity. I bought 100 cases of Domaine du Moulin on the spot when I tasted it in France last June and it's even better than I remembered. Just before it hit Arrowine, I got an email from wine-broker Peter Vezan: "...we tasted the Domaine du Moulin Gaillac this weekend with clients and they were simply blown away. The wine has gained in nobility and aromatic precision since you tasted it in June." He's right; this delicious wine has gotten even better with just a few more months of bottle age. Needless to say I was impressed and you will be too. Place your order soon before it's gone! Doug Rosen Addicted to Quality Series 2009 Buy these wines by the case. Response to our "addicted to quality" e-mails has been extraordinary. These are wines that I've hand-selected from the portfolios of some of the top wine brokers (with the best palates) in Europe. I have traveled with them, visited the estates, and chosen the very best from the exciting properties they represent. We've had them imported especially for us so we can sell them at great prices. In other words, these are wines to buy by the case. Just wait until you taste the wonderful wines in this series of e-mails... The selections for 2009 are strong; among the very finest I have ever found and with an added focus on value. Deliciously full of flavor, these wines are extraordinarily complex, packed with soul, and at prices that are insane for the quality. These are the wines I drink; these are the wines I love; these are the wines I am buying, by the case, for myself... 2007 Domaine du Moulin Gaillac Rouge 2007 Domaine du Moulin Gaillac Rouge (Gaillac, France) Reg. $11.99 Six bottle sale price: $9.99 per bottle (Save 17%) Case sale price (12+ bottles): $8.99 per bottle (Save 25%) This estate-bottled Gaillac Rouge will delight you with its complexity, its unique character AND its value.  Sometimes being secluded, even obscure, can be a real advantage. Today's wine is a great example. It comes from Gaillac, believed to be the very first wine growing area in France (planted by the Gauls); far older, even, than Bordeaux. But Gaillac is secluded in the vast southwest region, located between Bordeaux (to the Northwest) and the Languedoc region that stretches along the Mediterranean (to the southeast). Few wine importers scout this region and many of the grapes that thrive in Gaillac are unknown elsewhere. This obscurity might mean a marketing disadvantage, but it is a real asset when it comes to value!  The Tarn river divides the estate and, like in Bordeaux, there are different and excellent soils on the left and right bank with gravelly soil on the left bank of the river (as in the photo below) and chalky clay soils on the right bank. These different soil types provide optimal conditions for different varieties. This wine uses grapes from both sides and is known at the estate as "cuvée réservée" to distinguish it from other wines (this name does not appear on the label). It is a blend of 60% duras (a deeply colored and even more deeply perfumed ancient local variety) with 40% syrah (which enhances the texture and lends peppery spice to the finish). This family-operated estate was established in 1827 and today the wines are crafted by Nicolas Hirissou, the sixth generation of the Hirissou family at the estate. Nicolas earned his enology degree in France and trained in Napa. He is in the process of converting the family vineyards to organic viticulture to further enhance the health of the vines, the character and quality of the grapes. Here is what Domaine du Moulin tastes like: This wine has a beautiful deep purple color, almost black at the core. The aromas are very floral and perfumed with suggestions of violets and lavender; there are also notes of black raspberry and white pepper. The aromas are fabulous and suggest an important and much more expensive wine. The flavors are of black raspberries, black cherries, and black tea. The texture is bright and vivid and palate-caressing. The finish is long (shockingly long at the price point) and leaves impressions of peppery spice and limestone minerality. It's truly enjoyable. There is no new-oak and no hint of heat (the alcohol is a moderate 12.5%). This wine will go with almost any meal! Bust out of the shiraz, cabernet and pinot noir rut and enjoy this unique and wonderful wine that completely over-delivers for the price. This wine is a natural with fall and winter meals. To order please call 703.525.0990. We need your Visa or MasterCard information including expiration date. Wine arrives tomorrow, Wednesday October 7th. Thank you for your support of Arrowine and the work that we do. Doug Rosen