On Deck for wine tasting next week at VRW:

2021 Shafer One Point Five Stag’s Leap Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: One Point Five is Shafer's signature Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting the timeless elegance of top Napa Valley vineyards. This wine honors the founding partnership of John and Doug Shafer, who said they'd worked together so long theirs wasn't a second-generation story but a generation and a half. The long, sunny 2021 summer created idyllic growing season. The fruit developed rich color with clean, elegant, and pure aromas and flavors. 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petite Verdot, 2% Merlot, 1% Malbec $125

Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
2012 Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan

The 2012 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is terrific, with a beautiful, classy, incredibly impressive style that's drinking beautifully today. Offering up pure dark fruits (some blue fruits as well) to go with notes of smoked tobacco, scorched earth, graphite, and violets, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless profile, impressively polished tannins, and a great finish. It's beautifully done, and while certainly showing what it has today, it's going to evolve for another 20-25 years. CA Market Price $145-$169. Our Price $154.99 (Available GT)

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Taste 2020 Ramsay California Cabernet, 2016 Burgess Contadina Napa Cabernet and 2020 Daou Soul of a Lion Cabernet at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Thursday, August 10th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

2020 Ramsay California Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: Deep purple-black in color with a rich nose of cedar, mint and black fruit. Full-bodied and structured, Ramsay California Cabernet bursts with layers of blackberry, boysenberry and blueberry. The wine has nice intensity, highlighting rounded tannins and a spicy earth-laced finish. $21

2016 Burgess Cellars CONTADINA Napa CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Winemaker Notes: A dense and concentrated cabernet with aromas and flavors of confectionary blackberry and stewed cassis. The lush fruit is brought into balance by high tone herbal aromatics of mint, sage, and sweet tobacco. The distinctively thick-skinned Cabernet grapes provide a long velvety finish. $52

Wine Enthusiast 97 Points
2020 Daou Soul of a Lion Cabernet Sauvignon

Impressively dark in the glass, this bottling pairs intense purple fruit and flower on this nose with more roasted, umami-laden aromas. The elegant palate is a master class in tannin management, proving firm in structure yet soft in mouthfeel. Flavors of blackberry jam, cocoa, walnut and cracked pepper ride a lingering acidity into the finish. — Matt Kettmann. $170

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Wine Spectator 94 Points
Henriot Brut Champagne Cuvée Hemera 2006

Refined and minerally, with a pleasing plushness to the mouthfeel, this elegant Champagne offers delicate notes of juicy nectarine, grated ginger, toast point and spun honey, all backed by well-knit, zesty acidity, driving the lingering finish with accents of smoke and saline. Drink now through 2030. 250 cases imported. $200. Our Price $179.99 (Available GT)

Jeb Dunnuck 94+ Points
2018 Frank Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Reserve

Largely in the same style, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Reserve reminds me of a top Pauillac with its darker blackcurrant fruit as well as notes of lead pencil, crushed stone, cedar, and smoked tobacco. Rich and full-bodied, it has wonderful purity of fruit and the balance and structure to evolve for two decades. $95 Our Price $83.99 (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Spectator 95 Points
MARGERUM Grenache Santa Barbara County 2021

Sleek and dynamic, with refined raspberry, spiced cinnamon and cured meat accents that sprint toward the long, polished finish. Drink now through 2032. —T.F. $40 (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
2021 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Carneros Chardonnay

This full-bodied and beautifully balanced wine is powered by energized fruit acidity, giving it a lively mouthfeel, vivid green apple and lemon zest flavors and a snappy finish, while subtle oak notes remain secondary. Fermented in oak barrels and stainless barrels, and matured without maloactic conversion, the wine is super refreshing, clean and mouth-watering and should only get more complex and smooth with time. Best from 2024-2031. $70 (Arrives GT this afternoon)

2019 Shafer TD-9 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: In its first vintage as a Cabernet Sauvignon, TD-9 fills the glass with irresistible aromas and flavors of fresh black cherries, black currant, red plum, thyme, rose petal, and cocoa. Lush and mouth-filling, this 2021 offers the kind of complexity and structure that ensures many years of enjoyment ahead. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec. $75 (Arrives GT this afternoon)

2021 Shafer One Point Five Stag’s Leap Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: One Point Five is Shafer's signature Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting the timeless elegance of top Napa Valley vineyards. This wine honors the founding partnership of John and Doug Shafer, who said they'd worked together so long theirs wasn't a second-generation story but a generation and a half. The long, sunny 2021 summer created idyllic growing season. The fruit developed rich color with clean, elegant, and pure aromas and flavors. 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petite Verdot, 2% Merlot, 1% Malbec $125 (Arrives GT this afternoon)

2021 Luli Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah

Winemaker Notes: Sporting richly hued shades of dark ruby and near purple, the 2021 Luli Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah is a hidden gem crafted from a notoriously difficult vintage in this prestigious California appellation. Each swirl in the glass brings new life to this savory and spicy offering, with notes of freshly ground coffee, dark chocolate, new leather, and spiced plum filling setting the stage. As this deliciously pure Syrah coats the palate, waves of blackberry crumble, red cherry, and black pepper pair with hints of dried herbs de Provence and subtle meaty undertones to create a complex mélange of flavors. Approachable to its core, this wine still possesses structured tannin and remarkable acidity which suggests it will continue to age for years to come. $26 Our Price $20.99 (Available GT)

Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points
2020 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte

Absolutely pure gold and reminding me of the 2009 (or is it the 2010?), the 2020 Château Smith Haut Lafitte sports a dense purple hue to go with incredible aromatics of blackberries, blueberries, scorched earth, wood smoke, and acacia flowers. One of the most concentrated, rich, and sexy wines in the vintage, this massive and extraordinarily opulent 2020 shows the vintage's pure, elegant profile yet backs it up with sensational levels of fruit and texture. Based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it already offers pleasure given its wealth of fruit, but it deserves 7-8 years of bottle age and will evolve for 40-50 years. Not enough can be said about the quality of these wines. Bravo to Florence and Daniel Cathiard, as well as to director Fabien Teitgen, for another incredible achievement. CA Market Price $140-$205 (Arrives GT 8/11/23)

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Taste 2022 Pont Neuf Russian River Rose of Pinot, 2020 Krutz Napa Cabernet and 2019 Etude Napa Cabernet at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Friday, August 11th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

2022 Pont Neuf Russian River Rose of Pinot Noir

Winemaker Notes: Made in the traditional Saignée method, the rosé is produced from juice that has been drawn off the juice and skins of our Pinot Noir, giving it a kiss of color, yet all the fragrance and delicious fruit flavors of fresh pinot. Drawing off the rosé also benefits the pinot noir by concentrating the juice to skins ratio in the resulting red wine. The lightly-colored rosé is fermented in stainless steel and neutral barrels at cold temperatures to retain its delicate flavors and freshness. The result is delightful; fresh fragrances and flavors of white peach, Alpine strawberries and minerals, framed with bright acidity, silky texture and crisp finish. $35

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent 96 Points
2020 Krutz Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of cassis, baked plums, and boysenberries waft from the glass, followed by hints of dusty soil, Indian spices, and wild sage. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers bright, fresh, youthful fruit with a grainy texture and spicy lift on the finish. $52

James Suckling 96 Points
2019 Etude Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

Lots of blackcurrant and crushed stone on the nose, as well as some dustiness. Full-bodied, very velvety and restrained. Beautiful energy at the end. This comes mostly from Coombsville, Rutherford and Oakville vineyards. Two or three years will bring this into the right space, but already so enjoyable to taste. $100

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Taste 2022 Ghost Block MorgaenLee Sauvignon Blanc, 2021 Chateau Campuget 1753 Costieres de Nimes Grenache and 2018 The Mascot Napa Cabernet at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Saturday, August 12th. Available 12:00 noon -3:45 PM

2022 Ghost Block MorgaenLee Sauvignon Blanc

Winemaker Notes: Beautiful aromatics of grapefruit and white peach jump from the glass followed by subtle tropical fruit notes of guava and papaya. $25

2021 Chateau de Campuget 1753 Costieres de Nimes Grenache

Winemaker Notes: This wine is of a beautiful complexity. The dress is deep ruby. The nose is on red fruit (cherry) mixed with spicy notes. In the mouth, the tannins are tender and supple, marked by finesse and elegance. $22

2018 The Mascot Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: The Mascot is a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon made from distinct hillside vineyards; specifically, the younger vines of BOND, Harlan Estate, and Promontory. It started out as a small project shared among the family, winemaking team, and close friends. Drawing fruit from blocks of recently replanted vineyards, The Mascot shares a glimpse into the evolution of its parent estates: a youthful snapshot of their future.

The subtle, ethereal power of the vintage, which reveals itself first in the deep, brooding aromas of dark fruit, black tea, and herbal notes. The texture expands around a lifted structure, as powdery tannins gently resolve. This diffused, enigmatic softness is anchored on the mid-palate by a gratifying density, which prepares the senses for a flourish of hidden energy and vivid detail that illuminates the finish. $175

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Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW)
1552 E. Champlain Drive, Ste 109 Fresno, CA 93720
Via Montana Center (NE Corner Shepherd and Champlain-Two doors south of Big 5) www.vintagereserve.biz 559-878-3953
Tuesday-Friday 12:00 Noon-6:00 PM
Saturday 12 Noon-4:00 PM

The Grape Tray (GT)
6023 N. Palm Avenue Fresno, CA 93704
Opus One Center (NW Corner Bullard and Palm)
www.grapetray.com 559-226-6828
Tuesday-Friday 10:30 AM-5:30 PM
Saturday 10:30 AM-4:00 PM