Great Stories, Great Wines, Great Prices

A bottle of wine can be so much more than just a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening. When you have great stories + native varietals + exciting flavors + fantastic pricing, a bottle of wine can become a gateway to another culture or a passport to another land. 

We think these three new white wines from Oliver McCrum’s outstanding Italian portfolio showcase all of those attributes for a price that delivers both precision and passion. Let’s check them out. 

Confiscated Sicilian Mafia Vineyards From The Hometown of Don Corleone

Centopassi is the wine operation behind Libera Terra run by Giovanni Ascioni, a truly talented and passionate winemaker who is turning out some of the most exciting whites anywhere in Italy right now. As author Robert Camuto writes in his beloved book South Of Somewhere:

"Organized crime was one of Giovanni's preferred subjects because, in his multifarious life, he was not only a winemaker, writer, and photographer, but he also managed to work for Libera Terra, the 21st century nonprofit that repurposed land confiscated from convicted mobsters by the courts. Libera Terra runs cooperatives across Southern Italy that use the lands for producing organic wine, pasta, beans, canned tomatoes, jams, and olive oil. For communities in the South, agriculture is an important source of employment, and Libera Terra kept those properties from being abandoned."

Centopassi Rocce di Pietra Longa Grillo 2021 750ml - $22.99

Today, Centopassi's vineyards are thriving today thanks to all of Giovanni and his team's great work. The ‘Rocce di Pietra Longa’ is 100% Grillo from the Pietralunga vineyard, located near the town of Corleone. The vineyard can be recognized by a tall stone (the Pietra Lunga), about 100 feet high, nearby. Vines were planted in stony alkaline clay soil with many rocky outcroppings. The wine offers gorgeous and intensely-mouthwatering aromas of lemon, marzipan and wet stones. We think it sings with seafood.

A World Famous White Wine From Barolo Country?

Most people think of red wine when they think of Piedmont—Barolo & Barbaresco—but Arneis has been making a serious comeback as of late. A white grape variety indigenous to Piedmont known for its fleshy fruit flavors and richness of texture, it very nearly died out a few decades ago, but today is thriving at the Giovanni Almondo estate, who we think makes the best Arneis in the business.

Yes, the Nebbiolos from Almondo are excellent as well, but their Arneis bottlings transcend the genre, showing classic typicity, but with a structure more akin to a bone-dry Riesling. Planted on sandy, acidic ground at around 400 meters above sea level, the consistent wind, exposure, altitude and acidity of the soil create the vibrant, fresh and bright style of the Almondo Arneis.

Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Vigne Sparse 2021 750ml

We can’t imagine anyone not liking this wine, and boy does it taste good on a late Summer evening. Fleshy stone fruits, bone dry minerality, lots of character and for an amazing price, no less. Piedmont’s white Arneis wines are one of the biggest industry secrets at the moment. The Vigne Sparse tastes like fresh apricots and glides over the palate with an effortless, clean finish.

The Flavors of the Sea From Just Outside Naples

Just north of Naples, right on the coast of Campania, there is a very small grape-growing area called the Campi Flegrei. The soil is so sandy here that the vines can be planted directly in it, without being grafted to other rootstocks. La Sibilla’s Campi Flegrei wines made from the Falanghina grape are serious wines priced like an everyday bottle. Their distinction and character transcends what we see in America at the same price point, and the quality is apparent with every sip. 

Luigi di Meo and his family have been farming these vineyards for over five generations and their wines are some of the best values in the store. What should you think of when you think of Campania? Fresh seafood. Fresh vegetables. The smell of the ocean. Flavorful pastas. Hospitality. Family.

La Sibilla Campi Flegrei Falanghina 2022 750ml

The 2022 La Sibilla Falanghina showcases the dynamic duo of citrus and minerality, but with more weight than something like a Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre. There’s a subtle herbaceousness, but it’s wrapped up in salinity and notes of fresh tarragon. Pair this with just about anything, from a cheese plate with some salami to a seafood risotto. We think you’ll be a believe in both La Sibilla and Falanghina by the time you empty the bottle.

Our Best-Selling Pinot Noir Is Just $16.99

Violet Hill delivers a delicious pinot noir that sings of Oregon at an affordable price. Look for flavors of dark cherry and flowers with an accent of black tea, unencumbered by oak. Drink this now for its youthful energy while its pricier competitors mature in the cellar. This would also be a great addition to your Thanksgiving table. 

-Washington Post, 2022

With so much highly-rated, bargain-priced wine on the market at the moment, we’ve witnessed more and more of our consumers turn to our local staff members for suggestions outside the mainstream. Of all the under-the-radar bargains we’re obsessed with at the moment, no red wine has been more popular than the incredibly-priced Violet Hill Oregon Pinot Noir—a value that must be tasted to be believed.

It used to be almost a rule that Pinot Noir under $20 wasn’t necessarily worth fussing around with, but Violet Hill has completely changed that notion at Mission. Farmed in an expansive and well-sheltered valley along the Rogue River in Oregon, its vineyards are bordered by the Cascade Mountains to the east, the Siskiyou Mountains to the north, and the Southern Oregon Coast Range to the West. WIth mostly high-elevation sites, the warm days and cool nights allow for fruit with both ripeness and acidity.

2022 Violet Hill Rogue Valley Pinot Noir $16.99 (Elsewhere $25+)

Using all native yeasts for fermentation, the wine is fresh and vibrant on the palate with plenty of dark fruit, bolstered by lifted aromatics and crunchy berries on the finish. It’s so juicy and alive you might find yourself plowing through an entire bottle faster than expected. That’s OK, however, because at just $16.99 you can afford to buy more than one. 

Get in on the secret.

2010 Cantemerle: Luxury Within Reach

“This is definitely a major sleeper of the vintage and even better than I thought from barrel. With its 2010, this classified growth located in the southern end of the Medoc may well have made a modern-day version of their legendary 1949.” -Robert Parker

They say the younger generations aren’t drinking Bordeaux, which is a good thing for older generations as the price increases for top quality Médoc wines has been drastic over the last decade.

For the already-initiated who appreciate a fine bottle of claret with a long and elegant dinner, finding a bottle that’s ready to drink, let alone within a reasonable price range, has become the hardest part of being a Bordeaux fan. Luckily, however, we’ve grabbed another parcel of what we believe is one of the best drinking Cabernets in the world right now for under $100.

The 2010 Château Cantemerle is a true luxury within reach. 

Cantemerle is not only one of the most affordable of the classified Médoc growths, it's one of the best values in Bordeaux—period. Tucked in between Margaux and Pessac-Léognan, the property has quietly created one of the most consistent, approachable, and quality-oriented programs over the last three decades under the stewardship of its humble and pensive director Philippe Dambrine. Down-to-earth, yet serious in its focus, Cantemerle has been the “insider’s Bordeaux” for wine retailers and sommeliers for over 25 years now. 

We’ve placed the 2010 Cantemerle into numerous blind tastings against higher-rated Bordeaux properties at double and even triple the price and the wine always comes out at the top of the pack. With over a decade of maturity at this point, the secondary notes are present and the plump fruit from the ripe year has melded beautifully with the powerful tannins that were a trademark of the vintage. 

If you need a beautiful bottle for dinner this weekend, we’ve got you covered. But you don’t have to take our word for it:

2010 Château Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc $69.99

94 POINTS: ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE - The wine needs a good 7-10 years of cellaring and should keep for 30 more years, but this is the finest Cantemerle I have encountered in my professional career of tasting young vintages (dating back 34 years now). Stunningly deep ruby/purple, with a beautiful nose of spring flowers intermixed with perfumed raspberry and blueberry notes, it exhibits a sort of cool-climate character. Broad, rich and intense on the palate, the wine has plenty of tannins, but they are sweet and well-integrated. Everything is delicately entwined into this beautiful, medium to full-bodied, dense purple wine, which shows stunning character and a prodigious potential for development. This is definitely a major sleeper of the vintage and even better than I thought from barrel. With its 2010, this classified growth located in the southern end of the Medoc may well have made a modern-day version of their legendary 1949.

93 POINTS: VINOUS - The 2010 Cantemerle is vigorous and open on the nose, a mixture of red and black fruit with cedar and humidor scents. I admire the focus and detail. The palate is rounded in texture on the entry. This is a plumper, richer, more fruit-driven 2010 with a lush finish on the context of the growing season. You could broach this now, although I would prefer to leave it another three or four years. This is another excellent wine and candidate for most over-performing cru this vintage.

Our Leading Contender for Scotch Value of the Year

Alexander Murray isn’t a household name in the Scotch world, but we’re willing to bet you’ve tried their bottlings before. It’s the brand behind the American private label business, from Costco to Trader Joe’s, known for bringing some of the best values in the industry for those in the know (they were putting Macallan Sherry casks into Kirkland for years). 

One of the biggest hang-ups that modern Scotch drinkers have with the standard Alexander Murray label is the lower-than-average 40% ABV. In the cask strength era, the younger and more forward-thinking whiskey crowd tends to prefer the liquid at a higher proof. 

Which brings us to this diamond in the rough: an anomaly that absolutely took our breath away upon tasting. Sitting on a small supply of ultra-mature, peated Glen Moray, from casks that had already dwindled down in their ABV, Alexander Murray’s addition of water in this case didn’t really change the nature of the whisky—but it did change the nature of the price. 

Cask strength whiskies are generally more expensive than those that have been reduced with water. Yet, in this case, these Glen Moray casks had already reduced themselves into the low 40’s, a phenomenon that can happen with older whiskies stored in certain conditions. Hence, the small bit of added water was the difference between a $150 bottle of 20 year Glen Moray and one that can sell for $89.99—and we think that addition was more than worth the discount.

If you’re a fan of oily, waxy, phenolic single malts that harken back to the olden days of barrel hunting, you’re going to want a bottle of this. In fact, you might want two or three.

2001 Glen Moray 20 Year Old Alexander Murray Single Malt Whisky $89.99

Glen Moray Distillery was founded in the late 1800s, and was part of the Glenmorangie empire until LVMH purchased it in 2004. The barrels used for this 2001 release came from the pre-LVMH period when Glenmorangie (originally Macdonald & Muir) ran the facility and distilled a peated malt. For those of you who were fortunate enough to taste some of BenRiach’s older peated whiskies, we think that’s the best analogy for this exquisite Glen Moray. Yet, underneath the subtle smoke and campfire is a mouthful of stewed orchard fruits and resin, all of it dipped in a bit of caramel with an oily finish that reminds us of Clynelish. Needless to say, we’ve never tasted a Glen Moray expression as complex and delicious as this one. Dare we call it: the poor man’s peated Brora? Taste it if you don’t believe us!

Despite the 40% ABV, the concentrated flavors of this whisky were already well developed as these barrels proofed themselves down naturally. While it’s not quite whisky season yet, we still think you’ll want to stow a few bottles away for the Fall. Halloween comes early to Los Angeles as is, so why not a screaming hot deal for mature single malt whisky?

Don’t sleep on this one. It punches well above its ridiculous price, as many of the Alexander Murray whiskies often do.

Mature Barolo Super Deal

Barolo is one of those wines that you need to have patience with. Either you’re buying a new vintage for your cellar, or you’re taking an older vintage out of the cellar. These long-lived Nebbiolos are highly-tannic in their youth and often require a decade or more of maturation before they’re fully mature.

Finding a deal on an older, highly-rated Barolo from a prime producer isn’t something that usually comes with a discount; hence, we were taken aback when a stash of 2014 Marchesi di Barolo landed in our lap this week for a price that we couldn’t pass up. 

Marchesi di Barolo is one of the appellation’s founding producers, named after the town from which the wine originates, and today is a protected Unesco World Heritage site. It’s truly the OG of Barolo and the wines have been heralded for more than a century. With over 430 acres of vines in the area, Marchesi di Barolo’s cellars are right in the center of town, and have been represented for years in the U.S. by Frederick Wildman & Sons, one of America’s top importers.

The Sarmassa is a single vineyard expression that is known to be the boldest and structured of the Marchesi’s top-tier Barolo trio. It truly needed time in the bottle to soften and—let us tell you—it was worth the wait. Upon popping the cork today you’ll be treated to a symphony of aromas: violets, tar, dark plum, and an earthiness that’s indicative of the varietal. The mouthfeel is plush, not from ripeness or oak, but from the one thing that modern winemaking cannot recreate: AGE! 

But don’t just take our word for it! Check out the glowing reviews… then act fast!

2014 Marchesi di Barolo Sarmasa $79.99 (Elsewhere $120+)

92 POINTS: ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE - Of Marchesi di Barolo's three single-vineyard Barolo expressions, the 2014 Barolo Sarmassa is the wine that gives the most structured fruit and textural richness. The bouquet offers dark fruits with plum and blackberry. The mouthfeel is velvety and nicely layered with fine tannins and bright acidity. This cool vintage expression already shows the immediate qualities to pair it with meat dishes or oven-roasted pasta. The wine ages in both barrique and botte grande.

93 POINTS: JAMES SUCKLING - Mellow red cherries and earthy, lightly leathery nuances make a forward, complex nose, which leads to a palate with simple red strawberries. Acidity is salient. A nicely cut finish. Drink or hold.

92 POINTS: WINE SPECTATOR - Rich, exhibiting black cherry, plum, spice and tar flavors, this red features a muscular structure. Balanced and long, echoing spice and tar notes on the aftertaste. Best from 2022 through 2036. 3,333 cases made, 300 cases imported.

The Best New Tequila We've Tried in 2023

While there are more celebrity Tequila brands than we can count at this point, there aren’t many third-party brands out there that focus solely on additive-free, 100% real Tequilas. 

What’s the difference between “real” Tequila and most of what’s available on the market today? You can read our blog post here for the inconvenient truth about agave spirits. 

The muddying of the Tequila waters is exactly what drove former National Geographic photographer Andy Bardon to team up with one of Jalisco’s most celebrated distillers—Cascahuin—and create Wild Common: a brand dedicated to preserving the purity of real artisanal Tequila production. 

The modern Tequila playbook has sought to scale and sell an artificially-sweetened and chemically-manipulated product to the market, but Wild Common is looking to start a conversation about sustainability, how we farm the planet, and what we put into our bodies as a result. It couldn’t come at a better time for the Tequila industry, as the dirty secret about additives is still not mainstream news despite an army of “real” Tequila advocates on social media. 

Wild Common Still Strength Tequila Blanco $74.99

If you need validation that Wild Common is on the right track, both with critics and consumers, check out the double 91 point scores on Tequila Matchmaker from each constituency—a feat that’s almost unheard of—for the Still Strength Blanco expression. At 100 proof, it’s like an electric current of unadulterated, clean agave flavor. Citrus, grassy notes, minerality, sweet roasted agave piñas—it’s all here in a bold and vibrant wave of intensity. 

We think it’s the best new Tequila we’ve tried this year, by far. Nothing else even comes close right now. 

Wild Common Reposado Tequila $69.99

For those who like their Tequila more mellow and soft, the 43% ABV Reposado is simply stunning in both its beauty and its complexity. Tequila Matchmaker loves this baby as well, giving it a rare 90 point review, and the endless glowing endorsements from real Tequila advocates are a testament to its triumphant flavor profile. Cinnamon, cloves, light vanilla, and hints butterscotch from the ex-Bourbon barrel are all lightly coating the core of agave that shines though the oak influence. 

If you’re looking for true high end Tequila, not just the fanciest and most expensive bottle, Wild Common is the brand you need right now. Our highest possible recommendation

High Level Sancerre That Doesn't Cost $40+

At some point over the last few years, Sancerre went from a somewhat-affordable high-quality French Sauvignon Blanc to a quasi-luxury sipper, demanding as much as $75-$100 on restaurant wine lists around Los Angeles. Granted, we're willing to pony up for a good Sancerre, but at some point the cost outweighs the benefit. 

Sancerre's popularity has long been tied to its bang-for-the-buck proposition. It's been a household staple for countless wine drinkers over the last few decades, especially budding experts who are drawn to its stony minerality and keen expression of "terroir." Planted in limestone and clay-rich soils, Sancerre–perhaps more than any other region in France–has a unique flavor profile that is palpable with every sip. 

The secret is the Kimmeridgian soils composed of ancient sea creatures from the bottom of an ocean long dry. Similar to Chablis, those fossilized shells have turned the soil a vibrant white color. With Sancerre, wine drinkers have long claimed you can taste a sea-like salinity in the wines themselves. 

Which brings us to Etienne Daulny and his incredible Sancerre that seems like an outright bargain in today's wine climate. 

2022 Domaine Daulny Sancerre $21.99

Etienne Daulny owns 15 hectares of vines that are divided into about 50 different plots within the Sancerre itself, including diverse plots from varying types of soil, including the famed Kimmeridgian, into his regular cuvée of Sancerre. Sauvignon Blanc from some of the appellation's most revered vineyards make their way into this cuvée, including old vine plantings at Les Monts Damnés, Les Bois Butteux, and La Perriere. 

The resulting expression is classic Sancerre in every way: mineral notes of crushed rocks, hints of citrus and stone fruit, with racy acidity from front to back and a refreshing finish. With its classic label, complex profile, and general deliciousness, we're 100% confident Sancerre lovers will be pleased. Today, Sauvignon Blanc of this quality is generally much, much more expensive–especially from Sancerre.

Yes, Everyone You Know Is Vacationing In Puglia

If it seems like everyone and their mother is in Puglia this summer for vacation, you're not imagining things. From Hollywood celebrities, to Airbnb location hunters, to Italian food lovers, everyone seems to be in love with Puglia right now. 

Located on the heel of Italy's boot, along the Adriatic Coast, Puglia's cuisine and culture is having its moment in the spotlight and for good reason: the food is delicious and the wines are both unique and inexpensive. Puglia is also carb heaven: from succulent focaccia, to olive oil-baked taralli, to the famous Pane di Altamura bread, not to mention all the delicious local seafood and olive groves. Snacking and sipping on a cold bottle of vino bianco go hand in hand in the southland. 

If you're in the mood for something uniquely Puglian and a wine that transcends its price point, let us introduce you to our new favorite Italian bargain: the 2022 Masseria Furfante Bombino Bianco, from one of our favorite Italian importers Oliver McCrum. 

Unlike southern Puglia where the heat is stronger and the wines have higher alcohol levels, Masseria Furfante's vineyards are in the north of Puglia and–due to southwest facing hills and cooler winds–the Bombino Bianco grapes retain their crisp acidity and are harvested much later in the growing season. The 2022 is full of citrus and mineral notes, similar to a cool climate Chardonnay, but with the ripeness of fruit more reminiscent of a Pinot Grigio.

For those of you buying cheap bottles of supermarket Pinot Grigio to get you through the dog days of summer, we invite you to sample this Puglian Bombino Bianco as a more exciting alternative. Open a jar of olives, heat up some focaccia, crack the lid on some tinned fish, and pretend you're in Puglia for the rest of August!