After much anticipation, we have received the long awaited shipment of fantastic white and rose wines from famed Bordeaux producer Denis Dubourdieu. If you’re not familiar with Denis Dubourdieu, he is what some consider the “godfather” of white wine elaboration in Bordeaux. Denis Dubourdieu Domaine’s consists of several different chateau’s and regions, and we selected three estates that we felt catered to the American market. We selected several wines from his offerings: the Chateau Reynon Sauvignon Blanc in the Cadillac region, Clos Floridene Blanc and Rose from the Graves region, and Chateau Cantegril from Sauternes. We feel that these wines will offer amazing quality and for an amazing price, ranging from $13 to $30  at any of the wine stores in Utah. We are currently only selling these wines in Utah and Wyoming, but will hopefully be expanding availability throughout the US in the near future to try and make it possible for everyone to enjoy these incredible wines. To go along with these wines I would highly recommend visiting Freshies Lobster Co. for incredibly fresh Maine lobsters, clams, mussels, and lobster rolls for an amazing meal delivered straight to your door! Freshies was recently featured in Salt Lake Magazine where they wrote a company profile about the company. I have ordered several times from Freshies and have always had the freshest seafood available to us in land locked Utah. I actually wound up chasing a live lobster all over my kitchen because it was so fresh and alive it decided to take a spin throughout my house- don’t worry, no wine was spilled…….

Cheers,

Michael

It has been a great start of the week for P.R. Grisley Co. as news has been flying in from Europe on two wineries we import from, Quinta de Gomariz from Portugal and Baron de Montfort from France. Both wineries have received awards for their wine making in their respective countries and we couldn’t be happier for both wineries!!!

 Our good friend Bertrand de Sercey and the team at Baron de Montfort have been awarded two silver medals in recognition for the 2006 vintage of BOTH the Chateau Lagrange Monbadon and the Chateau de Monbadon in an annual competition held in Bordeaux. The “Concours de Bordeaux” is a certified organization that was set up to allow Bordeaux producers to compete with each other and all wines are blind tasted by wine professionals. We currently sell the 2005 Chateau de Monbadon and the 2003 Chateau Lagrange Monbadon in selected markets, but we look forward to receiving the 2006 vintage of these wines in the future. It’s encouraging to know that Baron de Monfort continues to produce award-winning wines and we look forward to enjoying these upcoming vintages.

 Quinta de Gomariz had a VERY big weekend, taking home five awards in two different competions for their fantastic vinho verde wines. The first competition was the annual Vinho Verde Competition and was held in the city of Braga in northern Portugal. Gomariz took home the “best of” award for their 2008 Loureiro in the varietal category, as well as the 2008 Espadeiro (Rose), also for the varietal category. The big winner was their 2008 Colheita Seleccionada, which took home the gold medal in the white wine category. The other competition was the Lisbon National Wine Contest, where the 2008 Loureiro and 2008 Colheita Seleccionada were awarded silver medals. We’ve been working very closely with our good friend Vitor Mendez from Vinixa, who helped make the Gomariz wines available in the US market. As a brand new producer whom we just began working with and recently visited in May, this is very promising and we can’t wait until the Gomariz wines are available in US, which will be in the next month and half.

So, congratulations to both Quinta de Gomariz and Baron de Monfort, keep up the good work and we’ll be sure to raise a glass to you both!!!

– Michael 

After 10 years since being listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, the jurisdiction of St. Emilion will be celebrating the anniversary and relishing their coveted distinction with a bit more “gusto” throughout 2009.  St. Emilion is an absolutely amazing city that one must visit if they are even remotely close to the Bordeaux area. It’s small alleyways and steep streets are filled with wine shops, patisseries, boulangeries, and wonderful boutiques where one can buy incredible cognac and wine paraphernalia. Due to the fact the the vineyards are included along with the city itself for the UNESCO distinction, the Saint Emilion Wines Council has created a 10 year annivesary logo for the occasion. The vineyards surrounding the city and their long standing history are what ultimately sets St. Emilion apart from other wine producer regions, and were a major part of the distinction as seen from UNESCOS’s criteria; 

Criterion (iii): The Ancient Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is an outstanding example of an historic vineyard landscape that has survived intact and in activity to the present day. 

Criterion (iv): The intensive cultivation of grapes for wine production in a precisely defined region and the resulting landscape is illustrated in an exceptional way by the historic Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion.

 Even more impressive and excited for the P.R. Grisley Company is the fact that we are honored to be able to work closely with one of the distingushed people that worked to establish St. Emilion as a UNESCO site. Baron de Montfort was the “major” of  one of the villages included, St. Etienne de Lisse, and worked hard for the distinction that would ultimately preserve the area and the land he loves. The listing was a major success as it deters any future building or development in the St. Emilion area and helps to preserve what many consider to be the most prestigious wine region in France. 

Our hats are off to Baron de Montfort and the countless other individuals involved who helped to secure St. Emilion its place among the many treasured places in the world. We hope that everyone will be able to visit this wonderful place at some point in their life, but if not, the true charm of the region shines through in the amazing wines being produced there. Fortunately, we have worked hard to make several of these wines available to you here in the US market, so please discover this amazing region and its wines with us!

Sante,

Michael