Appellation Wine and Spirits — an unconventional wine store. By unconventional we mean that we focus on producers that depart from convention and make wine that is organic or biodynamic.  Please take the time to learn within these pages about this way of producing wine as well as our store -- better yet, visit us in our West Chelsea neighborhood in New York City and share with us an enthusiasm and love for wine.  Cheers!

• ’10 Madonna Estate Carneros Chardonnay $15.99 (organic)
• ’06 Rémi Jeanniard Morey-Saint-Denis “Vieilles Vignes” $37.99
• '98 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Pfalz Riesling "Wachenheimer Rechbächel" $53.99
• ’09 Coturri Sonoma Chardonnay “Grebennikoff” $35.99
  
• ’09 La Closerie (Jérôme Prévost) Champagne “Les Béguines” $94.99 (sustainable)
  

Bordeaux Bargain

I cut my teeth on Bordeaux many moons ago, before it cost a Biedermeier armoire or a firstborn to get a decent parcel of Futures. Despite all the rigmarole, I still love it. I’d eat PB & J sandwiches all the day for a month if I could secure a cellar’s worth of Cheval Blanc, Lafite, and Cos d'Estournel to feed my sanguineous appetite. Reality being the bitter pill that it is, I’ve come to settle for the exquisite joy of finding hidden gems— for cheap. Not quality cheap. Heck no. I need it to be a pebble short of sublime, but small on price. That’s the ticket!

Serendipity found me or should I say I stumbled upon it when I took my first swig of Château Tour de Goupin Bordeaux 2010$10.99

Though the bulk of the wine is composed of Merlot (60%), the plumminess is girded by a stolid Cabernet Sauvignon core (30%). The remainder is Cabernet Franc which offers a delicate floral aromatic. From the first sip, you will be captivated by the Ingrid Bergman grace. Here’s a wine that’s polished and poised. Those looking for a late-career Orson Welles, burly and imposing with undertones of tobacco may be disappointed. I was delighted by this wine because it highlights for me the possibility of elegance in an overly-touted region that has increasingly moved away from subtlety and towards overripe juice and an appetite for opulence over balance.

This micro-estate resides in Sainte-Foy, most specifically Gensac, which sits at the southeastern tip touching both Entre-Deux-Mers in the north and Dordogne to the east. The soil composition closer resembles its northern neighbor Entre-Deux-Mers with its spritely mix of loamy marl which gives this wine both character and finesse. Mrs. Christiane Deffarge, the estate owner keeps a low profile and is more concerned with the integrity of her grapes than gracing the pages of global wine magazine spreads.

The 2010 is an excellent wine, slightly below the radar of the landmark 2009 vintage. Were you to lay this bottle down for a couple of years you’d be more than pleased by the complexity this gorgeous Bordeaux will deliver.  But why wait, you have duck, lamb shank, and even some slow-cooked brisket that is in desperate need of fine company. Tour de Goupin is your pairing partner.

-John