Wetzel
– Only 3 HA, 1,200 – 1,500 Cases per Year
– Vineyards Next to His House
– Terroir Quality Roughly Volnay/Pommard Levels
– He Knows Every Vine
– Every Grape Picked in the Right Hour of the Right Day
– Remarkably Consistent
– That Quality of Perfection that You Can Only Get from Top Level Winemakers
– In the Aargau Region So Prices Are Very Fair (See Below)
2020 Wetzel Spatburgunder Reserve
– Very Good 1er cru Quality Wine ($80+ Value in Burgundy)
– For the Price of Expensive Bourgogne Rouge
– Almost Pommard with the Elegance of Volnay
– Nose: Just So Complex and Gorgeous
– A Panoply of Mountain Flowers
– Blackberry Flowers, Lilacs, A Hint of Red Rose
– Fresh Cherries
– Spice, Clove, Mint, Mineral, Tree Bark
– Alluring Lipstick-like Intensity
– Fresh Gorgeous Wet Moss
– Amazing Stoniness
– Tremendous Clarity
– Palate: Textbook Pinot Noir
– Blackberry and Blackberry Licorice
– Cooling Black Cherry Fruit
– Amazing Fruit Quality
– Serious Underlying Minerality
– So Refined
– Lovely Spice: Simply Blasts the Back of the Palate
-Allspice, a Hint of Cinnamon, a Hint of Cocoa
– Perfect Balance
– Top Level Elegance
2020 Wetzel Verrucano
– A Trust Me / Lyle Geek Wine Special
– 10/10 Delicious
– But also Pretty Geeky and Interesting
– Nose: the Best Pure Blackberry Juice You Can Imagine
– Hand Crushed Freshly Picked Wild Blackberries
– Mint, Moss
– St. Joseph Granite
– Energy and Freshness|
– Palate: the Dictionary Definition of Plush
– Ripping Delicious Fresh Blackberry Fruit
– Perfect Juiciness
– So Refined and Exceptionally Balanced
– Vibrant Structure
– Giant Mineral Spine
– Spice Just Simply Sparkles on the Palate
A New Old Master
Most of our wineries are newer/younger producers about to or just having hit their stride. The reason is that the established players are usually already represented. But we do have some established wineries. Mostly in Germany and Italy but there is also the old master, JJ Girard in Burgundy. I bring up Girard because there is a greatness to that experience and that is consistency. Girard knows every vine in his vineyards. He knows how they react to rain, heat, mold, you name it. And he adjusts. He’s never had a bad wine in the years I’ve worked with him. And his prices are super fair. It’s better to price your wines fairly and sell with no effort than worry about marketing. It’s more fun being in the vineyards than at a computer after all.
I really wanted a Girardian character in Swizterland. And we’ve found one. And he’s, in a sense, more Girard than Girard because he only farms a teeny 3 hectares. He also has exceptional terroir. He and makes 1,200 – 1,500 cases each year. He’s not going to get oligarch yacht rich. But he lives near his vines and works them all day every day. And that’s enough.
These wines have that quality of perfection that you can only get from top level winemakers who know every vine themselves. They harvest every grape on the exact right day. The wines have a perfect and elegant quality about them. And since they are not in the bling region the Swiss go gaga over (Grissons) they are really incredible values.
A Brief Note on Value in Switzerland
The one liner on Swiss wines is that they are all expensive. Which is true if you buy wines from the uber popular (among the Swiss) Grisons region through 3 tier. The Swiss are relatively new to fine wine and are “region whores” to a good extent. Grisons is the “it” region – it’s near some great skiing (St. Moritz) which may help. They also have the 2 best wine marketers in Switzerland. If you are a winemaker in Grisons, you can sell out consistently with little effort.
The other regions are less well known and “hot” for the Swiss. There are some amazing values outside of Grisons that have yet to be discovered by the Swiss wine buyers.
Today’s winery is in Aargau and the prices should be 50% higher than they are (even through us).
This is an exceptional winemaker – worthy of case purchase consideration.
The Wines
The first wine is the 2020 Wetzel Spatburgunder Reserve for $54.99 a bottle on a 4 pack This is very good 1er cru quality wine for the price of expensive Bourgogne Rouge. As you look to the forward Burgundy gap as 2020 and 2021 quantities drop to near zero, this is a great wine to fill it. It’s stunningly good for the price. $100+ in Burgundy and his best wine.
The nose is just so complex and gorgeous. Just a panoply of mountain flowers. Blackberry flowers. Lilacs. A hint of red rose. Fresh cherries, spice, alluring lipstick-like intensity, fresh gorgeous wet moss. So floral. Beautiful pure and detailed cherry fruit. Elite florals. Roses and violets. Wet moss. Just out of hand. So clear. So well defined. Amazing stoniness that props up all the other aromas. A stoney base if you will. Superb mint/tree bark/sous bois triple play. Wow. Really tremendous clarity here. Mesmerizing. Hypnotizing. After air it gets crazy. A dizzying array of spice, mid to late season cherry fruit, superb earthiness, clove, mint, mineral, tree bark and super florals. It touches a places in the soul. A corner reserved for Burgundy. So, so alluring. Huge stoniness and earthiness. Mere hints of tobacco flitter in and out. Magnificent. Top level pinot noir winemaking.
The palate is textbook pinot noir. It’s almost like a Pommard with the elegance of Volnay if that makes sense. The fruit is that blackberry and blackberry licorice you can get with Pommard. But it lacks that upper end weight of Pommard and is more on the elegant side like Volnay. Amazing fruit quality and such awesome, clearly defined cherry fruit. Serious underlying minerality. It’s very refined, straight and delineated yet bursting with fruit. It’s fresh, vibrant and has terrific purity and concentration. It’s so detailed and vivid. Big, dense, sappy oh my god is this sappy with great power and incredible inner mouth energy. Just wow. So pure, so dense and so sappy. So much deep dark and cooling black cherry fruit with incredible crunch and blackness. It’s medium to almost full bodied but still manages wonderful grace. Such elegance and polished, ripe sweet tannins. There is some big spice here. Allspice, a hint of cinnamon, a hint of cocoa. Some tobacco. It really soaks the back of your palate. The internal aromatics are, as the Brits would say, “brilliant!” You get that blackberry / blackberry flower duo but also lilacs and a hint of red roses. Perfect balance here. Top level elegance. This guy is really talented and meticulous.
10/10 delicious but also pretty geeky and interesting. This wine can be drunk now with a 30 minute decant but will be perfect in 2-3 years.
The second wine is a trust me / Lyle geek wine special. It’s the 2020 Wetzel Verrucano for $45.99 a bottle on a 4 pack. It’s an odd little blend (Zweigelt, Cabernet Dorsa and Pinot Noir) but man this is special. Plus how could we turn down Zweigelt (a St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch cross, if that helps – it’s mostly grown in Austria). Also how can we turn down Cabernet Dorsa which is a German grape that is the butt of any and all German wine jokes from growers. Cabernet Dorsa is a blend of Dornfelder and Blaufrankish. In any case, this is Switzerland’s best Tuesday wine – 10/10 delicious but also pretty geeky and interesting.
The nose is basically the best pure blackberry juice you can imagine. Just hand crushed freshly picked blackberries and wild blackberries. Nose of mint, moss and hints of dark berry fruit. There’s a serious mineral element here as well. that reminds me of Pauillac graphite mixed with St. Joseph granite. It’s crisp and gives the wine so much energy and freshness on the nose and throughout the palate. Beautiful. It needs about 10 minutes for some reductive notes to blow off (they do).
The best word I can think of to describe the palate is plush. Just ripping delicious fresh blackberry fruit. So silky and awesome. Perfect juiciness. You can literally drink a bottle in 5 minutes if you are not careful – 10/10 delicious as noted above. The palate is so refined and exceptionally balanced. Terrifically juicy with great bright, deep and vibrant structure that is supported by the giant mineral spine. Bright yet somewhat dark wiry almost pastiche like fruit as well if that makes sense. Really really long and vibrant. Extraordinary wine. Brilliant. It’s amazing how deep and mineral this is yet also how nimble it remains. The spice just simply sparkles on the palate. You almost get a pop rock effect they are so bright. There are lingering blackberry pit and spice notes on the finish.
Yes, this is delicious but it’s a very interesting wine made by a very experienced, terrific winemaker.
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your first order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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Cellar Raider is Back!
25 bottles(s) of Vinding Montecarrubo 2020 Cuvee Rudolf for $38.99 per bottle (SKU4420) This is 100% Syrah. FYI I had this on day 5 and this was still incredible. The balance here is incredible. Its a masterclass in winemaking.
9 bottles(s) of ColleMassari 2017 Montecucco Riserva for $$19.99 per bottle (SKU4448) Dark and seductive, the 2017 Rosso Riserva Montecucco lulls you in with a bouquet that blends dusty black cherries and red currants with sweet mint leaf and hints of clove. There are depths of soft, fleshy textures within, balanced by brisk acids, masses of tart blackberry fruit and balsam herbal tones. This reverberates with youthful tension, leaving a saturation of primary concentration upon the . . .
1 bottles(s) of Podere Forte 2013 Guardiavigna for $86.99 per bottle (SKU4480) The 2013 Guardiavigna, the estates Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Petit Verdot bend, is superb. Amarena cherry, licorice, mocha, torrefaction and dark spice notes give the 2013 its distinctive personality. A wine of gravitas and power, the 2013 gradually reveals itself in the glass, but it is going to need at least a few years to shed some of its tannin and incorporate the oak. – 95 Points, Antonio Galloni
21 bottles(s) of Vinding Montecarrubo 2020 Cuvee Suzanne for $39.99 per bottle (SKU4486) This wine is named for Peters wife of 50 years, Suzanne. This wine is somehow almost more Cote Rotie than present day Cote Rotie.
1 bottles(s) of Vinding Montecarrubo 2020 Quattro Vento for $45.99 per bottle (SKU4487) This is 66% Syrah blended with 34% Cabernet Franc. Vinding-Diers became famous for his work in Bordeuax. And this wine is a bit of a nod to that with the inclusion of Cabernet Franc. This is more a show stopper kind of wine and really shows Vinding-Diers skills as a winemaker.
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A Word about Fass Selections and Social Media
I am big into certain social media and I want people to take pictures of the wines they have received or will receive and tag me in them and share their thoughts. I a am on Instagram. Please tag me there. I also am on Delectable which I love a lot. It is Iphone/Ipad only, but it’s like Instagram meets Facebook for wine. Tag me there and find me there as well. I want to know if you liked the wine, were not moved by the wine, hated the wine or the wine gave you a religious experience. I want to know it all. Feedback is key and I will answer all feedback e-mails as quickly as I can.
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