Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 1)

[mike volker]

'00 Cambria Bench Break Vineyard PN: Some of that pinot funk on the nose, cherry berry and spices on the palate, spices and dust on the finish. Better than the Saintsbury. Very very nice.

Best,

Mike

[shacke]

Opened the Nardi Brunello with homemade pizza. A very enjoyable wine. Verk dark, medium bodied and smooth wine. Thanks to the board for the heads up on this one.

Evan

[lancastermike]

I think that I liked the Vision PN better than the Saintsbury. Also bought a case of the Cambria so I can't wait to try that.

Best,

Mike

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I just got some of the Vision and am waiting to try it. I am making pot roast soon and I believe that it may be poured with that.

Opened another bottle of the Ravenswood Zin last night with an arugula salad with roast beef and parmaigano regaiano. My wife swares this is the best red wine she ever had. I taste plums and it seems even a little pepper with it. It is indeed a nice thing. We finished the bottle after dinner and I liked it better on its own than with dinner.

[Deidre Costello]

Hello, Now that I finished writing my newsletters for April’s wine club, I thought it was time for my weekly snooping! Here is advance notice on upcoming Chairman’s Selection wines, The Chapoutier wines are going to be extremely limited under 55 cases were ordered of each so only the following stores will have it Waterworks in Pittsburgh, Lemoyne in Central Pa, in the Philly area West Chester Outlet store, Devon, Ardmore Bryn Mawr and on Pawineandspirits.com. I’ll do some more snooping and let you know what else is coming in. Happy Hunting! - D.

Arrowood Syrah le Beau Melange, 200192 points The Wine Advocate $17.99…save $21.01

Byron Chardonnay Nielson Vineyards 2001 89 points The Wine Advocate, Now $12.99…save $17.01

Byron Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard, 2001 92 points Wine Enthusiast, and Wine Spectator, Now $19.99…save $20.01

Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal Blanc 2001 92-95 points Wine Advocate 94 in Wine Spectator, Now $94.99…save $174.01

Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 2001 93-95 points The Wine Advocate, 94 in Wine Spectator Now $99.99…save $153.01

Chapoutier St. Joseph Les Granits Rouge 1999 91 points Wine Advocate, April 2002 Now $29.99…save $66.01

Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay Robert Young Vineyard 2001 92 points in Wine Enthusiast, Now $16.49…save $16.50

Columbia Crest Merlot Reserve, 2001 90 points in Wine Spectator Now $17.99…save $12.01

Cosentino “The Poet” Meritage 2000 Now $19.99…save $45.01

D’arenberg Shiraz/Viognier “Laughing Magpie” 2003 91 Wine Spectator 90 The Wine Advocate ,Now $21.99…save $13.01

Domaine Carneros by Taittinger Le Rêve 1998 90 points Wine Spectator, Now $27.99…save $27.01

Drylands Estate Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2004 Quoted at $17.00…Now $11.99…save $5.01

Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet Vide Bourse 2001 90 points in Wine Spectator Now $29.99…save $30.01

[Deidre Costello]

By the way, when Jonathan joins us again for the Q & A next month I think I may need to suggest an employee discount , of course I would share it with my fellow board members ! The one thing I know about these values besides the obvious $$ saving is my collection is getting bigger my wallet smaller not that I’m complaining about either!

[philadining]

Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal Blanc 2001 92-95 points Wine Advocate 94  in Wine Spectator, Now $94.99…save $174.01 

I gotta say the concept of saving $174 per bottle is blowing my mind....

[mrbigjas]

Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal Blanc 2001 92-95 points Wine Advocate 94  in Wine Spectator, Now $94.99…save $174.01 

I gotta say the concept of saving $174 per bottle is blowing my mind....

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gotta spend money to save money!

alternately, the more you spend the more you save--you can't afford NOT to buy it!

[shacke]

Deidre - When is this new crop of selections anticipated to hit the shelves around here?

Evan

[mrbigjas]

Chapoutier Ermitage Le Méal Blanc 2001 92-95 points Wine Advocate 94  in Wine Spectator, Now $94.99…save $174.01 

I gotta say the concept of saving $174 per bottle is blowing my mind....

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p.s. according to some winegeek friends of mine it goes for more like $160 at decent wine stores around the country. so you're really only saving $65 a bottle... but i still say you can't afford NOT to get it!

[Deidre Costello]

Deidre - When is this new crop of selections anticipated to hit the shelves around here? 

Evan

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Hello Evan, these are scheduled to start coming in during the month of April. -Deidre

[KatieLoeb]

For those of you that may not have plans this evening, please check out my post about Chairma's Selection Dinner at Panorama.

Hope to see some of you there!

[Capaneus]

Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet Vide Bourse 2001 90 points in Wine Spectator Now $29.99…save $30.01

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"Vide Bourse"

Afraid the Chapoutiers are still out of my reach, and given the allocations that's the case geographically as well as financially. Just as well, I guess, though I wonder why Philly doesn't rate... The Arrowood is a lock, though, plus maybe the Byron, D'Arenberg and Columbia Crest, in numbers still to be determined.

[MarketStEl]

Anyone out there tried a Spanish white called (I believe) Las Brisas?

I bought a bottle of this (n.v.) at the Chestnut Street store a week ago, and everyone who had a taste of it loved it.  It was a crisp white wine, very citrusy--mainly orange and grapefruit flavors.  Not too bad a value, either, at about $10.  Goes great with fish.  Pity the fish I served it with had been left out somewhere before I got it.

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If you are looking for this one in the product search I think we have it as Las Brisus at $10.99?? Las Brisas sounded like a winner to me at that price.....so I played around in the product search and came up with this I'm not sure its the same wine but will try a bottle at that price.

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It is Las Brisas. It's $10.99 a bottle currently at 1218 Chestnut. I picked up another bottle yesterday (Sunday 3/20). It's a real buy at that price. I absolutely love it.

I've now begun looking for Chairman's Selections in the $10-$15/bottle range when I'm sent out by my partner for wine. Although given how and when he drinks it, most of the time, I should probably buy the cheap jug stuff.

(In case you haven't guessed, I no longer completely abstain from alcohol. I now allow myself wine with meals on occasion and an occasional cocktail when out. I figure I can manage that without ramping up my depression or other ill effects--and I can get the benefits that come from moderate wine consumption as well.)

[Deidre Costello]

Hello everyone, I figured this was as good a place as any to post this one. Yesterday I made a ham with Cajun spice and brown sugar rub with some pineapple juice to keep it moist. I then made a simple Pineapple sauce with fresh raspberries to pour over the ham slices.

To complement the ham I found the Crios de Susana Baldo Rose’ 2004. The Rose worked really well with the ham, strawberry and cherry flavors nice acidity crisp maybe it was all the fruit flavors that came together but I liked this Rose’ and at $9 a treat.

[KatieLoeb]

Diedre:

Rose and ham is just about one of the best combinations in the whole world. And particularly timely for the Easter holiday. One of the most delicious things I ever served was a baked ham and a Rose Chinon that was the exact same color as the ham. It was as if the wine and the main course had been cosmically meant for each other.

So when's the Trilogy 2001 and the next Burgess Library Selection (1993?) going to hit the stores? And more importantly - when the official opening date for the South Philly Outlet store? When I had dinner with the Chairman the other night he implied it was about two weeks out. Is there a ribbon cutting or something sometime soon? I can hardly wait since it's a mere 5 minutes out my front door.

[Capaneus]

Diedre:

Rose and ham is just about one of the best combinations in the whole world.  And particularly timely for the Easter holiday.  One of the most delicious things I ever served was a baked ham and a Rose Chinon that was the exact same color as the ham.  It was as if the wine and the main course had been cosmically meant for each other.

So when's the Trilogy 2001 and the next Burgess Library Selection (1993?) going to hit the stores?  And more importantly - when the official opening date for the South Philly Outlet store?  When I had dinner with the Chairman the other night he implied it was about two weeks out.  Is there a ribbon cutting or something sometime soon?  I can hardly wait since it's a mere 5 minutes out my front door. 

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The Trilogy was in at 12th and Chestnut when I was there yesterday - and down to a few bottles.

Has anyone tried the Liparita, by the way?

Edited March 25, 2005 by Capaneus (log)

[mike volker]

'01 Trilogy at 12th and chestnut must be the second time around. Collegeville has been sold out for two weeks. Has anyone seen or tried the soliloquy yet? How did it compare to the Kim Crawford?Keep those TN's coming.

Best,

Mike

[Capaneus]

'01 Trilogy at 12th and chestnut must be the second time around. Collegeville has been sold out for two weeks. Has anyone seen or tried  the soliloquy yet? How did it compare to the Kim Crawford?Keep those TN's coming.

Best,

Mike

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It *can't* compare! : the Kim Crawford got rated Best of Tasting in today's WSJ column. And they got it at a Pa. State Store - where, they tell us, the price was $4 below the national average.

How cool is it to see the Pa wine market mentioned *positively*? And *all* thanks to Deidre, with a minor assist from Jonathan Newman...

[shacke]

I have to jump in and praise PLCB for the great SLO service I got. I ordered a half case of wine via the SLO 800 number and it showed up at the store, conveniently located behind my house, the next afternoon! The SLO price includes shipping. Fantastic! And for all this time I assumed SLO was for restaurants. No siree, although many items have a 6 bottle minimum.

Goodbye credit limit for sure

Evan

[lancastermike]

'01 Trilogy at 12th and chestnut must be the second time around. Collegeville has been sold out for two weeks. Has anyone seen or tried  the soliloquy yet? How did it compare to the Kim Crawford?Keep those TN's coming.

Best,

Mike

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Mike,

We did have the soliloquy. and honestly I was not overwhelmed by it. Cannot compare it to the Kim Crawford as I was not able to get that one. Let me plug the 2001 Carmel Road Chardonnay that we tried last night. Regretably, I made a bad choice in matching it as I poured it with a chipolte stuffed grilled pork tenderloin. It was much better as we finiished it after dinner. Nicely acidic, not big and oaky. This is the style of Califorina Chardonnay I like. Maggie much prefers the big oaky buttery one. However, she liked it as well and I tout this as one to try

[shacke]

I opened the Pine Andrus 2000 reserve last night at Marigold. I had it with the braised pork belly and lentils. Even at $50, a steep discount from the usual $100, the wine was not worth it IMHO. Apparently it was a tough year for this wine and I can see why its on fire sale. Any dissenters - pleas post. I have another bottle sitting around for you.....

Evan

[shacke]

I opened the Pine Andrus 2000 reserve last night at Marigold.  I had it with the braised pork belly and lentils.  Even at $50, a steep discount from the usual $100, the wine was not worth it IMHO.  Apparently it was a tough year for this wine and I can see why its on fire sale.  Any dissenters - pleas post.  I have another bottle sitting around for you.....

Evan

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As Katie said in another thread of this one....

"This wine was fabulous. All about the dark berries and an almost sweet background of vanilla, mocha and caramel. Incredibly well made wine that will undoubted age into something more spectacular, if that were indeed possible. This wine could compete with the finest Bordeaux and knock it off the playing field. Any Bordeaux this young would likely be far less drinkable."

So there you go. The "boss" speaks but maybe I was drinking something else!

[Capaneus]

I opened the Pine Andrus 2000 reserve last night at Marigold.  I had it with the braised pork belly and lentils.  Even at $50, a steep discount from the usual $100, the wine was not worth it IMHO.   Apparently it was a tough year for this wine and I can see why its on fire sale.  Any dissenters - pleas post.  I have another bottle sitting around for you.....

Evan

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As Katie said in another thread of this one....

"This wine was fabulous. All about the dark berries and an almost sweet background of vanilla, mocha and caramel. Incredibly well made wine that will undoubted age into something more spectacular, if that were indeed possible. This wine could compete with the finest Bordeaux and knock it off the playing field. Any Bordeaux this young would likely be far less drinkable."

So there you go. The "boss" speaks but maybe I was drinking something else!

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Could be in a dumb phase. On a few occasions I've cursed myself for buying something, then been hugely (pleasantly) surprised when revisiting a few years later.

[KatieLoeb]

I opened the Pine Andrus 2000 reserve last night at Marigold.  I had it with the braised pork belly and lentils.  Even at $50, a steep discount from the usual $100, the wine was not worth it IMHO.  Apparently it was a tough year for this wine and I can see why its on fire sale.  Any dissenters - pleas post.  I have another bottle sitting around for you.....

Evan

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As Katie said in another thread of this one....

"This wine was fabulous. All about the dark berries and an almost sweet background of vanilla, mocha and caramel. Incredibly well made wine that will undoubted age into something more spectacular, if that were indeed possible. This wine could compete with the finest Bordeaux and knock it off the playing field. Any Bordeaux this young would likely be far less drinkable."

So there you go. The "boss" speaks but maybe I was drinking something else!

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Evan:

I'm only the boss of my own palate. I stand by my original comment that this wine is far more drinkable at 5 years old than virtually any Bordeaux I can think of. It's that New World Big-Assed-Fruit-in-Your-Face thing instead of austerity and subtlety. I happen to love Bordeaux blends/Meritage but at this age the California is waaayyy better. This will undoubtedly improve with age as well. Put that other bottle away for future reference.

Maybe you got a bad bottle? Maybe you didn't have it with the lovely Filet Mignon with Cabernet, Raspberry Port Wine reduction I did? Certainly the lovely dinner, fabulous surroundings and nice company I had at Panorama might have influenced my overall experience.

[shacke]

Evan:

I'm only the boss of my own palate.  I stand by my original comment that this wine is far more drinkable at 5 years old than virtually any Bordeaux I can think of.  It's that New World Big-Assed-Fruit-in-Your-Face thing instead of austerity and subtlety.  I happen to love Bordeaux blends/Meritage but at this age the California is waaayyy better.  This will undoubtedly improve with age as well.  Put that other bottle away for future reference.

Maybe you got a bad bottle?  Maybe you didn't have it with the lovely Filet Mignon with Cabernet, Raspberry Port Wine reduction I did?  Certainly the lovely dinner, fabulous surroundings and nice company I had at Panorama might have influenced my overall experience.

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I am humbly deferential to you to say the least, Katie! I added your note to reinforce that its just little ol me's opinion and, truly, your palate is way more refined than mine - as kindly modest as you always are. I wouldn't taste the notes of green pepper and tobacco in a green pepper and tobacco sandwich - lol!

I will indeed save that other bottle for a few years and try again!

Evan