We couldn’t believe it either: 48 new wines arrived on Wednesday & Thursday! Besides the chalkboard list, magnums of Domaine des Lises Crozes-Hermitage (purple label) $75, Abbatucci Faustine (Corsica) $38, more 2016 Vieux Telegraphe (98 puts) $88, new Domaine Colette Beaujolais (Morgan, Fleurie, etc), Emrich-Schönleber Riesling, Pacalet Moulin-a-Vent & Cornas, Dominus Estate 2016 (100 pts), The entire Chave line-up, Petrolo Galatrona 2009 three liter (392 points – 98 points for each 750ml), and many, many more. Stop by today! #renegadewines #santabarbara #winenerd #sb #sommlife #winetasting #wineporn #seesb #trustyourpalate #montecito #seriousjuice #winegeeks #winewednesday #foodiesofsb #zagat #intothebottle #savorsb #sbindependent #sbindy

Benchmarks

Often overlooked here at Renegade until now. These are some of the best gems of Burgundy.

From left to right (thank you Allen Meadows for the detailed tasting notes):

2015 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze ($565) is cool, elegant, spicy and even more complex with its range of airy red berries, underbrush, earth, sandalwood and anise nuances. There is excellent richness, power and mid-palate density to the big-bodied but not massive flavors that exhibit a subtle minerality on the mouth coating and hugely long finish. This is certainly an imposing wine yet the mouthfeel is one of class and grace and interestingly for such a young Bèze, there is virtually no austerity. Wow.

The other two are Chardonnays. The middle bottle is a truly romantic expression of the varietal in Morey-Saint-Denis from the vineyard ‘En la rue de Vergy” ($125) and the far right bottle is a gorgeous Chardonnay from Marsanny ($52), perhaps the benchmark of the appellation.

We are open until 6pm the rest of the week.

#renegadewines #santabarbara #winenerd #sb #sommlife #winetasting #wineporn #seesb #trustyourpalate #montecito #seriousjuice #winegeeks #winewednesday #foodiesofsb #zagat #intothebottle #savorsb #sbindependent #sbindy #brunoclair

Serious Oil

Their 98 point Chateauneuf du Pape comes in cardboard. Their olive oil arrives in a gorgeous wooden box with polite handles. That tells you how serious they take their olive oil. In stock this very moment. $40/500ml. It’s time to cook! #renegadewines #santabarbara #winenerd #sb #sommlife #winetasting #wineporn #seesb #trustyourpalate #montecito #seriousjuice #winegeeks #winewednesday #foodiesofsb #zagat #intothebottle #savorsb #sbindependent #sbindy #vieuxtelegraphe

Cru

Looking for Epic Grand Cru Chablis? Here are two new arrivals (the 2010 is sublime, the 2016 is shells and stones). Notes from The Burghound.

2016 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Bougros “Côte Bouguerots” $99

Tasting note: A super-fresh, cool and admirably pure nose exhibits notes of iodine, citrus, white rose petal, peach, sea breeze and mineral reduction scents. Like several wines in the range I very much like the lovely texture of the energetic medium weight flavors that also possess fine concentration before terminating in an intensely saline-infused, balanced and wonderfully long finale.

2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Bougros $118

Tasting note: A restrained nose of citrus, floral, mineral reduction and algae slides into impressively rich, powerful, serious and concentrated flavors that are almost painfully intense on the explosive and strikingly long finish. This is a classic Bougros with its robust and muscular big-bodied flavors.

Weekend Lineup…

Your weekend line up! 2018 Roses from the Spanish Basque region (zippy!) & Provence (suave…). A clean slightly effervescent Basque white, and finally the 100% Tibouren from Clos Cibonne (Provence) that’s light, incredibly refreshing, and perfect for an evening’s festivities. In stock and we are open until 6 PM tonight and on Saturday. Happy weekend! #renegadewines #santabarbara #winenerd #sb #sommlife #winetasting #wineporn #seesb #trustyourpalate #montecito #sbcwine #seriousjuice #winegeeks #winewednesday #foodiesofsb #zagat #sommelier #thatwinenerd #intothebottle #savorsb #sbindependent #sbindy

The End

Samuel Billard

Samuel Billard

While half the Renegade team steamed ahead to the Samuel Billard winery and what turned out to be a fantastic few hours, the other half of the team caught up on sleep. But both were present that evening to a monumental dinner. Samuel Billard hosted at the famed Hostellerie des Clos restaurant bringing his 2010 Mont de Milieu (still young). Skipping the drama with the glassware, Samuel surprised us with a 2007 Raveneau Blanchot. This one was a baby, even after decanting BUT at this stage it was perfect with the raw scallop appetizer.

Once again the generosity of Samuel was apparent when a 2010 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny appeared. There was so much going on with this gentle giant. Truly one of the best village wines we’ve had in years. It’s no wonder his wines command the prices they do.

A dinner in France could not conclude without the cheese course. Our server brought over a cart the size of ping pong table (see picture). We indulged further.

As for Samuel, we hope to get him to Santa Barbara for a dinner one of these days. (Oh yeah…almost forgot…the food was Michelin-worthy. #renegadewines #santabarbara #winenerd #sb #sommlife #winetasting #wineporn #seesb #trustyourpalate #montecito #sbcwine #seriousjuice #winetime #winegeeks #winewednesday #funkzone #foodiesofsb #zagat #sommelier #thatwinenerd #intothebottle #somm3 #savorsb #sbindependent #sbindy

Chopin (Not Vodka, Perhaps Music)

That was the sticking point. No sulphates is a prime idea…sometimes. On the other hand these wines are fresh and vibrant and not at all natty or funky; in other words there’s no stinking barn smell here. Just pure expressions of gamay.

As far as label artwork goes Chopin rocks! But that’s what you see, not what you taste. Let’s skip to the very favorite: 2018 Beaujolais Villages Funambule. Carbonic 100%. No sulfer. All concrete. Beautifully fresh with plenty of alluring spice. Boysenberry coulis with a touch of underripe cherry. Warm hay and slight pinches of earth linger in the background but this compliments more than distracts.

This was an intimate experience as we were treated to these wines in the living room/kitchen of the proprietor Raphael ( this was before “the feeding of the horse & donkey”, not kidding, ask Jenna ).

Our take-away was curiosity tinged with intrigue. We can not wait to hold a tasting event at with these wines at Renegade and hear your views. #renegadewines #santabarbara #winenerd #sb #sommlife #winetasting #wineporn #seesb #trustyourpalate #montecito #sbcwine #seriousjuice #winetime #winegeeks #winewednesday #funkzone #foodiesofsb #zagat #sommelier #thatwinenerd #intothebottle #somm3 #savorsb #sbindependent #sbindy

Hip Hip Brouilly!

Our late morning stop after Gangloff was up a large hill through high density plantings of Gamay. This is Brouilly and we were on our way to visit Laurent Martray. We parked and proceeded to follow him into a tiny, cramped cellar holding a few dozen barrels and thousands of stacked bottles. Our line up, of course, were wines from Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly.

Our overall impressions of his wines were that of clean, fresh, lean, spicy juice with enough tannins to warrant three to five years in the cellar before they would become pretty outstanding.

Two favorites were the 2017 Brouilly “Corentin” from magnum which he gave us for that evenings dinner (outstanding cooking David Shiverick), and a superb 2017 Côte du Brouilly old vines of which 1000 bottles were produced (released later this Spring).

Afterwards another 3 hour lunch this time at a bar packed with 20 & 30-somethings celebrating a birthday. They were enjoying themselves tremendously.

Gangloff and The Cats

After last night’s Chave experience we wondered what The Shivericks had in store next. Another legend, that’s what. Welcome to Gangloff.

We were welcomed by his “10” cats (we suspect 20 or more). Once inside we skipped the chatter and went straight for the wine bottles. Time: 9:30. Yvez Gangloff never has any wine (he sells out quick each year) so it was incredibly generous of him to share.

Our wake up wine, along with plates of pastries he set out on the bar, was a 2017 Condrieu. First impressions: Bees wax. Lychee. Exotic. Orange blossom. Schiuan peppercorn (hey, we were still sleepy-eyed). After that we got down to business. We tasted Condrieu reserves, Saint Joseph Blancs, and a big textured, red berry brambly, Mediterranean Herbal infused, warm Earth + Chaparral, minerally 2017 Saint Joseph Rouge.

Then we went to the barrel room where we tasted each component of his two future cuvees, a single block bottling of Rozier and then back to the bar for the current releases: 2016 Cote Roties in all their glorious finished form. Quite an exceptional morning.