DECEMBER CASE OF THE MONTH - $140
DeLoach Pinot Noir Russian River 2021
A Russian River Pinot Noir in the case of the month? Yep, the song remains the same when trying to sell higher end California Pinot Noir in Oregon – we already have plenty up here thank you very much… So, hello deal! Offering an alluring marriage of Cali style richness and Russian River cooler climate freshness, this is silky and caressing with juicy dark plum and cherry fruit shaded with spiced aromas of cola, cinnamon and toasted oak. Neither too light nor too rich, it’s open-knit, succulent and a heck of a nice wine for just $15.99 (normally $29)
Lan Rioja Crianza 2021
Thanks to a label redesign and accompanying marketing campaign this already good value is even better, delivering classic Rioja Tempranillo flavors in an expressive, generous style. The plummy, figgy black fruit is accented with warm tones of incense, toasted wood and sarsaparilla enlivened by a background thrum of orange peel and spicy pimentón. Normally $18, here $13.99
Saint Cosme Côtes du Rhône 2023
Four years running, here’s one of our best-selling Côtes du Rhône with a “Happy Holidays” discounted price. 100% Syrah (a rarity for the southern Rhône), this is bold, mouthfilling and way over-delivers. The 2023 is much like previous vintages, adding blue fruit and pie cherry aromas to the juicy blackberry and marionberry lushness. The texture is broad and flowing, dappled with zesty notes of licorice, marjoram and black pepper with gentle tannins emerging on the finish.
Regularly $19 (thanks tariffs!), $15.99 for December
Cantina Puiatti Friulano Friuli 2021
Friulano is one of the lesser known but classic northern Italian whites that offers a signature personality while still delivering what most drinkers are seeking in a dry, crisp cocktail style white. Behind the jasmine/fennel scented nose, this one has plenty of pep with a rush of salted lemon lime whose crunchy, lively texture reminded me of crushed ice. It softens mid-palate with flavors of dried apricot, vanilla pear and lemon oil before finishing with a crisp minerality. Originally $20, end of vintage deal makes it just $13.99
Cantina Sociale Copertino Riserva 2016
Here’s a fun one, a southern Italian red intentionally long-aged to tame the brawny wildness of Negroamaro and transform it into something more suggestive of Piedmont Nebbiolo than a red from sun-soaked Puglia. Complex Amaro-like aromas open the conversation – spicy, woodsy and dark – before mingling with balsamic-drizzled red berry notes and freshly peeled orange zest. The palate brings surprising acidity and energy as bright strawberry and raspberry melt into red plum, supple and smooth, while a perfumed haze of caramelized fennel, dried rose petals, cigar box and warm wood linger on the lively finish. An elegant change of pace from the typical younger bolder reds of this price range. $14.99
Radicle Vine Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2022
Radicle Vine is Lady Hill Winery’s value project and they do a great job of making the wines taste a whole lot like their more expensive main line-up at a fraction of the cost. This one is rich and sappy with a boisterous, slightly unpolished feel – and I mean that as a compliment. Packed with cocoa-and-graphite-tinged black cherry, currant and blackberry, the lush fruit is cradled by notes of oak barrel and ripe tannins. $13.50
Altano Douro Tinto 2022
Showing a sophistication uncommon to Douro reds in this price range, this is deeply flavored yet light on its feet with a punchy drive pulsing the flavors along. The 2021 was a favorite here and this 2022 just landed on the Wine Spectator Top 100 at #48 with a 90 pt review: “A lively, well-spiced red, with an appealing mix of brambly boysenberry, cherry, violet and blood orange peel flavors sculpted by light, taut tannins, ending with a minerally finish. Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca.” $11.99
Conde Valdemar Rioja Blanco 2024
Bursting with fresh floral and delicate herb aromatics, this offers a slightly exotic mix of tropical/pineapple zestiness, rounded melon-y texture and a light almond skin tug on the finish. A blend of 75% Viura, 20% Malvasía and 5% Tempranillo Blanco from a fifth generation family winery, stainless steel aging brings crispness and allows the purity of the fruit to shine through, while time on the lees adds supple creaminess. Quite the classy wine for just $12.99
Bodega Calle Alberti Malbec Reserva 2021
Waaaaay more serious than the low price would suggest this is normally $19 but clearly someone needed to move some inventory. Tense, dense and saturated with flavor, potent red currant and zesty raspberry is joined by loamy earth, mineral and cracked pepper with food-craving tannins on the finish. Normally $19, this month just $9.99
Gérard Bertrand An 1877 Saint-Chinian 2018
Saint-Chinian is one of the smaller Languedoc appellations, located between Minervois and Faugères, that produces robust red wines like this one. A 60/40 blend of Syrah and Mourvèdre, it’s meaty and dense, a mix of dark plum, currant and tangy blackberry infused with dark aromatic notes of olive tapenade, coffee bean and wet garden earth. The texture has smoothed out thanks to a few years in bottle, but at heart this is still a bit wild and feral, a hearty winter red for stews and the like. $12.99
La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2023
A cheap and cheerful Italian red for your holiday stockpile, this sports a vaguely holiday-looking carousel horse label that will add a festive air to even the most boring of forced holiday parties. Versatile and casual, the minty earthy aromas fade into the dark, smooth-textured fruit balanced by little pops of tangy cranberry, licorice and chocolate covered raisins. $9.99
Marqués de Cáceres Cava Brut NV
(A Champagne & Sparkling Sale Feature)
Called an “affordable Spanish stunner” by one review site earlier this year, this took top prize in our value-tier blind tasting thanks to its elegant balanced style, good tension, long-lasting small bubbles and focused citrusy flavors that brighten the clean, lightly toasty finish. Cáceres is a fifth-generation Rioja winery whose emphasis on quality and value clearly extends to their project in Penedés, Spain’s bubbly heartland. 50% Xarel-lo, 30% Macabeo and 20% Parellada. Regularly $16.50 Sale $12 through Dec. 10
Recent GWB Newsletters
Here are current and back-issues of the Great Wine Buys Newsletter to help you print out this month or find a wine from past issues.
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