Lot 880 2021 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay
A ripe, rich, utterly delicious Arroyo Seco Chardonnay from a longtime family producer whose history with California Chardonnay is unmatched! And at a steal of a price!
With their deep connection to that variety, they’ve consistently delivered our #1 selling Chardonnay, and it’s back—and better than ever. We’ve said many times that Monterey County, where Lot 880 was sourced, over-delivers at the intersection of quality and value. The cool climate region of Arroyo Seco, situated southeast of Monterey Bay with direct exposure to the Pacific Ocean, is one of California’s smallest AVAs. The area’s fog and wind mitigate the low annual rainfall (thanks to the rain shadow created by the Santa Lucia Mountains to the west), creating a perfect environment for premium Chardonnay grape growing.
The grapes in Arroyo Seco ripen during warm afternoons but retain loads of natural acidity because of the cooler, windy nights and misty mornings. One thing is for sure, this is a Chardonnay for the unabashed lover of ripe-fruited, creamy, toasty-oak-driven, and downright delicious Chardonnays—the kind that only California is capable of producing.
This Arroyo Seco Chardonnay’s golden hue offers only hints of great things to come—explosive aromas of ripe, yellow apple, Bosc pear, and sumptuous oak tinged with baking spices and vanilla. All those rich aromas make appearances on the palate, which offers a round, creamy mouthfeel and deep, concentrated flavors balanced by the fresh and lively acidity of grapes grown in Arroyo Seco. Bruised yellow apple and caramelized pear mingle with candied apricots, woven around a tapestry of lavish oaks spices, finishing long and buttery. Simply put, this is a ripe, rich, utterly delicious Chardonnay.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting.
Lot 859 2020 Monterey County Pinot Grigio
Monterey County Pinot Grigio, where cool coastal climate meets New World fruit!
Monterey County was first planted to vine by Franciscan missionaries in the 1790s with modern winegrowing practices taking off in the 1960s and the region officially being recognized in 1984. Since its recognition, 8 sub-appellations have been designated as local terroirs, microclimates, and soil composites have come into focus. In the northern reaches, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot have taken hold in the cooler coastal climate while the southern portion of the appellation generally plants Bordeaux grapes due to a warmer climate while butting up against Paso Robles.
Lot 859 may be New World fruit, but there are strong Old World bones here; classic citrus and saline are coaxed out by the cooler, coastal maritime climate that blankets the region, giving the wine an incredible sense of place, while the New World honey and pear qualities that make it a local favorite are soundly built in too. Strangely enough, this might be the tightest NDA we’ve signed with a winery in a long time as we’re unable to tell you much of anything about the source winery or winemaker. Who’d have thought a Pinot Grigio of all things would be this under lock and key? Now we’ve about seen it all.
In fact, the only thing we can tell you is the source winery fetches roughly $36/bottle in the tasting room, here, it’s yours for a fraction of that price.
Pale golden on the pour, the nose is expressive with lemon, lime, golden apple, and acacia flowers. The entry is excellently weighted with medium acidity exhibiting further citrus notes alongside honey-kissed Asian pear. The finish is not without some length for a dry white, showing a touch of saline character over crushed blossom, apple, and pear umami – an excellent accompaniment to triple-cream cheeses, shellfish, or grilled halibut steaks.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting.
Lot 901 2018 Napa Valley Rhone Blend
Released in November 2022, Lot 901 is a Rhone-style Red by way of California’s Côtes du Napa Valley. Sourced from an iconic estate responsible for “top-flight” Napa Rhone Blend reds that cost up to $150.
We’re beyond thrilled to offer you one of the finest California Rhône-style reds we’ve tasted from the 2018 vintage—one of Napa’s best vintages in the last four decades.
The producer we sourced this stunner from is a Napa Valley institution with nearly 50 years of crafting wines of beautiful balance, depth, and complexity. In fact, if you’re a frequent reader of The Wine Advocate, the publication founded by critic Robert Parker, you may have read some Parker reviews of this producer’s “top-flight Napa Cabernet Sauvignon,” which can cost upwards of $150 per bottle.
The grapes for their Rhône-style blend were sourced from two highly coveted vineyard sites in Napa’s Pope Valley, and one in Yountville. All three vineyards have been sources for some of Napa’s top winemakers, including at least two who have earned 100-point scores for their wines. So, as far as the class of these grape sources goes, we’re definitely in the Mercedes Benz category of Rhône varieties growing in Napa.
And for you fans of France’s Rhône Valley—especially fans of the famous Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which favors a hefty dose of Mourvèdre for its iconic $100+ blend—you’d be hard-pressed to find another Rhône-style red like Lot 901 2018 Côtes du Napa Valley anywhere near as complex for today’s $32 price tag.
Lot 901 shows a beautiful ruby color in the glass. Enticing aromas of cranberry, blood orange, and black cherry fruits mingle with herb de Provence and hints of vanilla-scented cedar spice. Your first sip reveals a rich and creamy red that unfolds in silken robes of mixed red berry fruit and spiced plums dusted with brown baking spices like cardamom, coriander, and Chinese Five spice. Lovely dark chocolate notes emerge on the finish, driven by a mineral freshness and lively acidity along with bursts of fragrant dried red floral notes. Composed primarily of Mourvèdre and Grenache, with splashes of Syrah and Petite Sirah, it offers a sumptuous, ripe, and juicy California take on the classic GSM blends that are famous throughout France’s Rhone Valley.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting.
Lot 903 2019 Sonoma County Merlot
This is the Sonoma Merlot CHW fans have been waiting for—a snapshot of cool-climate California one delicious sip after sip after sip.
There are three places in the world where Merlot grapes can be transformed from nice-looking, dark, juicy berries growing on a vine into world-class, delicious wine.
- The first is Bordeaux.
- The second is Italy (think of the great Super Tuscans you might have heard about).
- The third is California.
If you asked us to rank our favorite — we’d put California at the top of the list. From Napa down to the Central Coast, there are pockets of unique microclimates where Merlot thrives, Lot 903 Merlot is sourced from several of those locations within Sonoma. It is the perfect snapshot of Northern California Merlot, all in one glass, and with only 500 cases available, it is sure to be scooped up quickly!
Charging out of the glass with red and blue fruit, spices, and toasty oak notes, it envelops the palate with juicy plum, red currants, dark chocolate, and a kiss of tobacco spice. This is a food-friendly wine and one to bring to your next dinner party. Give it a nice half-hour decant and it will really start to sing.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting.
Lot 881 2021 Central Coast Rosé
Lot 881 is a Central Coast Rose with a lovely salmon-pink hue. Candied peaches and crushed stone minerality. Bright, clean, and juicy, showcasing delicate red berry fruit flavors, watermelon, guava, and a gravelly minerality. This is the rosé you want on hand for grilled or pan-seared fish dishes, savory salads with dried fruit and nuts, or a bevy of fresh-cut herbs.
We love to make rosé wine from California’s Central Coast for one reason—the weather. Vineyards planted from Monterey down to Santa Barbara are treated to refreshing, cool Pacific Ocean breezes, which means that while grapes ripen under the warm California sun, those cooling breezes slow the ripening down, leading to incredibly fresh, natural acidities in the grapes.
One sip of this Lot 881, 2021 Central Coast Rosé, and you’ll see what we mean. Crafted in the lean, dry style of rosé wine from France’s Provence region, the vibrant natural acidity of this Pinot Noir and Grenache blend delivers mouthwatering freshness with a firm backbone of acidity.
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Lot 836 2020 Moscato d’Asti Italy
Our #1 requested varietal is back in store in time for Spring – Introducing Lot 836 2020 Moscato d’Asti!
Long-time CHW fans know that since our first Moscato release some 10 years ago, it’s been a monster runaway hit, and year after year the most frequent request (by a mile) to our customer service inbox is this: “When are you getting the Moscato again?!” Not Napa Valley Cabernet, but Moscato d’Asti.
Sourced from a high-end artisanal winery in Asti, there’s never enough supply to meet our demand, and availability is never guaranteed in any year. Lot 836 is truly the pinnacle expression of the varietal, and the one you’ll find yourself using as a benchmark against all others – you may never be able to drink another Moscato again. This is one to have on hand year-round folks, so grab a few cases while they last!
With a beautiful frizzante (fizzy) effervescence, this Moscato d’Asti is the creamy, vivacious, semi-sweet Italian white you’ve been missing. It is positively bursting with every peach flavor you can imagine, from just-picked yellow peaches, ushering you back to childhood, then bringing you home again with a wonderfully-refreshing white peach acidity. The finish is crisp and clean with notes of fresh orange blossoms and candied green apples. You’d be wise to pair this with gooey, creamy cow’s milk soft-ripened cheeses and maybe even a slice of red velvet cake at the end of the night. Serve well-chilled.
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Lot 892 2019 Sonoma County Pinot Noir
A Sonoma County Pinot Noir is next up on the release schedule with Lot 892, an utterly electric Sonoma County Pinot from an incredible producer.
Virtually all great winegrowing regions are situated by water, which has a moderating effect on climatic extremes. This vintage comes from Carneros. Compared with Sonoma County’s other cool-climate AVAs, like the Sonoma Coast and Green Valley of the Russian River Valley, Carneros receives much less rainfall, and it’s farther from the Pacific Ocean. The moderating influence of San Pablo Bay, the northern portion of the greater San Francisco Bay, keeps Carneros cool and windy, but not too cold. Despite the broad agricultural vista it presents, the area’s dense, clay soils are not particularly deep but are made of wide, flat plains. This is a distinctive characteristic of Carneros Sonoma County Pinot Noir; full of cool, foggy mornings and evenings, and sun all day across the relatively uniform landscape of gently rolling hills.
Medium ruby with garnet hues. A muscular, brawny Sonoma County Pinot Noir sporting dusty red cherries, cola, brown spice aromas, and smoky clove. A rustic, lovely Pinot Noir overflowing with bright red-toned fruit, leather, and crushed stone minerals atop sinewy tannins. Nice lift with bright acidity and a fantastic long finish marked by crushed clove, black tea, and cedar.
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Lot 878 2019 Tuscany Chianti Classico
Ah, Tuscany—home to the Chianti Classico DOCG where towering cypress trees and olive-grove-lined roads wind through vine-covered hillsides, and where today’s release Lot 878 2019 Chianti Classico was sourced.
Chianti borders the Maremma, the Italian “Wild West,” which is home to cowboys herding longhorn cattle through vast stretches of undeveloped wilderness. It’s the place where Tuscan winemakers catch waves along the Tyrrhenian coastline between Livorno and San Vincenzo. They stop for Primi Piatti di Mare at quaint seaside restaurants before venturing an hour and a half back to their wine caves in those Tuscan hills—where DOCG red wines are made in tiny amounts by generational talents.
This region is where iconic triple-digit-priced Super Tuscans like Tignanello and Ornellaia have been created. It’s where Sangiovese grapes are harvested and transformed into gorgeous Chianti reds—just like Lot 878, which comes to us from a pioneering Tuscan family—vintners who over the years have supplied some of our best Italian reds for our Lot program. This is a Chianti Classico we’d put up against any $80+ bottle, and at only $16, it’s nothing short of a steal…
Medium ruby-garnet on the pour, this is a benchmark expression of Italian Chianti Classico. Lot 878 leads with a bowl of ripe cherries, hints of caramel and toffee, toasty oak, and earth. Impressively broad and juicy, with loads of ripe black cherry, then a host of savory black olive, cured meats, and fire-roasted Mediterranean herbs. The finish is long and punctuated by a crushed red granite rock minerality. We call this your everything wine because it’s one to enjoy alongside your best Sunday sauce, weeknight pasta, or brick oven pizza.
Watch as Zach Long, winemaker for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Lot 886 2021 Alexander Valley Merlot
Fellow Alexander Valley Merlot lovers – have you noticed any headlines in the wine magazines you frequent pointing out that producers of world-class Merlot are struggling to keep up with demand? After all, many Merlot vines were torn out in the early Aughts—thanks to one cult-classic movie, which shall not be named! But that’s all changing, and the wineries that held onto their precious Merlot, are reaping the rewards.
Lot 886 2021 Alexander Valley Merlot, comes from a well-known Merlot-focused vintner who has been featured on Wine Spectator’s Top 10 Values lists and “10 Commendable California Merlots.” The Russian River, which snakes its way through Alexander Valley, brings cool air with it during the warm growing months, allowing the natural acids in grapes to remain firm, which leads to a remarkable freshness, or brightness, in the wine – a fantastic AVA to grow Merlot. At nearly $40/bottle at the source winery’s tasting room, it can be yours today for only half at just $20.
Boasting a deep ruby color in the glass, Lot 886 is fabulously decadent and plush, revealing a wealth of flavors on the palate of ripe cherry, fragrant red currants, and spiced Santa Rosa plums. The finish is rich and velvety with lingering notes of black fruit, dried herbs, and baking spices. Enjoy a glass while prepping a roast chicken, another while whipping up a rich mushroom gravy, and depending on how long it takes for dinner to cook, maybe even crack open a second bottle.
Watch as Chris Lafleur, Sommeliers Creed for Cameron Hughes walks us through a tasting.
Lot 895 2019 Red Mountain Bordeaux
Adding to our Black Label series is Lot 895 2019 Red Mountain Bordeaux Blend! Another ride-or-die offering dressed to kill in our amazing, exclusive, and festive Black Label series.
Lot 895 similarly hails from the same elegantly rugged terroir of the Pacific Northwest as our last black label release the Lot 894 Merlot, but the grapes in this mix are sourced out of Red Mountain AVA. This mountainous region has plantings that started back in 1975, and is a well-known area for world-class Bordeaux varietals. Its soft sloping mountain range has nutrient-rich topsoil over sand, silt, and gravel. You can literally taste the elements in this Bordeaux blend that brings in richness and complexity from the varietals and the intensity & elegance from the terroir.
This mostly Malbec Red Mountain Bordeaux blend hits you with its distinct aromatic, floral violet, and lilac smells which envelope its rich, ripe black cherry, blackberry, and plum notes. Earthy vanilla, cloves, and hints of dill and chocolate waft onto your palette inside firm tannins and a lively acidity augmented by some denseness and richness of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Grippy, but unpretentious with savory layers of olive, currants, and passion fruit make this a stellar, well-rounded blend that can hold up against heavier fare like grilled meats and lasagna while still retaining a lightness that allows it to pair seamlessly with holiday stews, turkey, or charcuterie boards. Overall, this is a deep, earthy offering that embodies the spirit and quality of our Black Label series.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting.