Friday Sips

Situated on the lower half of the slope below the historic village of St. Emilion, Château Gaillard possesses 20 hectares of vines. Dragged from obscurity by owner/winemaker Catherine Nouvel-Papon's determination to estate-bottle the vineyards' total production, Château Gaillard's commitment to excellence was brought to the next level and thus this small Château found its way on Bordeaux lovers' wine-maps with the 1996 vintage. Commencing in 2008, Chateau Gaillard became a rarity within Bordeaux, Catherine's began converting her vineyards to practice biologique/organic farming. These days the wines are even more impressive and extremely undervalued given their high quality and propensity to age.

If you haven't heard by now, the gods were fantastically kind in 2009 & 2010 for Bordeaux. Given all the fine vintages that we have sold from Catherine, this one may be her best work to date. Most of my notes from both my visit to Chateau Gaillard and of a recent tasting are unprintable, however, here's an edited version: "10% new oak, 14 months. Holy merde excitement from points A, B and C!! All about sensuality. Moves from plum to raspberry; splendid penetration and old vine (50 yrs) depth. Underlying mineral and cocoa powder present. Brilliant depth and generosity, compact and structured. Lots of reach with full texture and movement, however, there is mighty grip and backbone here which bode well for the future." Given my experience with this producer and a vintage such as this, there is no problem to savor this wine through 2026.

Chateau Peyrou is within the boundaries of the Bordeaux region formerly known as Cotes-de-Castillon. Now classified as Cotes-de-Bordeaux Castillon, this estate is also owned by Catherine and a mere small roadway separates her vines from those of St-Emilion. From the younger vines (40 years) on this property, the Colombe de Peyrou is aged without the utilization of any new barrels. Beautiful purity here and a virtual essence of crushed plum, perfume, blueberry and finely woven dusty earth.

Classy, open-armed and huggable Bordeaux, excellent depth of fruit and balance provide extra dimension to the impressive core of fruit, especially on the rather soulful finish. Very drinkable now and over the next 3-5 years

For today's purposes, we have declared this wine to have a new classification. Come and try the first ever Italian St-Emilion Biancodelica wine!!

All messing around aside, this wine is unlike any wine from the Northern Italian Lugana region that you may have ever tasted! The estate of Ca' Lojera is located in close proximity to the south shore of Lake Garda in Lombardia. Unlike many other quaffing Lugana wines, this wine is dead-serious and cerebral as hell. Made from 100% Turbiana and armed with redolent tones of melon, tangerine, lime and pronounced saline which seemingly go non-stop until the bottle is drained. Filling the mouth with flavor and having plenty of depth, there is ample zesty, crisp acidity that holds it all in balance and extends to the finish that is both stately and sassy. Salmon season is almost here, and furthermore, it will pair with a bounty of seafood choices. Youze all owe to yourselves to try it. What the hell are you waiting for?!?!?!