Julien Sunier Morgon 2011

$27.99

350 Cases Produced

“Perfectly balanced, on nose and palate, the aromas are of fresh cherries from the vine with hints of coal smoke and dry rub. The palate texture is pure velvet with a even match of lush but focused fruit, which repeats the cherry of the nose but adds a dash of raspberry cobbler, and fresh, welcome acidity. At 12.5% abv, the alcohol is firmly in check and the entire experience is one of high-toned grace.”

Over the next year, you’ll be hearing a lot from us about Beaujolais.  In America, that word conjures the insipid flavors of Beaujolais Nouveau but we’re here to tell you the wines coming from the best appellations from the top producers are exquisite creatures. 

Beaujolais is divided up into 10 “Cru”. These are single villages which have historically produced high level wine. Just like they do in the Cote D’Or but instead of Gevrey-Chambertin you have Morgon, instead of Vosne-Romanee, there’s Chenas, and so on. 

Made entirely from Gamay, which is admired for its pure, refreshing, sometimes peppery, red fruit, Beaujolais is light in body but, in the better bottlings, rich in texture. When pairing reds with spicier foods or fish dishes, a slightly chilled Beaujolais can be divine.

Julien Sunier’s mother was a hairdresser, one of whose clients was Christophe Roumier of hyper-famous Burgundy house Domaine Georges Roumier. When he graduated from college, he decided to go work with Christophe in Chambolle-Musigny and quickly fell in love with wine. After traveling the wine circuit, from California to New Zealand, he returned and aquired three hectares of old vines in Beaujolais.  

Sunier’s Morgon comes from two parcels, each planted in the early 1960s. He uses an ancient vertical wine press which creates a very gentle extraction process and the wines are all aged in 3-9 year old barrels he aquires from Christophe Roumier.

As always, Le Du’s offers 15% off any purchase of 12 bottles or more.  

La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2001

$49.99  750 ml

$114.99 1.5 L

Rioja Week is in full swing and we’re pleased as punch to offer the new vintage of one of our favorite wines, La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2001!

96 Points, Wine Advocate

“Dark ruby-colored with a garnet rim, it displays a lovely nose of Asian spices, incense, tobacco, balsamic, and blackberry. On the palate it has exceptional depth, layers of spicy black fruit, excellent ripeness, and an elegant personality. Upon release it should continue to evolve for another 5-6 years and drink well through 2040.”

The La Rioja Alta is being offered as a pre-arrival.  It is not currently in stock and will be arriving in April, 2013.

2001 was a vintage that flirted with disaster. All manner of potentially ruinous weather conditions befell the region, including an April frost, inordinate heat, a lengthy drought and, possibly most troubling of all, torrential rainstorms towards the end of the growing season. What didn’t kill the vintage, however, made it stronger, prompting some of the preeminent winemakers in the region to classify 2001 as una cosecha para la historia, a historic harvest. The wines from 2001 are dark-hued and concentrated, with spectacular aromatic complexity. The closest analogue is 1964, a vintage so profound that many doubted they would ever see its equal.

Centenary bodega, legendary vintage, right price, right press - this wine has a lot going for it. There is something else, however, that sets it apart from what is sure to be a competitive field of “blockbuster” red wines from around the world that will make their debuts this year: it comes in at 12.7% degrees of alcohol. In an age where words like “dense”, “opaque” and “monolithic” are considered to be positive descriptors, it is refreshing to know that we will always have wines like this to turn to when our palates crave elegance, texture and nuance.

RIOJA WEEK!

February 10th to February 17th

Le Du’s Wines is pleased to announce a week long celebration of Spain’s most famous region. With events both in the store and out in the world, we aim to spread the Gospel de Riojanas with education, feasting and, of course, lots and lots of wine!

All week long, every bottle of Rioja purchased will entitle you to one entry in the Rioja Week Raffle.  At the end of the week, one lucky customer will win a prize courtesy of Vibrant Rioja!!  

Two seats left!
Tomorrow
Tuesday, February 12th

The Lazcano Cellar Rioja Dinner

featuring Roger Martinez

$575

7 pm-10 pm

Bouley Test Kitchen 

88 W. Broadway

5th Floor

Le Du’s is absolutely thrilled to present an exceedingly rare opportunity to experience Rioja dating back to 1935 matched with the exceptional cooking of former El Bulli Chef, Roger Martinez, in the private comfort of the Bouley Test Kitchen. There will be a one hour cocktail tasting featuring top-level Reserva and Gran Reserva followed by a 4-course menu especially prepared for the evening.

Rioja Cocktail Hour

La Rioja Alta “Viña Ardanza” 2001

Bodegas C.V.N.E. “Imperial” Reserva 2005

Contino Reserva 2006

Riojanas Reserva 1998

Artadi “Vinas de Gain” 2009

Palacios Remondo “Placet” 2008

Pre-Dinner

Bodegas C.V.N.E “Imperial” Reserva Especial 1970

Course 1

Bodegas C.V.N.E “Imperial” 1962

Marques de Riscal Reserva 1956

Course 2

Bodegas C.V.N.E “Imperial” Cosecha 1955

Bodegas C.V.N.E “Imperial” Viña Réal Reserva Especial 1950

Course 3

Marques de Riscal Reserva 1945

Bodegas C.V.N.E “Imperial” Gran Reserva 1935

“…Is Yves Falmet a genius?”

Jancis Robinson

Terres Falmet Cinsault 2010

$12.99

“Milk chocolate and mint with hints of lavender and cinnamon on the nose. Medium bodied with surprisingly sleek edges (I’d equate the texture with a well-made, warm-climate Pinot Noir). The chocolate translates onto the palate but transitions from milk to dark with the lavender growing stronger and a potent thrust of raspberry preserve. There is a proper tannic spread to the back end with a lingering finish of pepper, wet moss and cherry cordial.” 

Yves Falmet is typical of the exciting new generation of artisan wine producers in the Languedoc. He is entirely self-taught and established the domaine himself, on the back of a biochemistry degree. He gained practical experience in other wine regions, including, enterprisingly, New Zealand, and managed to get backing to acquire 20 ha of some of St-Chinian’s characterful slopes.”

Jancis Robinson

You might not have heard of Cinsault but it’s actually France’s 9th most planted varietal. Widely planted in the Languedoc-Roussillon, it is also used in Chateauneuf-du-Pape but always as a spice rather than a main ingredient. Historically, vast quantities of Cinsault were imported from Algeria to beef up the lighter Burgundy of the early 20th century. Cinsault’s fate is to be always the bridesmaid, never the bride. It is exceedingly rare to see single varietal Cinsault but, in fairness, it must be treated with care and come from old vines to shine on its own.

A Very Special FridayTasting with Ben Leroux

from

Comte Armand

&

Maison Benjamin Leroux

(including a mini-vertical of 

Pommard Clos des Epeneaux)

Friday, February 1st

6-7:30 PM  

Free!  

Benjamin Leroux Auxey Duresses Blanc 2010
Benjamin Leroux Savigny Les Beaune 2010
Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Rouge 2010
Benjamin Leroux Volnay Mitans 2010
Benjamin Leroux Meursault Vireuils 2010
Benjamin Leroux Meursault Poruzot 2010
Benjamin Leroux Chassagne Montrachet
Abbaye de Morgeot 2010
Benjamin Leroux Nuits St Georges Aux Thorey 2010
Benjamin Leroux Clos de la Roche 2010
+
Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru clos des Epeneaux 2010

Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru clos des Epeneaux  2007 

Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru clos des Epeneaux  1999

 ”Extremely thoughtful . . . positively brilliant . . . one of, if not the, most gifted young winemaker in all of Burgundy.”–Allen Meadows

Join us for a rare and unique opportunity to taste and talk with one of the best young winemakers in Burgundy.  Comte Armand is one of the benchmark producers of Pommard and Volnay and Maison Benjamin Leroux is one of the most sought after boutique producers in all of Burgundy.  

Bourgogne Passetoutgrains “L’Exception”,

Domaine Michel Lafarge 2010

Today I would like to tell you about my new House Red Wine, an equal blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay made by one of Burgundy’s historic producers, Michel Lafarge

Raspberry scented, earthy, lively, bright, charming and easy to love, this is my favorite wine of the moment.  Lafarge takes just as much care in his everday drinking wine as he does in his highly sought after collectibles.  We receive a very small allocation of the Lafarge wines and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.   

The Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains “L’Exception” 2010 comes from the oldest vines in the estate (60+years old) and was the first wine bottled at the estate by Old Granddad Henri Lafarge in 1934.

The estate has been farmed biodynamically since 2000 and is year-in, year-out on the short list of the best Domaines in Burgundy.

Harrington Fratelli Vineyard Charbono 2011

$34.99

Only 20 Cases Produced!  

Fresh blackberries, pine and wet gravel on the nose with a focused, black cherry entry spreading out into a fleshy mid-palate, with repeating notes of pine, hay, charcoal and lavender, buttressed by a pleasingly firm blast of tannin on the back end. The pepper spice comes alive in the mouth while the more wild and rustic tendencies of Charbono are majestically tamed into bold, glyceral richness.

Once upon a time, Charbono could have been a contender. Brought to California by the first wave of Italian immigrants in the mid-19th century, it was used to add weight and taste to table wine. Until the 1930s, it was a specialty of such Napa pioneers as Inglenook and Parducci but tastes changed and after Prohibition was repealed California vignerons lost interest in Charbono, ripping up the old vines in favor of the French varietals which would make them famous.

Today, there are only 88 acres left with no new vineyards being planted. In California, it is an endangered varietal. Luckily, there are still a handful of producers squeezing out a few barrels from the scant remaining vines.

Bryan Harrington was a bartender in San Francisco when he caught the wine bug. He started fermenting in his basement until he was able to put together the money to buy small quantities of fruit from some of the best vineyards in California. Primarily a Pinot specialist, whose super-small batch mentality has kept him firmly under the radar, he makes 1 barrel of Charbono from the old vines of the Fratelli Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. For those keeping score at home, 1 barrel equals only 20 cases!

Whiskey Advocate’s

Artisanal Whiskey of the Year

Corsair Triple Smoke 

$50.00

Corsair Distillery’s Triple Smoke has been a mainstay at Le Du’s for several years and now the wider world is beginning to take notice.  Corsair Triple Smoke was just named as Artisan Whiskey of the Year by Whiskey Advocate magazine (a must-have publication for any whiskey lover).  We are currently living in a golden age of American craft spirits and we are more than pleased to draw attention to this exciting and groundbreaking distillery.  

“Darek Bell and his partners at the Corsair Artisan distillery in Nashville have been swinging hard since they opened, rolling out one new whiskey after another. There are craft brewers who put out fewer beers in a year than Corsair does whiskeys. Rasputin, Nashville, Quinoa, Wry Moon, Pumpkin Spice Moonshine, Ryemageddon, 100% Rye…and our Artisan Whiskey of the Year, Triple Smoke.

Bell will try just about anything when it comes to distilling: “Creativity is free,” he says. He’s written a book about it, Alt Whiskeys, that covers the gamut of that creativity: alternative grains, yeasts, hops, spices, and smoke, the whole bag of brewers’ tricks, really. Bell touches on several ways to get smoke into whiskey in the book, and uses multiple smoked grains in Triple Smoke.

Triple Smoke uses three batches of malt: one each smoked with peat, cherrywood, and beech. The peat is the Scottish tradition, the beechwood-smoking will be familiar to fans of smoky German rauchbier, and the cherry is just for fun.

They all come through in the whiskey. The nose is layered, with the rich island peat filling the middle, bacony beechwood curling out from underneath, and more delicate cherry top notes. After a quick rush of juicy malt, you’ll get the peat front and center again, the beech around the edges of the mouth, and the cherry floating above it. Imagine having a sip of Islay whisky with a smoky Bamberg-brewed chaser…and then a light pull on a fine pipe tobacco.

None of that would work if it weren’t for a solidly made malt whiskey providing the framework. That’s what makes Corsair more than a freak show of variety. Anyone can throw grains, smoke, hops, or spices in a fermenter or a still. It takes skill, restraint, and a good palate to make an award-winner out of it”

“The 2007 Baroli are some of the most viscerally thrilling young wines I have ever tasted. The 2007s are similar to the 2004s, but with more substance. The wines are radiant, intensely perfumed and totally seductive, yet not at all heavy, in a style that offers the textural richness of a warm vintage with the aromatics of a cool year.”
Antonio Galloni

Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini 2007
$62.99

Giovanni Corino planted the Giachini vineyard in 1953.  It is his own, his vineyard, his place in the world.  As was the custom in Barolo, he sold the fruit forward, never making his own wine from the vineyard he loved.  Then, in the mid-eighties, Giovanni took the example of friend, neighbor and legendary modern winemaker Elio Altare and began to bottle his own Giachini.  
These days, Giovanni is technically retired with his son, Giuliano, makes the wine but Giovanni still helps to tend the vineyard.  After 59 years, some habits are hard to break.

94 Points
Wine Advocate  

“The 2007 Barolo Giachini opens with a beguiling, captivating bouquet redolent of tar, smoke, French oak and wild cherries, all of which come together in the finely-knit voice that is unique to this La Morra vineyard. The Giachini stands out for its exceptional length, finely nuanced fruit and lovely overall balance. Hints of Pinot linger on the close.”

Proprietor Giuliano Corino has a stunning set of 2007 Baroli on his hands. The wines capture the ripe, open style of the vintage while preserving considerable freshness, aromatic complexity and structure. These are wonderfully complete Baroli that merit serious consideration. I expect most of the wines will drink well with a minium of cellaring, and continue to develop complexity with further time in bottle.”