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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.44 $21.60
12 bottles: $17.10
This wine has great color, with a dark purple and red hue. There are spicy, earthy aromas of black cherry, black...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $50.40
6 bottles: $45.60
The 2019 Zinfandel Cat's Cradle is similarly hued but has a purer, crisper, more youthful vibe as well as ample plum...
12 FREE
JD
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $43.20 $48.00
6 bottles: $34.40
Dark plum and black-cherry flavors show great richness and breadth in this mouth-filling, slightly tannic wine as it...
WE
92
JD
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.93 $14.30
12 bottles: $12.67
Raspberry and currant notes on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with chewy tannins. Fresh acidity and fleshy texture on...
WE
90
JS
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.94 $15.17
12 bottles: $13.66
Red
750ml
Bottle: $42.93
12 bottles: $42.07
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.91
12 bottles: $17.55
Bramble and red plum notes are fresh and round in this medium-bodied red, with accents of garrigue, mineral and anise...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $103.14
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Grand Vin showed consistently (this is the third time I’ve tasted this from barrel),...
12 FREE
WA
96
JD
96
Red
750ml
Bottle: $23.20
12 bottles: $21.28
Delivers a nice saturated feel without being heavy, letting cherry and plum paste notes unfurl slowly, along with...
WS
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.89 $40.79
Rich and warm in style, with a velvety flow to the mix of violet, plum paste, black currant compote and licorice root...
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WS
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.90 $40.79
Winey and muscular, with cassis and bitter plum reduction notes leading the way, while baker's chocolate, tobacco and...
12 FREE
WS
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $35.89 $36.79
Rich and well-built, this offers up a serious dark core of black currant and plum reduction flavors supported by...
12 FREE
WS
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $42.94 $47.60
Juicy and direct, with tasty raspberry and blackberry coulis notes backed by anise and apple wood accents. Shows...
WS
91
DC
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.94 $33.60
12 bottles: $31.92
Shimmering ruby-red. Spice-accented raspberry and cherry aromas are complemented by musky garrigue and floral...
VM
92
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $17.09
Aromas of plum and black currant frame ripe, juicy flavors of black cherry and strawberry jam. Well-integrated...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $34.87
12 bottles: $34.17
Nicely rendered, with waves of warmed cassis, plum pâte de fruit and raspberry reduction rolling through, carried by...
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WS
93
DC
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.61
12 bottles: $31.96
A mostly foudre-aged blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape features resinous notes of...
12 FREE
WA
91
Rapid Ship
Red
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $26.94
12 bottles: $26.40
100% Melon de Bourgogne. Pépière has vines in a couple of different zones of the cru of Monnières-St.-Fiacre...
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Red
12 FREE

Melon de Bourgogne Red Rhone Blend Zinfandel 2019

One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.


Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.

The precise origins of what became known as the Zinfandel grape variety are uncertain, although it has clear genetic equivalents in both Puglia and Croatia. However, when it was brought to the New World in the mid 19th century, it became known as the Zinfandel, and has been consistently popular and widely grown ever since. These very dark and very round grapes have a remarkably high sugar content, resulting in relatively high levels of alcohol in the wines they are made into, with bottles often displaying as much as fifteen percent. What makes the Zinfandel such an interesting grape, though, is the fact that the flavors produced by this varietal vary considerably depending on the climate they are grown in. In cooler valley regions, the Zinfandel grapes result in wines which hold strong flavors of tart and sweet fruits; raspberry, redcurrant and sweet cherry, held in a very smooth and silky liquid. Conversely, warmer regions result in more complex and spicy notes, including anise, pepper and hedgerow berries.