Sign me up!

What do you get when you add up great wines, great prices, great convenience, and some of the nicest people in the wine business? The Cofarro Wine Club.

David and Pat have launched a wine club. While we've been avid buyers since at least their 1997 vintage (that's the oldest we have in the cellar) we joined their new wine club recently. It's a very nice deal - one shipment of three bottles every four months for $60. The first shipment, which is coming soon, will be either a trio of their wonderful Bordeaux blend, Aca Modot, or their equally wonderful Estate Zinfandel. The vintage is 2005, 2006, and 2007. (We're just now getting into the 2005s.)

This is a great way to have some wonderful wines show up at your door for very little money.

A nice surprise

Stopped by the Produce Station yesterday to pick up a few things for dinner (broccoli, chicken), and saw that they had a nice cache of white northern Rhone wines available at deep discounts. Since the vintages are a little on the older side, running the gamut from 2001 to 2005, I picked up a couple to see if they were still in good shape.

They are!

We opened a 2004 Guigal Crozes-Hermitage (pictured at the left) which was just fabulous. There's something about the white northern Rhones that really stands out once the bottle has a little big of age on it. Spicy aromas, clean fruit, and a lasting finish all come together.

Many of the wines are from E. Guigal, and we have often found this producer to be a reliable source for interesting wines. In addition to the 2004 Crozes-Hermitage (I bought the last five, sorry) there are also a dozen or more 2005 Condrieu (which are still nearly $30) and several 2001 St. Joseph. We'll try this latter wine tonight, and if it has held up as well as the 2004, we'll pick up a few more of those too.