As I'm sure many of you know, the Vine & Table staff is amongst the most knowledgeable in the state with a broad range of expertise across the various categories of wine. We think this is one of the factors keeping us as the "#1 Place to Buy Wine in Indiana" (as awarded by 24/7 Wall Street in their review of the best wine shops in America).
I believe that the more you know about wine, the more exciting it gets. So naturally, my staff gets enthusiastic when it comes to our favorite fermented grapes. Today I'd like to highlight a few of my associates and their current favorite picks…
Doug
I'm sure many of you have met our resident Bordeaux fanatic Doug. Doug has been a life-long fan of wine and has been working in it since retiring from medical sales. Doug has forgotten more about Bordeaux than I will probably ever learn. While his passion may be these prestigious French red blends, he enjoys many different styles. Here are his two favorites.
2018 Chateau Laffitte Carcasset
Doug sees this has the best value in Bordeaux at $32.99. If you're looking for a red to have with "meatloaf on a Tuesday night", this is the wine for you. He says this wine is ready to drink now with just a little time to open after you pop the cork.
$114.99 - 750ml
Chateau Le Bon Pasteur
2016 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur
This as the best wine to buy if you want to add a Bordeaux to your cellar. He had this wine a year ago next to many other Pomerol's of various price points and after a 2 hour decant, this was the best of its price category (low $100's). 2016 is a very well-regarded vintage and this wine will be drinking great for years to come.
Darci
Next, let's talk about our world-traveling, rock band drumming, WSET level 3 certified, all-around awesome person, Darci. Darci's tastes lean more toward American reds, with some Italian wine sprinkled in. She is also a big fan of well-balanced white wines from all over the world. Above all of those wines (much like me), her biggest passion in wine lives in the region of Champagne. Let's look at the wines that she finds particularly exciting right now.
2021 Chateau Graville-Lacoste Bordeaux Blanc
Darci is a big fan on Bordeaux as well, except prefers the white blends. While many whites from the region are predominately made from sauvignon blanc with a small portion of semillon blended in, this wine is reversed. This gives it much more structure and a gorgeous florality on the nose that makes it a delightfully well -balanced white that drinks great year-round.
Benton
As for me, I am Benton and I do the wine buying for Vine & Table. I grew up traveling with my family that loves to learn about the different food and beverage cultures around the world. This culminated with me getting my bachelor’s in Food and Beverage with a focus on wine and flavor pairing. I also earned my advanced sommelier certification while in school and am an overall enthusiast of all things food and beverage – particularly wine. My favorite wines change often, usually on the whims of whatever new part of the wine world I am studying at the time. My overall favorite styles, however, are Champagne, Chardonnay of all kinds, Burgundy, and red and whites from the Piedmont in Italy.
Ca Del Bosco Franciacorta: Franciacorta is the premier style of sparkling wine from northern Italy. While it can't be called true "Champagne" because it's not from the Champagne region of France, this style is made in almost the exact same method from a colder region of Italy (important for good sparkling wine). Luckily Franciacorta doesn't have quite the same name recognition of its famous cousin to the north, so it costs about half the price of wines of the same quality from that region.
Malvira Roero Arneis: The Piedmont region is much more famous for its red wines made from Nebbiolo and Barbera (ex. Barolo and Barbaresco). The hidden gem of the region is its indigenous white varietals. Arneis is one of those. I love this wine because of how deliciously versatile it is both with and without food. It packs a bunch of both citrus and tree fruits into the glass with a lot of herbs and minerality to back it up. Crisp and refreshing, this is the perfect bottle to open after a long day of work, or with your favorite shellfish/pasta or just as a refreshing first course.
As always, we'd love to tell you more about these wines. Stop by soon and we look forward to talking with you all about our favorite beverages! ~ Benton
