The beginning of the new year allows me to take a good hard look at what has been selling well over the past year and what has not, and then to totally refresh the range of wines that I have in stock. This process is great, I try a great range of new wines, and I get to implement a whole host of new ideas.
Except this year has not started as planned! You may have noticed I've been absent a bit over the past month. I had always planned on taking two weeks off to spend with my wife and son - it was the first holiday since I'd opened the shop 3 years ago - but sadly, half way through those two weeks, my dad passed away, so I've really only got back into the swing of things in the shop over the past week and a half.
However, in that week and a half, I've been working on a whole range of new things that we are going to be revealing over the next month. But in the meantime, I want to tell you about a joyous little wine called Grace.
The 2012 Grace Lane Cabernet Sauvignon is from Columbia Valley in Washington State, USA. Columbia Valley is in the south of the state, with a little bit going over into Oregon, and is the largest wine growing region, with over 16,000 hectares planted with vines.
I visited Oregon and Washington a decade ago and was astounded by the quality of wines that were being produced back then, and things have only improved. Columbia has a trick up its sleeve in that the terroir there allows it to make fruit forward wines, but with a gracefulness and structure that you get from Europe. This Cabernet from Grace Lane is a perfect example and here are my thoughts...
"Sweet cherries leap out at you, followed by some menthol aromas - perfect if you are suffering from a winter cold as it smells like a pack of Cherry cough sweets. There is also a dusting of cocoa coming off too. The palate is really sexy and silky - the fruit comes through and then a lovely bright minty flavour. There is a dark flavour too, I just can't put my finger on what it is. Simply delicious. 89pts"
We have 15 bottles of this wine left in stock so please do move quickly if you fancy giving them a shot.