Club Grand Reserve®
We are particularly excited about our Spring 2024 Club Grand Reserve Allocation. This is an exceptional collection that can be cellared for decades and/or opened to celebrate the most precious of occasions. These are wines that will impress the most discerning of palates, like yours!
The Spring lineup is BIG. The lightest of this group of incredible big red wines is a very special wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We step up a bit with a Super Tuscan that earned a spot on the 2023 Wine Spectator Top 100, and step up again with a 99-point 15 year old Gran Reserva from Rioja. We top off the lineup with 2 very special Syrahs, the first a Shiraz from vines nearly 175 years old in Australia, and the second a 99-point California Syrah that might be the best we've ever had.
Membership = $900 per allocation
Each allocation is assembled to bring you maximum value for your money. The cost of Club Reserve is $900 per allocation, which is a fraction of what these wines would cost individually.
We thrive to provide the best experience and guarantee to replace any wine that does not live up to its billing. Subscribers can pause or cancel membership at any time.
2020 Domaine Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Le Secret des Sabon
Vital Statistics
Domaine Roger Sabon
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône Valley
France
95% Grenache, 5% "other varieties"
ABV: 15.00%
What Others Are Saying
Vivino Score: 4.5
Drink now through 2040
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"The full-bodied 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape le Secret de Sabon offers up stunning aromas of roses, raspberries, black cherries, pine sap and garrigue. Silky and elegant, it finishes long and mouthwatering. Almost entirely Grenache from a couple of old-vine parcels on sandier sites than the majority of the domaine's offerings, it's a beautiful wine by any measure."
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- Wine Advocate - 97 points
"Last of the wines from bottle, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Le Secret Des Sabon is a field blend of mostly Grenache that sees a touch of stem inclusion and aging all in oak tronconique tanks. A candidate for the wine of the vintage, it has a similar bouquet to the Prestige and has beautiful red and black fruits (even some blue fruits), flowers, garrigue, and spice. This carries to a full-bodied 2020 with a layered, seamless mouthfeel, moderate acidity, no hard edges, and a great, great finish."
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- Jeb Dunnuck - 97 points
Why did this wine make this allocation?
There are only a small handful of Chateuneuf-du-Pape wines that have this much acclaim. This is definitely one of our favorites. An easy drinker, but with so many layers of flavor and a finish that just begs for another sip. What a beauty!
2020 Isole e Olena Cepparello IGT
Vital Statistics
Isole e Olena, Chianti Classico, Toscana, Italy
What Others Are Saying
Vivino Score: 4.4
Drink now through 2045
"The 2020 Cepparello is dense, powerful and soaring in intensity. A dark, almost somber Cepparello, the 2020 possesses remarkable depth from start to finish. Black cherry, plum, gravel, dried herbs and lavender build in a vivid, stunningly beautiful Cepparello that hits all the right notes."
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- Vinous - 97 points
"Supple and smooth, the 2020 Cepparello brings Sangiovese to soaring heights in a manner only Paolo De Marchi can manage. This is his second to last vintage before he would retire and sell this historic estate. The wine opens to medium to full-bodied concentration with dark plum and redcurrant. Those cede to sweet spice, earth, crushed stone, rusty nail and candied orange peel. Give the wine more time to flesh out with cellar age. It registers a powerful 15% alcohol content."​
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- Wine Advocate- 96 points
Why did this wine make this allocation?
Holy Sangiovese! Sangiovese at its most elegant. Floral bouquet, ripe black cherries, orange zest, dried herbs, baking spices, and a little bit of minerality here with balanced acidity, and soft tannins. This is a special wine. Oh, and it made the 2023 Wine Spectator Top 100!
2010 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 Rioja DOCa
Vital Statistics
La Rioja Alta
Rioja, Italy
What Others Are Saying
Vivino Score: 4.5
Drink now through 2044
"This is really refined and complex, with dark mineral, savory berries, mussels, walnuts, sweet spices, truffles, dried oranges, forest floor and cocoa powder. Beautiful acidity with vertical and velvety tannins. Tense, dimensional and very long."
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- James Suckling - 99 points
"They were eager to show me their 2010 Gran Reserva 890, their flagship wine from one of the most heralded vintages of recent times, the next vintage of this wine since 2005. It's 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo that fermented destemmed and crushed with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats for 18 days, the Tempranillo and Mazuelo together and the Graciano separately. After letting the wine settle for the winter, they selected the lots that would age for six years in used American oak barrels with 10 manual rackings. The wine epitomizes the classical style of Rioja Alta with long aging in barrel, developed and tertiary wines with a silky palate and a complex and decadent nose of forest floor, truffles, cigar ash and cedar wood. They need a very special selection of vineyards at higher altitude that take longer to ripen, and they don't do it fully every year."
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- Wine Advocate - 97 points
Why did this wine make this allocation?
This is perhaps the most special Spanish wines in our portfolio. It represents the more traditional approach to winemaking in Rioja; hand harvested, destemmed grapes only picked in special years, aged for several years in American oak. The fruit is integrated into complex layers of herbs, spices, tabacco, and lots of earthy notes. This is a serious wine and as luxurious as its price tag. Awesome!
2020 Viña Almaviva
Vital Statistics
Baron Philippe de Rothschild & Viña Concha Y Toro
Maipo Valley, Chile
What Others Are Saying
Vivino: 4.5
Drink now through 2036
"2020 was exceptionally dry, with 75% less rain than usual in the period between May and September, which resulted in an earlier harvest to produce a 2020 Almaviva with 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carmenere (from Peumo), 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, so with no Merlot this time. The process was as careful as possible, without using any pumps, doing manual and optical sorting of the grapes, pressing in small vertical presses and aging of 20 months in French oak barrels, 73% of them new and the rest second use. The wine reached good ripeness with 14.9% alcohol. It still shows the effect of the élevage a bit, with abundant notes of sweet spices, a creamy touch and some smoke. I tasted it next to the 2019, and the wines have a very similar aromatic palette with a clear note of baked peppers. What was amazing in 2020 was that they harvested the Carmenere almost five weeks earlier than they normally would, and the result is not a green wine at all."
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- Wine Advocate - 96 points
"Beguiling on the nose, this red offers layers of cardamom, chrysanthemum, balsam and loganberry. Offers a palate that's equally engaging and elegant yet powerful, with a silky smooth frame and concentrated blackberry and cassis flavors. Packs lively acidity that brings freshness and cohesion and extends the finish, where details of peppercorn and olive emerge around fine tannins, all while echoing back to the core flavors. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot."
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- Wine Spectator - 95 points
Why did this wine make this allocation?
Here is a collaboration between 2 great wine houses from France and Chile, respectively. It brings the soul of the Chilean vineyard landscape with the artful winemaking of Bordeaux. The result is complex and elegant, and importanly, delicious. Ripe black fruit surrounded by tapenade, pepper and baking spices, a bit of smoke, fine tannins and balanced acidity. Beautiful!
2016 Yalumba The Octavius Old Vine Shiraz
What Others Are Saying
Vivino: 4.4
Drink now through 2038
"This blend of Barossa Valley (67%) and Eden Valley fruit hails from five parcels averaging 80 years old, the oldest planted in 1854. Intensely concentrated in hue and muscular flavour. Spicy and mineral to the nose and palate, with glimpses of violets. Its iodine and liquorice-edged black cherry and blueberry flavour is succulent, but still in the grip of the sinewy, charry oak, making for an imposing, slightly austere finish. A powerhouse."
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- Decanter - 96 points
"Saturated ruby. Heady aromas of ripe dark berries, cherry liqueur, vanilla and incense, with smoky mineral and exotic spice accents building in the glass. Seamless in texture and deeply concentrated, offering palate-staining black and blue fruit, floral pastille and mocha flavors that turn sweeter with air. At once plush and lively, finishing extremely long and smoky, with repeating dark berry and floral notes and velvety tannins."
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- Vinous - 96 points
Why did this wine make this allocation?
This is a wine that is both pretty and powerful. Beautiful aromas of ripe red and blue fruits, licorice, vanilla, and baking spices are met with equally powerful flavors of ripe dark fruits, cocoa, and spice. This is a brilliant specimen and a great representation of just how good Shiraz can be.
2020 Andremily Syrah No. 9
Vital Statistics
Andremily, Santa Barbara County, Central Coast, CA, USA
What Others Are Saying
Vivino: 4.6
Drink now through 2041
"A blend of 89% Syrah, 9% Mourvèdre, and 2% Viognier, the 2020 No 9 was 50% destemmed and will see 22 months in 65% new French oak. Full-bodied and powerful, with lots of chocolaty black fruits, ground pepper, and assorted meatiness, it hits the palate with a ripe, lush texture, solid tannins, and a great finish."
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- Jeb Dunnuck - 99 points
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"The 2020 Andremily No 9 is composed of 89% Syrah, 9% Mourvèdre, and 2% Viognier, made with 50% whole clusters. It spent 22 months in French oak barrels, 65% new. The wine was still in the barrel when I tasted it, due to be bottled in a few weeks. Very deep purple-black colored, it struts out with sassy notes of juicy black plums, boysenberry preserves, and fruit cake with hints of coffee beans, charcoal, and garrigue, plus a touch of black pepper. Full-bodied, the palate is vibrant and plush, featuring a firm backbone of grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and layered"
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- Wine Independent - 99 points
Why did this wine make this allocation?
This is the best Syrah we've ever had, period. Big, bold, full of fruit and spice, and an unforgettable finish.