De Negoce offer (Part 2)

In for a case of 498, just before the 5 pm deadline.
Avoided non-buyers remorse. :grinning:
Happy Friday :wine_glass::partying_face:

4 Likes

I have bought more West Coast cab sauv from dN than I ever expected to drink in my lifetime, but this is the wine that seems most favored on this thread. And west coast cab is what the new management has leaned in to. I appreciate variety and I especially enjoyed many of the international offerings, like the Prosecco, growers champagne, Italian reds & French whites. I also enjoyed trying cabs from Italy, Australia, & Chile (but France, not so much). It has been a learning experience & I’m sorry that since cam left, the international wine offers are gone. It has become much easier to pass on California cabs & chards.

6 Likes

I enjoyed the international offerings as well. I didn’t buy any of the South American wines, but the Aussies were mostly great, and the sparklers were all fantastic. Still giving the Italian reds more time. I’ve been less impressed with the French reds, and I have more whites than I can ever drink. I’ll probably end up getting more, but I’ve got about four cases on order from wineries that are shutting down like Franny Beck, Twisted Oak, and others. It would probably take something really different to get me excited again.

5 Likes

Please share @Kevin_B , what other wineries are going out of business that you have bought from?

Marie,
And these West Coast Cabs (more specifically Ca. ā€œheavyā€ offerings) are likely where the most interest and best margins happen to be for the new ownership group. Think the only non Ca offering was the Lot 416 Oregon Pinot Noir for new owner(s). But they have to operate the business in best manner they see fit.

4 Likes

The other one I was thinking about is Lagier Meredith. I was going to pull the trigger and got distracted. Maybe some left for BD, and I’ll have more room.

2 Likes

I too got distracted wrt Lagier Meredith, but I pulled the trigger yesterday evening.
Got a good variety of everything, 2020 and 2021.
We were watching the second SOMM movie, ā€œSOMM; Into the Bottleā€ and Meredith
showed up several times with comments. Just had to order.

1 Like

And just like that, the bottle shop has no wines from below 350.

RIP dN of old. We loved you.

2 Likes

Had a N.106 the other day. Felt like opening a time capsule.

When’s the last time they did a Tempranillo?

1 Like

106, 111, 114 (seems Cam went through a Tempranillo phase!) then last in 342 GTM blend

I’m glad to hear that you felt that your N 106 Walla Walla 2018 Tempranillo was palatable. De NĆ©goce gave me a complete case refund which was shared by two other dN purchasers (one dumped this and the other just drank it ā€˜as is’ when very young). Cam stated that it was clearly ā€˜oak damaged’ during processing. I so wish that, at the time, I had also purchased for comparison sake the very inexpensive Lot 111 & 114 Fair Play Tempronillo. The only other dN Tempronillo that I tried semi-successfully were their Manuel Quintano 2019 Rioja Alavesa ā€˜Pionero’ and Pago del Oro Toro 2020 Tempranillo wines.

2 Likes

I took everything Cam said with a grain of salt, since I felt like he was making up reasons/excuses on the fly.

This is a a blurb from the copy:
Happy to tell you that its one of my favorites of the bunch (along with N.98 - damn that turned out great!)

Did it blow me away? No, but it was guilt-free, easy drinking. Frankly, it probably just needed more time.

Any source guesses?

1 Like

Not sure if this will have any effect on things, but Castle Rock is now having their wines produced at Martin Ray facilities . . .

4 Likes

Not a lot of information here… I feel like 40% new french oak is high and alcohol below 14% is pretty low, so there should be something to follow up here, but I haven’t found any hits yet. No bragging about scores either, and no mention of this being a repeat offer despite there being four Sonoma County/RRV Pinots last year around this time.

2 Likes

Bougetz parched pinot was last released in '20 so maybe not much of a lead, but was 40% new french oak at 14%abv…

I still have N.106. It does seem to be getting better but I’m not a fan. I should have done like Boris and asked for a refund. It’s among my lowest rated dN… however I also just may not be much of a Tempranillo fan. It’s not a varietal I have that often.

Williams Selyem from 2022 is similar. Maybe this is their 2023? They also discuss ā€œhandcraftedā€ throughout their website.

Unsure if other things align, like their history.

Can’t find much else.

I think back to one of the shiners they hyped and then when people got their hands on the corks, it was a no-name with little presence. I wish we knew how accurate we’ve been. Chances are someone at dN is tracking our success rate. Maybe that’s why the tight NDAs these days! :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Dave,
And the fact it’s +1 from ā€œ500ā€ means that it’s worthy enough for W-S adding to the sought after by industry and enthusiasts.

1 Like

W-S fits… similar profile is Rochioli, who was the first supplier to W-S. I’d be ecstatic with either.

1 Like