Page 3 - Our Table to Your's

Wine: 2003 La Conseillante
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $75/btl
Rating: 93 RP-NM

As the hype surrounding the 2009 Bordeaux campaign rages, we decided to dive into the wonderful, classic and timeless world of Bordeaux.  Drinking Bordeaux inevitably puts a smile on our face.  And, we doubt many people would disagree that it doesn't have the same effect on them, as they swirl and sip wine from this top producing region.  On the other hand, the price of a great bottle of Bordeaux, has the potential to hurt the wallet.  Our Sokolin buyers have once again scoured the market and picked up some reasonably priced Bordeaux from an ultra premium property, Chateau La Conseillante, which is a true bargain for this potential superstar.  Because we were able to pick up a large parcel of the '03 vintage, we are able to offer it out to our customers for only $75/btl.  Other vintages of this

Wine: 2007 Roger Sabon Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Prestige
Region: Rhone
Sokolin Price: $54.95/btl
Rating: 95 RP

2007 was a stellar vintage in the Rhone region.  Every time we taste a bottle, we are just blown away.  Even the industry experts, such as Robert Parker, has awarded a 98 point vintage score to the Southern Rhone for 2007.   

Regarding this specific producer, Parker said, "2007 may be the strongest vintage across the board that I have ever tasted at Roger Sabon."  When the world's most prominent wine critic gives such applause, our ears perk up, and we can't resist trying it out for ourselves.

The 2007 Roger Sabon CDP Cuvee Prestige is deep purple in color, full of cherries, cream and spice.  It is an incredible, stylish, yet casual wine that can be served with even the most basic meals.  With all the nice sunshine and 70 degree weather in

Wine: 2008 Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner
Region: Austria
Sokolin Price: $13.95/btl
Rating: 90 ST

Austria is known for the success it's achieved with the Gruner Veltliner grape varietal, and we just enjoyed a slice of Austrian excellence over the weekend.  We sampled the 2008 Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner, which is packed with bits of citrus fruit - flavors reminiscent of orange peel, grapefruit and a dash of lemon - and even a pinch of spice and white pepper can be picked up.  Refreshing and crisp to the palate, it's as light as a feather.  We enjoyed this wine with a light fare that included sautéed local bay scallops, greens and buttered fingerling potatoes.

With Spring now in full swing, many wine lovers (including us) start to increase their white wine consumption.  It's something about sunny, warm weather and fresh air that makes you leave the bottles of red behind

Wine: 2004 Aldo Conterno Barolo
Region: Piedmont
Sokolin Price: $54.99/btl
Rating: 91 RPWA

Wine: 2006 Guado Al Tasso
Region: Tuscany
Sokolin Price: $84.99/btl
Rating: 95 WS

We had some friends in the wine business over for dinner this weekend, so we knew we couldn't go wrong with serving up a few great Italian wines.  With sopressata and various cheeses (white truffle goat, triple crème to die for and a nice mild blue) for appetizers, we served the 2004 Aldo Conterno Barolo, which hails from the Piedmont region of Italy.  This wine was a light but brilliant shade of burgundy in color, and the bouquet had undertones of cherries, dark berries and even a hint of earth.  On the palate, it was smooth, elegant and very well balanced.  The wine was a fabulous complement to our appetizers.  It

Wine: 1992 Haut Brion Blanc
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $225/btl
Rating: 93 RP

Wine: 1999 DRC Vosne Romanee Cuvee Duvault Blochet
Region: Burgundy
Sokolin Price: $449/btl
Rating: 90 ST

Wine: 1998 Lafleur
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $600-800/btl
Rating: 96-98 RP-NM

On Friday night, we met up with some wine friends in NYC with plans on dining at Gotham Bar & Grill.  It's always a fun time and one to look forward to, as everyone brings a special wine.  When we were seated at Gotham, we were informed of their corkage policy, part of which was that we were only allowed to open two of the three bottles we brought with us.  Yikes!  We looked at these three amazing bottles and thought, how could we possibly

Wine: 2006 Canon
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $54.99/btl
Rating: 90 RP

Right now in the wine business, it's all about 2009 Bordeaux Futures.  If you've been following our site or subscribe to our Bordeaux Futures email list, you know by now that the 2009 vintage will go down as one of the greatest and that there will be huge worldwide demand for the 2009s.  As a result, the critics and industry experts are expecting very high opening prices for the first growths and the super seconds too. 

Robert Parker recently said, "Forget the first-growths. They have become luxury products, and possess the same prestigious image as Rolls Royce, Bentley, or Aston Martin cars, Roger Dubuis or Berguet watches, or haute couture from Chanel or Christian Dior."

If prices for the 2009s open up as high as some are predicting, smart Bordeaux buyers will look to previous vintages for better value

Wine: 1998 La Fleur Petrus
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $195/btl
Rating: 92 RP

With the 2009 Bordeaux Futures campaign in full swing, we can't seem to get our minds away from Bordeaux.  It's all the rage right now and is likely to command a lot of attention for the next two months.  While we've seen some of the smaller to mid-sized chateaux release their 2009 vintage, we still await the release of all the big names of fine wine, including the first growths. 

We decided to try a bottle of 1998 La Fleur Petrus in anticipation of selling the 2009 vintage of this wine.  La Fleur Petrus comes from the Pomerol region, and the 1998 vintage is considered to be one of the most outstanding Right Bank vintages.  La Fleur Petrus, also owned by the Moueix Family (they also own the famed Chateau Petrus), is a spell-binding wine that screams quality. 

Paired with a very simple

Wine: 2006 Dominus
Region: California
Sokolin Price: $109/btl
Rating: 96 RP

The highlight of this past weekend for us was a blind tasting that included some wines that really wowed us.  The line-up, in chronological order, went like this: 1975 Mouton Rothschild, 1989 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 1989 Mouton Rothschild, 1999 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino, 2004 Haut Brion & 2006 Dominus.  Since all of these incredible wines were the main act of the night, we served a rather simple meal that started with several cheeses, and ended with barbeque ribs, grilled skirt steak, boiled potatoes and baby snap peas.  Wine lovers will have no problem understanding that wine took center stage, and the food, while delicious, took its place somewhere in the background.

A little about each wine:

--The 1975 Mouton

As most people know, Sokolin sells some of the rarest and most valuable wines in the world.  That is our forte, and we have been successfully pairing wines with our customers for the past 76 years.  What not everyone knows is that we also source out, research, taste, compare, rate and finally bring to the market inexpensive wines that taste like the exclusive ones.

Enter an amazing wine we refer to as "Old Faithful."  This wine is 2005 Waterstone Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, California - a wine that must be of cult descent.  Our first blind tasting of this wine reminded us of the great hillside terroir of Napa Valley.  An extremely well made wine that had the perfect balance of power, fruit, oak, acidity and great mouth feel.  We were accurate about everything during the blind tasting, except for the price.  We truly thought it was a superbly made cult wine and would sell for over $100+ (It sells for less than $20).  Please keep in

Wine: 2006 Cheval des Andes
Region: Argentina
Sokolin Price: $69.99/btl
Rating: 96 RP

This auspicious evening we tried a wine that was...well... a "Pedigree Argentine from a Bordeaux Stable" (www.chevaldesandes.com) Sounds ridiculously cool right?  It definitely was and here are the details.

It's a well known fact that we recommend and sell wines from every stand-out wine producing region.  In doing so, it's not surprising that we have developed quite a passion for some New World wines.  Argentina, a major wine producer of South America (and also considered to be of the New World), is one of them.  It has achieved such success with the Malbec grape varietal that when thinking of Argentina, Malbec naturally comes to mind. 

We recently tasted a bottle of 2006 Cheval des Andes from the Mendoza region of Argentina.  You can really taste and experience a piece of history