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Dear Friends,

I remember an article Lettie Teague once wrote for Food & Wine where she bemoans never having been as embarrassed ordering wine as she was the month where she just drank Pinot Grigio. Pinot Grigio’s reputation amongst wine cognoscenti has traditionally been low and probably for good reason – much of it is bland and inconsequential. COO Doug and I agree most people drink Pinot Grigio because they DON’T want a lot of flavor, just something cold and wet. That said, there are many terrific PG’s out there and there is nothing more refreshing than a good one - when done right the wines are crisp and rewarding. It’s been a long time since we have done a Pinot Grigio here at CHW as everything sent our way out of Italy was precisely bland and inconsequential. Well, we finally got a good one and had to go all the way to Santa Barbara to find it.

Lot 264 2009 Santa Barbara Pinot Grigio ($12) is anything but innocuous. Bright, fresh, and fruity it’s the perennial aperitif quaffer but with a ripe stone-fruit character that I simply don’t find in the Italian version. Every time I imagine myself drinking his wine I am standing around a pool or have just stepped off the tennis court (even though I haven’t picked up a tennis racquet in decades). Maybe I am just channeling Florida where I am constantly besieged with folks requesting another Pinot Grigio? Either way, give Lot 264 a try and you’ll find a delicious wine with beautiful aromatics and crisp midpalate flavors of nectarine and peach.

Moving on to today’s other offering, I am reminded of the past offering that inspired it. Many of you will remember Lot 150 Meritage that we launched into Sam’s Club a while back. That wine put us on the map in there and has opened up the doors for many other offerings. Today’s release, Lot 250 Napa Meritage ($11) channels the awesome value that wine represented and takes it up a notch. Like Lot 150, Lot 250 is born of an oversupply. For 150 it was mostly 2005 and 2006 barrel aged reds but for Lot 250 it’s all Napa County components from one one of Napa’s most revered wineries and the bountiful 2009 Harvest. To be frank, these wines didn’t make the cut for their $60+ program and found their way back to us where, after about 40+ iterations, we finally got the blend right. This wine represents astonishing value with a lovely nose of raspberry, cherry and chocolate mint. The midpalate is supple and juicy and the finish suave with lingering black cherry notes. Delicious stuff. 

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about these or any other wines. You may email us or call us at 1-800-805-1971, we're happy to help you.
 

Cheers!


Cameron Hughes

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