Breaking Down Our Laphroaig Barrel Tasting

Last night I took my colleague Ara to the Raymond restaurant in Pasadena for a special barrel tasting event and dinner with the team from Laphroaig and Beam Suntory. Mission was one of only fifteen retailers selected nationally to receive one of Laphroaig’s first distillery-direct single cask selections, and yesterday was step one in what will be a multi-step process to make that happen! We were very excited to be selected, as Laphroaig is easily in my top three favorite distilleries in the world, and I’m obsessed with the idea of being able to choose from specific warehouses on site.

I’ll be going live on the @missionliquor Instagram at 3 PM today to dig into the nitty gritty, but the gist is this: we had cask samples from five different types of barrel, from different ages, and it was up to us to decide which type of cask we’d like to select. Not the final selection, mind you; just the type of wood. Seeing that the MSRP for the Laphroaig single barrel will be the same no matter the age, barrel type, or volume, there’s a lot to consider beyond pure flavor!

I’ll be live on Instagram to talk about all the details later today, then I’ll repost the video here tomorrow for anyone who misses it.

-David Driscoll

New Matthiasson Vintages: The Best Ever?

If you missed the live Instagram discussion with legendary Napa winemaker Steve Matthiasson last week, I’d encourage you to check it out now. It was such an inspiring walk through the vineyards with Steve that we immediately sold every bottle of Matthiasson rosé on hand, forcing us to scramble for additional inventory in the wake of today's email offer.

For those who aren't familiar with the Matthiasson wines, the New York Times' Eric Asimov has a fantastic summary: “Matthiasson wines bear an agricultural stamp, as fresh, lively and alive as the best produce from a farmers’ market."

Indeed, the stamp each Matthiasson label bears is the pruning shear: the most important tool in the Matthiasson tool belt, as Steve's philosophy is far more centered around farming than actual winemaking. "The pruning shear is our version of a chef's knife," Steve said during our discussion; "When you buy a bottle of Matthiasson, you're paying for for the fact that our vines were tended by hand, by full-time, year round employees with paid holidays and 401Ks. They're doing everything by hand, taking care of the land organically."

The 2021 Matthiasson Rosé was made from a combination of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Counoise from the Windmill Vineyard in the Dunnigan Hills, Barbera from the Muller Vineyard in the Dunnigan Hills, and Syrah grapes from the Hurley Vineyard in Napa Valley. It is delicate on the nose, fresh and lively on the palate, and it really lights up the taste buds about mid-way with tangy red fruits and beautiful notes of raspberry with herbs. All the fruit is grown specifically for rosé and harvested very early to keep the acidity fresh, similar to the level of ripeness for a sparkling wine. If I had to choose the top rosé from any winery in the world, I can't imagine tasting anything better than this 2021 vintage from Matthiasson. Their obsession with organic farming and top-notch fruit is palpable in every sip.

In the tradition of Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Matthiasson Napa includes a small amount of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, and is blended from six vineyards throughout the Napa Valley. The three AVAs are Coombsville for structure and black fruit, Rutherford for savory Cabernet characters and bright fruit, and Oak Knoll for soft fruit. It is a Napa Cab of the old school, a blended wine, age-worthy, complex, and begging for a steak off of the grill.

As Steve discusses during the Instagram conversation, the fruit was specifically farmed to yield fruit with a lower alcohol levels, brimming with traditional and classic Cabernet Sauvignon flavors of dark fruit, tobacco leaf, and a hint of pepper, yet simultaneously with mild tannic structure to create a wine approachable in its youth. To me, this wine drinks like California Cabernet from decades ago, reminiscent of old Heitz Martha's Vineyard vintages, but with a silkiness and elegance that manifests itself immediately, rather than over decades in the cellar. In short, it's nothing less than spectacular.

-David Driscoll

As an aside, don't miss the Tendu Wines as well: an affordable label that also features Steve Matthiasson as its winemaker, and holds true to the same organic standards. It's like a farmers' market inside every bottle.

St. Patrick's Day Surprise

I was lucky enough to sit down with Louise McGuane, half of the inspiration behind the new Kentucky Owl St. Paddy’s Day Edition, when she visited the store a few weeks back, so I think I’ll be able to give you all some intricate details about the make-up of the new expression that you won’t read elsewhere. For those of you who don’t know Louise, she’s an Irish whiskey bonder in Ireland, meaning she contracts whiskey from various distillers, but also sources her own barrels, then fills and ages them in her own warehouse to create her own unique expressions.

The project with Kentucky Owl came together when she was visiting Kentucky to obtain some ex-Bourbon barrels, and decided to work with the brand to create a marriage from the whiskies previously housed inside those casks. Using roughly a 40% base of 4.5 year old Bardstown Bourbon Company wheated Bourbon, the remainder of the blend consists of whiskies from Heaven Hill (the oldest component), Peerless, other Kentucky Owl stocks, and the standard Bardstown Bourbon Company rye Bourbon mashbill. Bottled at 100 proof, it’s an absolutely beautiful and balanced whiskey from front to back, loaded with plenty of mid-palate richness, rounded fruity notes, and plenty of spice. Definitely worth grabbing a bottle in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day this year if you prefer Bourbon over Irish whiskey.

-David Driscoll

Instagram Live With Penny Pound Ice

On this beautiful morning in sunny Southern California, we do a quick introduction to our latest partner in Pasadena: Penny Pound Ice!

If you haven’t stopped by our cooler to grab some rocks for your next cocktail or whiskey drink, come on by and see what the fuss is about. Once you try it, you’ll never go back.

-David Driscoll

The Trouble With Burgundy

I remember the first time I went to Burgundy, almost exactly five years ago, because every house I visited had a cellar like the one above. I took the same photo just about everywhere I went because I wanted to show my customers what a real Burgundy collection looked like, and how romantic it could be.

My personal Burgundy collection sits in my pantry closet, consisting of roughly twenty-five bottles that I’ve picked out here and there over the last few years, but it will never look like the above cellar for two key reasons:

  1. I wasn’t born into a Burgundian winemaking family.

  2. I was also born in the wrong era for Burgundy collecting as the top wines are far too expensive now.

(See my article over at the Two-Nineteen blog for more thoughts on why today’s generations will never be able to appreciate wine the way older generations were)

However, the fact that I’ll never be a serious collector doesn’t mean that I don’t lust after good Burgundy, chasing the highs that I’ve experienced at various moments over my career. When you’ve tasted perfectly mature Burgundy at the dinner table with the right meal, you’re pretty much ruined for life. No other wine has as much romance and nuance, nor requires as much diligence, patience, and investment, which makes the reward that much sweeter.

I received a few emails about yesterday’s blog/email offer regarding the 2014 Jane et Sylvain Gevrey-Chambertin from people interested in trying a decent red Burgundy. They asked: What makes the wine special? Why was I excited about it? And so on.

Let me share this passage from Burgundy master Clive Coates to give you some perspective:

With Gevrey we arrive at the beginning of the finest sector of the Burgundian vineyard. Gevrey-Chambertin is the largest of the great communes of the Côte de Nuits and can boast nine of the twenty-four Côte de Nuits grand-cru vineyards. It therefore vies with Vosne for the title of most important commune of them all: the apogee of Burgundy, the pinnacle of the Pinot Noir.

Gevrey-Chambertin is a serious commune with serious wines, so you don’t see too many values these days, especially with age. That’s part of why I’m excited about the wine. But let’s pretend that you decided this week to get into Burgundy, and purchased Clive Coates’ fantastic book to learn more about the wines. You flip to the section about Gevrey-Chambertin and you look for the top-ranked producers. Armand Rousseau looks interesting. Maybe you should buy a bottle.

That’ll be $550 plus tax for one bottle. Oh, and you shouldn’t open it for about 15-20 years.

That’s no way to learn about Burgundy, trust me. Taking shots in the dark like that is no different than picking random stocks and hoping you become a millionaire. You’re far more likely to lose than win. But if the best wines are completely out of reach, and practically never available to taste or sample, how can you ever gain perspective as a newbie? The hard truth is this: it’s very, very difficult.

So why bother at all? Because, like I said before, once you have that magic moment—that incredible instance where you taste a perfect Burgundy, time stops, and everything is illuminated—you’ll become addicted.

Burgundy isn’t like whiskey where you can trade samples with other collectors on social media, shipping 50ml minis across the country, building up your palate experience over time. The “rarity” of Bourbon is a pathetic joke compared to Burgundy. You can walk into almost any bodega in Los Angeles and find Pappy for $1000 or so, if you’re really that interested in trying a bottle. But $1000 won’t even get you a sip of the finest red Burgundy vintages.

A bottle of 2005 Richebourg will cost you $9,000…IF you can even find one. And you better hope it isn’t a fake, or that someone didn’t leave it in the sun for a few hours ten years ago. There are no guarantees, however. Unless it came straight from the domaine and into your cellar, anything could have happened to it between you and the vendor. Sound like fun?

So when I find little gems like a library edition 2014 Gevrey-Chambertin for $49.99 that has a few years of bottle age, drinks beautifully, and tastes like Gevrey-Chambertin is supposed to, I celebrate. In my middle class world, these are the little victories that make wine drinking more enjoyable. Having tasted my share of high-end Burgundy over the years, I can’t say I’d pay thousands of dollars to recreate the very best experience, but I would definitely pay $49.99 for this one.

-David Driscoll

Do Yourself A Favor: Buy This Bottle

For anyone who's ever wondered just how much better red Burgundy tastes after a few years in the cellar, but doesn't have the desire or the patience to build a collection, buy a few bottles of this 2014 Jane et Sylvain Gevrey-Chamberin for $49.99 and be wowed. You'll see what the big deal is.

Those of us who have long caught the Burgundy bug know how difficult it is to find a Pinot Noir from anywhere in the Côte de Nuits or Beaune—let alone Gevrey-Chambertain—that's ready-to-drink, of quality, and somewhat affordable. That's exactly why we did a double take when our friends from Jane et Sylvain offered us the last of their 2014 library edition village-level Gevrey-Chambertin for a price that seemed too good to be true.

Rest assured; we did our due diligence here. The reason so many people are intimidated by Burgundy is because it’s a TOTAL CRAPSHOOT. I don’t care how many tasting notes you read, how many bottles you open, or how many people have assured you of a wine’s quality. I’ve spent thousands over the years on bottles that were “supposed” to deliver, but fell short.

Burgundy is a low odds game, but we keep coming back to the roulette table, time and time again, because the highs are just that incredible. When you hit a winner, there’s no feeling like it.

This bottle is an absolute winner, so let’s break it down:

  • Ready-to-drink: Eight years of bottle age with perfectly-integrated tannins and a soft, silky texture that showcases crunchy red berries and subtle nuances of earth.

  • Of Quality: Jane et Sylvain is one is one of the smallest wineries in the village, with only 4 hectares of vines and a very small production, operating organically since 2003, never using chemical herbicides or pesticides.

  • Affordable: Most village-level wines of this quality from Gevrey-Chambertin sell for $60+ and still need another 5-10 years in the cellar before they're even approachable! Find us another wine with this provenance, with this much age, for $49.99.

Gevrey-Chambertin is known for pinot noir wines that are massive, yet velvet-smooth, with a tannic structure capable of long-term cellaring. It pairs wonderfully with meats and other earthy, gamey dishes. I can’t remember the last time I found a value with age from the village, let alone a wine I would go deep on.

I’m casing up. Don’t miss this.

-David Driscoll