I've long been a big fan of Navarro Vineyards (but no financial interest), which is located in the Anderson Valley area of Mendocino. Excellent QPR on just about everything they make, especially their Alsatian varietals, of which their Gewürztraminer is the acknowledged star. We buy the stuff by the case, as it's the go-to wine for Chinese, Thai, Korean, Mexican, and Indian food in this house, demanded by my wife.

Their Pinot Gris and Muscat Blanc are also excellent, as are their Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay (especially the Première Reserve), and their dessert wines are superb! They also make some pretty good reds, including their Cabs, Syrah, Zin, and especially their Deep End Blend and Méthode à l'Ancienne Pinot Noirs. Many consider it the best winery top-to-bottom in California, especially if you like food-friendly wines more than big scores or over-the-top extraction.

But I digress. Navarro usually has two bottlings of their Gewürztraminer every year, their Estate Bottled, which is the more expensive of the two at all of $19, and their Cuvee Traditional, the second tier bottling. Some of what doesn't make the cut for the first two bottlings goes into a blend, and the rest is sold off to other wineries.

Anyway, right now they have a great deal on the 2006 Navarro Gewürztraminer Cuvee Traditional, $138 per case, free shipping, and only $120 a case if you're a member of their pre-release program. Only 610 cases were made.

I received my case of the Cuvee Traditional on Tuesday, and opened the first bottle Friday night to have with tamales (pork; cheese & jalapeño) from the local farmers' market. It's typical Navarro Gewürztraminer -- strong floral notes, lichee, ginger, rose petals, good acidity, .4% residual sugar, 13.6% alcohol, very clean, lingering aftertaste, but not too sweet, fat, or hot like some California bottlings of this varietal. In short, it's a 92. Helluva bargain @ $10 delivered, plus tax.

BTW, Navarro's entire portfolio is available with free shipping by the case right now, a bow to the economy. The deal is good in any of the states to which they can ship. The little advertising book I received with the case of wine says this:

Select one of Navarro's 12 pack samplers or design your own case of wine. We'll ship it by ground freight for free or you can opt for air freight for a modest upgrade. Offer applies to full 12 bottle cases only. Multiple cases all qualify for free ground shipping. Offer expires July 31, 2008 or when the wine is sold out. Offer limited to the 30 states where we have direct shipping permits.

Navarro ships to these states:

AK HI MI NE OH VT
CA IA MN NH OR WA
CO ID MO NM SC WI
CT IL NC NV TX WV
FL LA ND NY VA WY

Also, for Navarro's other wines, there's 5% discount on 6 bottles, 10% discount on 1 or 2 cases, 15% off 3 to 9 cases, 20% off 10 or more (but no discounts on the $138/$120 case of Cuvee Traditional Gewürztraminer).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RDCollins,

This seems a bit like a shill but I'll bite.

The Deep end Blend and Méthode à l'Ancienne Pinot Noirs are knee jerk buy for me every year. I also enjoy their whites.

How long have you been managing their online sales operation?

Robert

Hey Doug, If I buy a mixed case now can I still get free ground shiping if I have them wait till october when the weather cools here in Minnesota to ship it?

quote:

Originally posted by mpls wine guy:
Hey Doug, If I buy a mixed case now can I still get free ground shiping if I have them wait till october when the weather cools here in Minnesota to ship it?

Call and ask -- it's an 800 number.

quote:

Originally posted by RDCollins:

quote:

Originally posted by mpls wine guy:
Hey Doug, If I buy a mixed case now can I still get free ground shiping if I have them wait till october when the weather cools here in Minnesota to ship it?

Call and ask -- it's an 800 number.

What a novel idea!! However, that would require some effort on one's part.

You mean you're NOT the sales rep? <emptey suit razz>

I will give them a call.

Just call your brother in St. Louis.

Ditto on Doug's comments.

I discovered Navarro a few years ago on a visit to Sonoma and Mendocino. We joined their pre-release program at the time, but didn't buy much beyond the two scheduled shipments.

Two years ago we tried their spring special on Chenin Blanc and unfortunately only bought one case (it was sold out within a few weeks). This year we bought two cases of the Chenin Blanc and we saw they had the case special on the Gewurtz with free shipping, we tried a case. The night we opened the bottle, we knew we had to buy a second case. Great with spicy food, but light enough to drink on its own.

I find it hard to believe they only made 610 cases-- they sell a lot of sampler packs that include the Gewurtz. I honestly think it's a typo-- if you google the wine name you'll find that they produced over 2000 cases in 2005.

I haven't tried their blended white (Edelzwicker), but have heard it's good as well.

As an aside, I was quite worried when the wonderful state of Ohio passed a new law last year that limited direct shipments to wineries that produced less than 150,000 gallons of wine per year...fortunately Navarro only produces around 100,000 gallons. I will never understand the politics or logic behind trying to protect "local" wineries (like, I'm really going to decide to buy a bottle of Ohio wine since I can't get a limited Zin or Cab from California)...