ADVERTISING: Advertorial — New arrivals

With our well documented supply chain challenges and a string of great vintages from Europe we have been changing up our collection fairly frequently. We’ve been fortunate though as we have found many new wines just in the last couple of weeks that we have wanted to add to our shelves. Many of them just arrived in the last week with a shipment from one of our distributors located in Southeastern Idaho, and some from our local suppliers as well. Here are some of the notable additions.

We have long been fans of the wines from Pozzan Winery in Napa, and our customers have loved them as well, they have quite the following. We just this past week tried two wines we have not previously carried from them and brought them into the shop immediately. The 2020 Pozzan Sauvignon Blanc ($18, Wine Club Price $16.20) is a lovely example of California SB, the wine is crisp and clean with lovely aromas and palate flavors of pink grapefruit. It is a perfect summer refresher especially as the heat drags on.

The 2018 Yount Mill House Pinot Noir ($20, Wine Club Price $18) also from Pozzan is the best value in Pinot Noir we have found in many years. The grapes for the wine come from Carneros one of our favorite Pinot Noir growing regions. Aromas of mild mushroom earthiness and ripe Bing cherries leads to a sleek and smooth palate loaded with more cherry flavors and a lengthy finish. It’s easy to find great Pinot Noirs at twice this money but this is really amazing pricing for this delicious wine.

A new arrival but also a repeat is the Fiano from Hirpnia ($24, Wine Club Price $21.60) made in Italy north of Venice. We were told a couple of weeks back that the wine was gone until spring of next year. Fortunately for us and our customers the distributor discovered 16 more bottles which we immediately snapped up. This yummy Italian white wine does not see any oak barrel time during ageing or fermenting, allowing the great citrus notes, steely minerality and wonderful texture to come through in every sip.

Also from Italy, Sicily to be specific, the 2017 Tasca from Perricone ($26, Wine Club Price $23.40) is a unique and delicious red from a varietal, Tasca, that we were unfamiliar with. The wine shows subtle earthy notes and loads of ripe red fruit notes. The wine has plenty of tannin on the finish for a robust and full-bodied presentation. The wine is a bit more refined than many from Sicily and is simply a great example of what Sicily has to offer.

The 2008 Ridgecrest Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir ($40, Wine Club Price $36) from Oregon was another surprise. After working in the Russian River Valley my preferences for Pinot Noir are well entrenched. I found this wine to be a joy though. Ribbon Ridge is one of the smallest but most renowned sub-appellations of the Willamette Valley. The wine is rich and elegant with perfectly balanced acids and loads of cherry fruit flavors and aromas. It is one of our favorites from Oregon already.

We just received from our distributor in Ketchum the wines from Autere located in the aforementioned Russian River Valley. The 2018 Autere Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($55, Wine Club Price $49.50) is all that we love about California Chardonnay. It shows butter and oak but in a balanced and restrained fashion that allows the stunning fruit to shine through. The wine is textural and elegant completing a near perfect interpretation of the grape and the region.

The 2019 Autere Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($70, Wine Club Price $63) is another beautiful wine from the folks at Autere. It is a show stopper and while spendy we found it to be well worth it. The wine is so smooth and silky on the palate we feel it was one of the best we carry in the shop. The cherry fruit flavors are ample and the aromas hit a level of layered richness we rarely find. It should not be missed.

For all of our Napa Cabernet fans we are thrilled to have the 2018 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet ($105, Wine Club Price $94.50) now in the shop. It is yet another extraordinary vintage from this super star producer located high in the Mayacamas Mountains on the country line between Napa and Sonoma Counties. Aromas of spice box, dark berries and plums transitions to a fruit laden palate and firm but balanced tannins that lengthen the finish for a world class Cabernet that is one of our favorites year in and year out.

We are sure there will be more new arrivals in the weeks to come so be sure and stop in the shop to check out the latest finds.

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George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of the dinner party, a wine and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The dinner party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018.

George is also published in several other publications around the country. After working in wineries in California and judging many wine competitions, he moved to Coeur d’Alene with Mary more than 10 years ago to open the shop.

You can also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.