Featured Wine

     It's a hell of a lot of fun to introduce people to this wine.  It's even more fun to let winemaker Joseph Puig introduce people to it at our bar like he did last year.  Here's a case where the winemaker is as interesting and as joyful as the wine he makes.  The Odysseus Garnacha Blanc was the first white Grenache we bought in 2005 and it has continued to be one of our favorite wines in the store.

     Legendary wine-maker Joseph Puig has dedicated his entire life to wine-making and the restaurant business. His latest challenge is in the Priorat region of Spain where he purchased 20 hectares of vineyards and built a winery to create magic from this special area. Helped by his daughter Silvia, the enologist, they have planted: Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Touriga Nacional.

     Joseph and Silvia produce unique wines with unusual methods: vinification is done directly into 400 liter oak casks with the skins, so that the never-ending stirring can be accomplished during fermentation in order to get the rich tannins and color from the grapes. The ageing is done in the same barrels once topped off. The team uses mostly Nevers oak barrels and also some Quercus Alba and Quercus Sessili, medium toasted. The casks complement each other very well and add a fantastic note of complexity to the excellent Priorat fruit.

     This white is a perfect example of what white Priorat wine made from native Garnacha Blanca (White Grenache) can be. The wine was carefully fermented in the "old-style" without temperature control and a unique maceration within the French oak barrels for 8 hours. Notes of peach, pear and honeysuckle on the nose with a long, silky finish and great complexity in the mouth. 24.99/btl Limited production of 400 cases.