4th of July Holiday Hours:

* Grape Tray (GT)
Closed 7/4/24
Open 7/5 and 7/6/24

* Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW)
Closed 7/4/24
Open 7/5 and 7/6/24

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 On deck for wine tasting next week at VRW:

2023 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc

Winemaker Notes: The 2023 vintage was long and temperate, and at times, blissfully cool. The resulting wine has a great balance of richness and texture and a very well-delineated backbone of vibrant acidity. Aromatics and flavors of lemon, mandarin, Asian pear, and white peach with fresh, floral notes of cassis bud and lime. Very long and mouth-wateringly juicy. Napa County 52% and Sonoma County 48%. $48

Wine Spectator 94 Points
Rutherford Hill Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford AJT Collection 2022

Stunning, this exuberant, generous version shows notes of passion fruit, Key lime, dried pineapple and orange blossoms, along with grated ginger. Reveals a hint of sea salt minerality on the long, expressive finish, where toasted herb accents linger. Drink now. 3,404 cases made. $34

Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
2021 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Lyndenhurst

The second wine of this incredible estate, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Lyndenhurst reveals a deep purple hue as well as a great nose of assorted currants, black cherries, tobacco, and lead pencil. It's beautifully concentrated, has medium to full-bodied richness, and ripe tannins, all making for an undeniably delicious, classic, balanced Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the coming 10-15 years. $110

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Taste 2021 Summer Dreams Stargazing Pinot Noir and 2019 Fortunate Son Cabernet Sauvignon The Warrior at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $35 per person. (Limited: We will open one bottle of each wine for this tasting)
Tuesday, July 2nd. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

2021 Summer Dreams Stargazing Pinot Noir (by Hundred Acre)

Winemaker Notes: The wine is vibrant and complex with subtle dark fruits and berries, grandmother’s cherry pie, flowers, minerals, and a slight touch of rain-soaked earth, intertwined with a balance and very pleasing easy-going luxury. Should have been priced higher but what the hell. $75

Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
2019 Fortunate Son Cabernet Sauvignon The Warrior (by Hundred Acre)

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon The Warrior is riveting stuff, offering an incredible array of sweet darker currants, tobacco leaf, lead pencil, and classy oak. It's a big, rich wine, yet it's not over the top and has a semi-opaque purple hue, medium to full body, seamless tannins, and a layered, silky, incredibly satisfying style that's going to evolve for two decades. $400

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Taste Chardonnay: 2023 DIATOM Santa Barbara, 2022 Force & Grace Carneros and 2021 Rombauer Vineyards Proprietor Selection at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Wednesday, July 3rd. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

Wine Spectator 93 Points
DIATOM Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 2023

This stunning wine leaps out of the glass, with concentrated flavors and aromas of white peach, quince and pineapple, plus floral accents of orange blossoms and lemon curd. Finishes with mouthwatering acidity, a note of crunchy sea salt minerality and a whiff of lemon verbena. Drink now. —M.W. $25

Jeb Dunnuck, 91 Points
2022 Force & Grace Carneros Chardonnay

There are roughly 7,000 cases of the 2022 Chardonnay, so it should be easy to find, and it's more than worth your time. Mostly barrel fermented, it offers a ripe, medium-bodied, layered, balanced style as well as classic aromatics of honeyed citrus, white flowers, crushed stone, and a hint of background spice. It has outstanding balance and a pure, elegant profile that's a joy to drink. $39

The Wine Independent 95 Points
The 2021 Rombauer Vineyards Proprietor Selection Chardonnay

The 2021 Rombauer Vineyards Proprietor Selection Chardonnay needs a little shaking to wake up scents of fresh pineapple, white peaches, lemon curd, and marzipan, leading to nuances of chalk dust and orange blossoms. The full-bodied palate is finely knit, with loads of nuanced stone fruit, citrus, and savory layers, packaged in a satiny texture and with bold freshness, finishing long and creamy. Stylistically, this is very different from the better known generic Rombauer Chardonnay label and well worth the trade-up! $70

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WOW - 59% OFF!
Wine Spectator 91 Points
Rutherford Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley 2016

This has matured, showing a light mulled edge to its mix of raspberry, plum and cherry notes, while flickers of sassafras and red tea chime through the silky finish. Drink now through 2025. 11,679 cases made. $49 Our Price $19.99 (Available GT)

Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Journal 93 Pts
Force & Grace Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

A really lovely, restrained effort from Paso Robles by Jean Hoefliger. Not to say the wine isn't powerful, full-bodied, or richly layered with a tapestry of inky dark black and blue fruit. It is all that, but immense structure and building tannins also create freshness and energy. Most fruit sources are from east Paso. Hoefliger had to pick specific sites earlier to avoid overripe flavours, and he left a good portion on the skins for almost 35 days to build a tannin structure $39. Our Price $28.95 (Available GT)

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent
95 POINTS * 2022 Hartford Court MacLean's Block Pinot Noir

The 2022 Maclean's Block Pinot Noir is medium ruby-purple in color. Scents of ripe blackberries, mulberries, and boysenberries leap from the glass, followed by nuances of licorice, tar, and underbrush. The medium to full-bodied palate is bursting with blackberry and savory layers, supported by fine-grained tannins and a lively line, finishing earthy...It is named after Don & Jennifer Hartford's son MacLean. MacLean's Block is on a vineyard located on a gentle east-facing slope, east of the town of Occidental. $80 Our Price $72.99 (Available GT and VRW)

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent 95 POINTS * 2022 Hartford Court Seascape Vineyard Pinot Noir

Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2022 Seascape Vineyard Pinot Noir struts from the glass with forthright notes of black cherries, black raspberries, and orange peel followed by hints of black pepper, juniper, and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is plush and vibrant, with perfumed black and red berry layers, finishing long and fragrant...Seascape Vineyard is located on a panoramic ridgetop west of the town of Occidental, facing Bodega Bay and the Pacific Ocean. $80 Our Price $72.99 (Back in stock GT and VRW)

Jeb Dunnuck, 91 Points
2022 Force & Grace Carneros Chardonnay

There are roughly 7,000 cases of the 2022 Chardonnay, so it should be easy to find, and it's more than worth your time. Mostly barrel fermented, it offers a ripe, medium-bodied, layered, balanced style as well as classic aromatics of honeyed citrus, white flowers, crushed stone, and a hint of background spice. It has outstanding balance and a pure, elegant profile that's a joy to drink. $39 Our Price $28.95 (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Advocate 94 Points
2022 Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto

Made with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Tenuta San Guido 2022 Guidalberto gives you a good taste of the same DNA that brings us one of Italy's greatest wines, Sassicaia, but it's offered in a more immediate style here (thanks to the addition of the Merlot). This warm vintage opens to medium-dark concentration and very plump aromas that take you immediately to blackberry and blackcurrant sitting out in the sun at your local farmers market. The wine shows a soft and gentle side with a pretty level of elegance transmitted through the fruit freshness and the light oak spice that is discernible here but delivered with grace. $76 Our Price $68.99 (Available GT and VRW)

ANTONIO GALLONI, VINOUS 93 Points
2019 PAUILLAC DE CHÂTEAU LATOUR

The 2019 Pauillac is a serious wine. Dark cherry, plum, gravel, incense, licorice and pomegranate are all dialed up in this wonderfully deep, fleshy Pauillac. Deep and resonant, with fine balance, the 2019 captures all the natural radiance of the year. This is really quite stellar and delicious. A recent bottle of the 2009 reminded me how pleasurable the Latour Pauillac can be. $110 (Back in stock GT and VRW)

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Taste 2022 The Setting Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc, 2021 Aperture Cellars Bordeaux Red Blend and 2021 Aperture Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Friday, July 5th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
2022 The Setting Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc

The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is ripe and tropical, with forward, sunny aromas of mango, fresh grapefruit, and rounded floral aromas. Medium-bodied, with driving energy and good concentration in its vibrant notes of pure lime citrus, fresh apple, and delicate spice, it’s a more serious style to hold another 6-12 months and drink 2024-2034. $40

Wine Advocate 95+
2021 Aperture Cellars Bordeaux Red Blend

The 2021 Bordeaux Red Blend is the first iteration to include a significant amount of fruit from Farrow Ranch, Aperture's latest vineyard acquisition. It's a blend of 44% Merlot, 27% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and 9% Cabernet Franc and was matured for 18 months in 50% new French oak. It has slowly unfurling scents of red and black currants, chocolate-covered cherries, integrated new oak spices, tobacco and tapenade. The palate is particularly elegant, balancing concentrated, nuanced flavors with a frame of velvety tannins and vibrant acidity that calls you back to the glass. 5,270 cases produced. $65

Wine Advocate 96 Points
2021 Aperture Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Aperture's estate vineyard in Healdsburg and their newest vineyard acquisition, Farrow Ranch in Alexander Valley, plus some of the original single vineyards in the Aperture program like Oliver Ranch. It is blended with 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot, 3% Malbec and 1% Cabernet Franc and was matured for 16 months in 55% new French oak. It has vibrant, layered aromas of blueberry compote, lavender, aniseed, milk chocolate and nutmeg with undertones of cast iron and tobacco leaves. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled, pairing deep flavors with a weightless feel due to its bright acidity and velvety tannins. It has a long, latent finish and deserves 3-5 years in bottle. 4,480 cases produced. $80

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Taste 2020 Carlisle Derivative Sonoma, 2020 and 2021 ALBAN Syrah Edna Valley Patrina Alban Estate at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Saturday, July 6th. Available 12:00 noon -3:45 PM

Jeb Dunnuck 91 Points
2020 Carlisle Derivative Sonoma

The 2020 The Derivative is fragrant with soft tropical notes of papaya, pink grapefruit, and honeysuckle flowers. The palate has gorgeous glycerin texture, with refreshing acidy and a long finish. Drink it over the next 5 or more years. $35

2020 Alban Syrah Edna Valley Patrina Alban Estate

Notes from John Alban: This wine is among my favorites for this offering yet produced. It is dark, full of black and blue berries, coco powder, and immediately pleasing and pure. It is, in our opinion, a wonderful and delicious expression of our farm and farming. $60 (Back in stock GT and VRW)

Wine Spectator 94 Points
2021 Alban Syrah Edna Valley Patrina Alban Estate

Plump and polished, with sleekly layered black raspberry flavors that are accented by dark chocolate, savory meat and cracked pepper tones that sail on the long and savory finish. Drink now through 2033. —T.F. $58

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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