APRIL CASE OF THE MONTH - $135

Notre Dame de Pallières Sablet 2023
This has been very popular over many vintages, most famously the 2020, discounted thanks to a warehouse forklift accident resulting in hundreds of stained labels, oops…  Sablet is a neighboring village of Gigondas and offers a similar charming rusticity and hearty pepper-tinged dark fruit. This just-arrived 2023 marries a silky, fine-grained texture to a gently rumbling powerhouse of fruit as ripe blackberry and wild strawberry flavors envelope the palate with suggestions of camphor, dark chocolate and wild thyme lingering on the substantial finish. 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah. $14.99

Scaia Rosso Veneto 2021
100% Corvina from the northern Valpolicella area, this springtime red is a real charmer, bursting with fragrant violet, lavender and woodsy potpourri aromas while the fruit on the palate shades from delicate strawberry to amaro-spiced red plum. Vibrant and high-toned to start, with air it plumps out and darkens as a low voltage current of acidity keeps the mildly exotic flavors pumping along. $13.50

Serrasagué Emporda 2023
A muscular, dark expression of Spanish Grenache, this comes from just over the French border close to the Mediterranean Sea. Evocative and potent, you can taste the rugged landscape – the dusty earthiness, the granite slate soils, even a wee bit of barnyard wafting on the breeze. Wrapped in there is a core of dark berry fruit that softens and gets more aromatic with air. Alternately robust then juicy, the robust side wins out in the end. $11.99

Vignerons de Mancey Mâcon Blanc 2020
Earlier this year customers were flocking to the 2021 vintage of this, a stellar value for good white Burgundy. Around the time we sold out of the 2021, the importer offered the same deal on a stash of 2020 that was discovered during year-end inventory. With similar flavors and a bonus extra year in bottle, let’s ride this pony again!

Sourced from limestone soil slopes around Mancey, Vers, Royer and Martailly-Les- Brancion and vinified in neutral barrel, it is a textbook example from the region. Medium-bodied and crisp, the nose offers hints of apple, shortbread and lemon, flavors that continue on the textured palate. Thanks to extended time on the lees, yeasty brown spice and toasted nut notes linger on the finish. Normally $17, now just $11.99.

Casa E di Mirafiore Dolcetto d’Alba 2017
Last month’s Dolcetto sold out too quickly so we started looking for more; who knew this backbench Piedmont varietal would be so popular? Happily this popped up, a just-discounted older vintage from the Barolo village of Serralunga in a prime drinking window. Somewhat serious and savory in style, it offers a shifting personality that reveals layers of flavor and texture the longer it’s open. The nose is deep and winey with kirsch and plum accented by rosemary and amaro-like spice. Dark cherry and berry glide across the broad silky palate while the finish brings lightly gripping tannins and a long aromatic trail of dried roses, licorice and pipe tobacco. Normally $22, now just $13.99.   

Clos de los Siete Red 2021
An Argentine project of the famous French winemaker Michel Rolland, this is always an excellent value when we catch it on sale from the distributor. A six-varietal blend dominated by Malbec, it is mouthfilling yet mellow with warm cocoa overtones and bass note dark fruit. 2021 was cooler than previous years and the result here is brighter acid and less ripe fruit lending a more European feel. Mixed berry and smoky cherry loll about the palate with cedary oak notes and polished tannins on the finish. Normally $23, this month just $12.99.

Château de la Vieille Tour Bordeaux Supérieur 2020
A blend of organic Merlot, Cab Sauv, Malbec and Cab Franc, this offers true old world Bordeaux flavors in a juicy, medium-bodied, open-knit style. Inviting aromas of dried mint, cigar box and loamy soil lead to red currant, black cherry and dried blueberry, a tangle of flavors hovering above an underlying gravelly minerality. The finish brings plump, food-friendly tannins and aromatic echoes of all that came before. Normally $19, this month just $13.99.

Secreto de Viu Manent Viognier Colchagua Valley 2024
With spot on Viognier flavors this delicious version from Chile opens with peachy honeysuckle florals that lead to succulent nectarine and melon on the palate, roundly opulent flavors that are buoyed by tangerine acidity and a tug of citrus pith. There’s great balance between a lively freshness and the generous fruit, while the overall shading of mild fresh green – grapes, garden herbs, fennel fronds – gives it an appealing spring-like character. $12.99

Lagar de Robla Mencia Premium 2021
From Mencia vines growing alongside the Camino de Santiago in north central Spain comes this honest countryside red, the kind you would drink for a few euros a bottle while pilgriming your way village to village. Since Portland is decidedly not on the Camino it costs a bit more here but is still a terrific value. With a soft caressing mouthfeel enlivened by gentle pops of acidity it offers dark-toned flavors of currant, plum, cocoa powder and cumin while woodsy incense notes weave in and out. $9.99 

José Maria da Fonseca Peninsula de Setubal "Anticiclone" 2022
It’s pretty rare to get a Wine Spectator Top 100 selection in the Case of the Month but an importer scored this deal straight outta Portugal and their timing was perfect. Coming from a region close to the ocean south of Lisbon, this is dominated by the local favorite varietal Castelão (aka Periquita) and has a bright sunny disposition, matching the landscape from where it comes. We noticed that it really came alive with air so decant or swirl vigorously to help open it up. #66 in 2024’s Top 100: "Balanced and medium-bodied, this fresh red frames flavors of chopped black cherry, blackberry paste, espresso, tobacco, anise and graphite with light, fine tannins. Castelão and Aragoñez. 90 pts - Wine Spectator. $12.99

Bodegas San Valero Plano Alto Garnacha & Cariñena 2019 
This over-achiever comes from Spain’s Aragon region but reminded us of a juicy easy-drinking Côtes du Rhône. The nose is perfumed and inviting, a mix of wild Mediterranean herbs, crackling campfire and fresh summer berries. Gently sappy with some balancing grip, cherry and blackberry flavors tango their way to the clean bright finish. (Popular way back in June 2023, amazingly we could still get the same vintage; it’s always nice to find reds with bottle age.) $12.50

Radley & Finch Chenin Blanc 2024
Known as Steen in South Africa, Chenin Blanc is the country’s most widely planted varietal; one importer claims there is more in South Africa than the rest of the world combined. This newly arrived 2024 is clean and citrus-y, the gentle nectarine and melon fruit balanced by snaps of lime zest and white pepper before finishing dry and snappy. $12.99

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