Crowley Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2017
Cooper’s Price $25.99
Crowley Wines only produces 2,500 cases annually. Their small size allows for a hands-on approach from vineyard to barrel. They visit each vineyard site throughout the year and work closely with their growers to achieve a natural balance in the grapes. At harvest, freshness, lower alcohols, flavor and acidity are the touchstones of their picking decisions.
“Our friends and growers are committed to non-irrigated and low impact farming. We are members of the Deep Roots Coalition and our primary vineyard sources are LIVE certified or certified organic. “
Kevin’s Notes: This wine is too inexpensive for the quality in the bottle. Aromatics of unripe peach, apple and pear skins leap from the glass. This causes you to salivate instantly as if you walked into a smoked bacon parlor. The fruit is vibrant and very refreshing to the palate. Your palate will NOT tire with this Chardonnay as the acidity is plentiful. This is one of the TOP 5 white wines I have tasted this year. Unlike most Chardonnay’s, this beauty can work with or without food. Quite simply it is outstanding and unfortunately they make very little – less than 200 cases were produced.
Tribute to Grace Grenache Rose Highlands Vyd, Santa Barbara, CA 2018
Cooper’s Price $24.99 Only 3 cases available!!
A Tribute To Grace Wine Company is dedicated to crafting authentic expressions of Grenache. All wines are single-vineyard sourced to maintain authenticity, and remain 100% Grenache.
Angela Osborne is a New Zealand born winemaker, who moved to California in 2006 with the dream of making Grenache. In 2007 she sourced her first Grenache fruit from the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard. Nestled high above the Pacific Ocean and 33 miles inland, this high-desert vineyard provided the perfect balance of heat and light she sought. She chose to name her label after two of her favorite things: her Grandmother Grace, and her most beloved attribute.
Wine Making-half of the clusters were gently pressed to tank, the other half foot-stomped and left on their skins for 24 hours, before joining the direct-pressed juice.
Kevin’s Notes: Besides making “Tribute to Grace” wines, she also make wines for other wineries. Why? Because she’ that good! This is also a great rose because it is a single vineyard from Santa Barbara.
Fosso Corno Aires Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
Regular Price $16.99 Cooper’s Price $13.99
The Biscardo family owns Fosso Corno and has been producing wine since 1897. Today the estate is solely dedicated to Montepulciano vines. While Abruzzo is dominated by very large, low quality COOP’s and commercial wineries, the Biscardo family is slowly building a name for quality Montepulciano. Aires is produced from 100% Montepulciano grapes from the region Abruzzo on the Central-East Coast of Italy.
The harvest takes place in the period from the end of September to mid October. Maceration for a maximum of ten days, in steel fermenting vats. The wine is then put in steel for about 4 months for the ageing process. Finally it is kept bottled for a short while before being put on sale.
Aires is a young and immediately drinkable wine. Delicate aromas of plum and morello cherry on the nose, robust and full-bodied in the mouth, slightly tannin-rich with a dry flavoursome aftertaste.
Sierra Cantabria Seleccion Rioja 2017
Regular Price $17.99 Cooper’s Price $14.99
Bodegas Sierra Cantabria was founded by Guillermo Eguren, a self-made bodeguero, who was, in the family tradition, a viticulturist. His family, native to San Vicente de La Sonsierra, one of the most sought after terroirs in Rioja, had grown grapes in Rioja Alavesa since the 1870’s. For decades the family sold their grapes to local producers, but Guillermo recognized the potential that his family’s vineyards had to create great wine, and founded Bodegas Sierra Cantabria in 1957.
Today, the family still prides themselves as viticulturists first, and as a result, all of the grapes are estate grown, and they do not source fruit from any third party source. As viticulturists in Rioja Alavesa, they grow a vast majority of Tempranillo, with only a small percentage of Garnacha and Graciano.
Kevin’s Notes: The expansion of planting any further grape vines has ended in Rioja. Consequently, winemakers will have to begin paying more for grapes they buy from growers so Rioja wines are going up in price, but this will not be the case as Eguren family owns almost all of their vineyards. This wine is a terrific full-bodied Tempranillo with a hint of oak. Great for the BBQ.
