12 Wines I Bought at Upper Falls' 25% Off Sale (and Why)

Just a reminder that Friday, February 27th, and Saturday, February 28th, Post Road in Wayland, MA, Upper Falls in Newton, MA, and Auburndale in Newton, MA are having a 25% off sale -and- a Grand Tasting with 100 wines for sample and sale. More info available here.

Overall, this group has had every single "Value Alert" wine I've talked about here on the WWP which is a pretty amazing feat. I visited the Upper Falls location Friday. Here's what I bought and why:

• (2) 2007 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc
  James Laube from Wine Spectator called this one the best Sauvignon Blanc he's ever had, from anywhere. 96 points. Read more...
  Upper Falls still had a little bit of this one available as of yesterday, but it was going fast.
  
• (2) 2005 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
  Harvey Steiman from Wine Spectator went 95 points on this one and I love Columbia Crest's Grand Estates line. Cranking the bar up a little with this one- we shall see if it was worth it. I hear it needs time. Read more...
  I believe the Upper Falls location is now sold out of this one. You may want to try Post Road or calling ahead to check inventory.
  
• 2005 Neal Family Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
  Recommendation from "Doug" on the sales floor. A spendy Napa Cab- better be good! Neal Family is frequently mentioned as one of the best wineries to visit in Napa so I wanted to check out their wine for a potential future winery visit.
  
• 2007 Adelsheim Pinot Gris
  My cousin Michelle recommended Adelsheim in general and although I've been looking for their Pinot Noir at a good price, I haven't found it yet. I like Pinot Gris too, so I'm looking forward to trying this one.
  
• 2006 Cambria Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard
  A friend on Twitter mentioned this one when I tossed out the question: "Name a $20/90-point Wine Spectator domestic Pinot Noir" This wine wasn't rated by Wine Spectator, and it was more than $20 *but* he said he liked it so I'll give it a whirl.
  
• 2008 Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes
  Discovered this white wine just last week and it is amazing. Another friend on Twitter raved about it as well so I thought I'd pick up another bottle because spring is just around the corner. Isn't it?
  
• 2007 Firestone Riesling Central Coast
  Caught a recommendation on this one from a trusted source on Corkd who called it the best Riesling he's ever had and gave it 96 points.
• 2007 Luzon Jumilla
  Recommendation from Mike Jr. on the floor. Of all the wines in the store he could recommend, he made a beeline for the sub-$10 Spanish red.
• 2006 Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon
  Recommendation from Mike Jr. on the floor.
• 2007 A to Z Oregon Pinot Noir
  I've heard good things about A to Z. Thought I'd give it a try.

They also had the highly sought after 92 point 2006 Villa Pillo Toscana Borgoforte still available, but I didn't buy any because I still have a half case remaining. One other I spotted and would recommend is the 93 point 2007 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel.

Question of the Day: What do you think of these picks? Are you planning on going to the tasting on Saturday?

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Deal of the Day: Pedrini Wine Saver for $2.50

For your weekend shopping consideration, here's one for my friends in the northeast who might be in the market for a Vacu Vin-esque vacuum wine saver. These devices are great for storing a bottle overnight without exposing it to excessive air. Just place the stopper in the bottle, give it a few pumps and your wine will be in better shape the next night than if you just re-inserted the cork:

$15 is pretty steep for one of these. However, while I was at a Christmas Tree Shop in Natick, MA recently, I spotted some of these for only $2.50! It was made by Pedrini, a brand which I usually associate with being an above-average Home Goods/Marshalls manufacturer.

The labels on the package indicate that these originally sold for $14.99 at the now-defunct Linens 'N Things. Get over to your local Christmas Tree Shops ("Don't You Just Love a Bargain?") if you're interested. I even see a entrepreneurial sort selling these through Amazon.com Marketplace:

I picked one of these up (along with some additional stoppers for just $1 more) and it seems to work quite well


UPDATE (1/11/2010): I stopped using these wine stoppers after a while because they frequently failed to maintain a seal after 24 hours.  The flanges on the stoppers seemed too wide for most bottles making them hard to get into the bottle in the first place.  This created an ambiguous situation regarding whether the seal was in place after vacuuming it closed and ultimately I was more pleased with simple $1.95 stoppers like the ones featured in this piece on short-term wine preservation.


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You're Invited: Grand Tasting at Upper Falls Liquor in Newton, MA

On Saturday February 28th, 2009, Upper Falls Liquor in Newton will be having a free grand tasting of over 100 wines. Even better, they'll be offering 25% off the purchase of 6 or more bottles of all of their wines (with the exception of already discounted "red tag" items) on both Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th.

The other two stores in this group (Auburndale and Post Road) are also participating. More information is available on their website.

If you'd like to reserve some of your favorite wines, it might be worth calling to see whether they can accommodate. Try mike@upperfallsliquor.com at (617)969-9200.

I like this group of stores because:

• Their rotating monthly specials require the purchase of only 6 bottles whereas other stores require 12 bottles or more to receive their best pricing.
• They carry a good assortment of price points. Both good quality-price-ratio daily drinkers -and- higher end wines which allows you to build up 6 or more bottles without breaking the bank.
• Their 3 locations in the Boston MetroWest area make it convenient to stop in while running other errands.
  

Over time, they've been able to obtain highly rated, hard to find wines I've not seen other places:

• The 92-point WS/$12 2006 Villa Pillo Toscana Borgoforte
• The 95-point WS/$27 2005 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
• The 96-point WS/$29 2007 Merry Edwards Russian River Sauvignon Blanc

I'll probably stop in on Friday to pick a few things up and then back on Saturday for the tasting if I can swing it. Hope to see you there!

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Value Alert: 2007 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc

As is being discussed in this thread on the Wine Spectator Forums, the 2007 Merry Edwards Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc received 96 points in a recent Wine Spectator Insider (subscription required). At a release price of $29 and 3,880 cases produced, this may be one you'll want to consider as part of your wine shopping over the next couple of months.

Sauvignon Blanc is a wine I always associate with tasting in Napa for some reason. For me, it's been a variety that I always taste and think "Hmm. Tasty white wine. Where's the Cab?" However, I've grown to appreciate it more over time. We've especially enjoyed the always delicious, readily available, and relatively affordable Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

James Laube, Wine Spectator's lead taster of California wines, called this wine the best Sauvignon Blanc he's ever had from anywhere in a recent blog entry (subscription to Wine Spectator required). That's high praise, especially considering the great Sauvignon Blancs that come out of France and New Zealand. It should be noted that MaryAnn Worobiec actually assigned the 96 rating- Laube just backed it up with his additional praise.

It's interesting to contrast this with Gary Vaynerchuk's comments that all the Sauvignon Blanc in California should be torn up, evidently preferring the way this grape is produced in other countries. He also notes that, in his opinion, more people will naturally gravitate to Sauvignon Blanc than Chardonnay (America's current "queen" of wines, to Cabernet Sauvignon as the king). I tend to agree with this given Sauvignon Blanc's approachable tropical and grapefruit flavors. It's downright tasty stuff.

I hear that Upper Falls Liquors in Newton, MA *may* have some of this wine coming in. Give them a call or drop them an E-mail if you're local and would like to get your hands on this wine.

Further reading:

• If this one is a little more than you'd like to spend, try this sub-$10 domestic Riesling. Also a great value.
• This readily available and inexpensive New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc just might be the perfect warm weather party wine.

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Question of the Day: Have you seen the 2007 Merry Edwards Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc in stores? Have you tried this wine or prior vintages of Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc? If so, please leave a comment and let us know about it.

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