Simon N Cellars Wines

[JMac]

I am a sales rep for Simon N Cellars. I cover Montgomery County and DC. I am always looking to originate new business. So please contact me if you you are a retailer or restaurant and you want to schedule a tasting.

After months of mostly lurking I decided, at Don's suggestion, to post the availability of Simon N Cellars' wines. As some of you know, Simon N Cellars is a Charlottesville based importer and distributor of boutique, limited production wines. Simon N Cellars is owned by French ex pat Didier Simonin so most of the portfolio is French. But Simon N Cellars also carries Linden Vineyards from Virginia as well as Tantara from California and Medici from Oregon. The wines are all hand crafted. Simon N Cellars, with a few exceptions, has a direct, personal relationship with everyone who makes every drop of wine that is in the Simon N Cellars portfolio.

I am still assembling the data, so this list is not comprehensive, but it includes most places where the wines can be found in DC and all of Montgomery County. Also here is a Google Maps directory.

DC

Ace Beverage

Adour

Bistro Francais

Bistrot Lepic and Wine Bar

Brasserie Beck

Calvert Woodley Fine Wines & Spirits

Central Michel Richard

Charlie Palmer Steak

Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits

Circle Wine & Liquor

Cleveland Park Liquor

Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor Deli

Cork and Fork

Courduroy

Cowgirl Creamery

Dickson Wine Bar

Et Voila!

Kinkead's Restaurant

La Chaumiere

Le Chat Noir

MacArthur Beverages

P & C Market

Pesce Restaurant

Potomac Wines and Spirits

Proof

Rasika

Schneider's of Capitol Hill

The Jefferson Hotel

The Latham Hotel

The Wine Specialist

The Wine Specialist

Wagshal's Market

Willard Intercontinental

Zola Restaurant

MD

Bezu

Bistro Provence

Cork and Fork

Grapeseed

Rays the Classics

VA

Chef Geoff's Tysons

Cork and Fork

Inn At Little Washington

Ray's The Steaks

Cheers!

[dmwine]

This is a top-notch portfolio. With the summer weather, everyone should check out the La Bastide Saint Dominique 2009 Rosé that I recommended in my column last week. It's terrific, and only $10.

ETA the tasting note and availability info:

La Bastide Saint Dominique Rosé, 2009

** 1/2 (out of three; Excellent to Extraordinary)

France, $10

This is a scintillating celebration of summer, with bright strawberry and raspberry flavors backed by laser-sharp acidity to keep the wine refreshing. Buy this by the case, and keep a bottle chilled at all times. If anything can conquer summer's humidity, this can.

Simon 'N' Cellars: Available in the District at Cork & Fork, MacArthur Beverages, Potomac Wine & Spirits. Available in Virginia at the Vineyard in McLean, Screwtop Wine Bar & Cheese Shop in Arlington, Unwined in Alexandria.

Edited June 7, 2010 by dmwine

[Mark Slater]

This is a top-notch portfolio. With the summer weather, everyone should check out the La Bastide Saint Dominique 2009 Rosé that I recommended in my column last week. It's terrific, and only $10.

ETA the tasting note and availability info:

La Bastide Saint Dominique Rosé, 2009

** 1/2 (out of three; Excellent to Extraordinary)

France, $10

This is a scintillating celebration of summer, with bright strawberry and raspberry flavors backed by laser-sharp acidity to keep the wine refreshing. Buy this by the case, and keep a bottle chilled at all times. If anything can conquer summer's humidity, this can.

Simon 'N' Cellars: Available in the District at Cork & Fork, MacArthur Beverages, Potomac Wine & Spirits. Available in Virginia at the Vineyard in McLean, Screwtop Wine Bar & Cheese Shop in Arlington, Unwined in Alexandria.

This wine is currently available by the glass at Ray's: the Steaks, along with the magnificent Rosé of Syrah (by the bottle @ $27) of Domaine Georges Vernay, also from Simon N.

[JMac]

Hi all, it's a work in progress but here is the Simon N Cellars brand new Facebook page. I aim to post a lot more images of our products and also do the usual things like announce tastings and promote our accounts.

Cheers!

[JMac]

Hi Everyone,

Dave McIntyre wrote a nice feature in the Food section of today's Washington Post about Bien Nacido Vineyards in Santa Barbara. Tantara Winery is the only California winery represented by Simon N Cellars. Tantara is produced from Bien Nacido grapes. The wines are produced in very limited quantities and are hard to find on the East Coast. The only DC area retailer that regularly stocks them is MacArthur. However, you can contact me directly and I can get them to any retailer. These are terrific California Pinot Noirs and a Syrah. I can't quote exact retail prices as I have no control over them. But depending on your budget , these are probably "special occasion wines" in that you can expect to pay over $40.00 per bottle.

Cheers!

[JMac]

I am pleased to announce that Simon N Cellars is now distributing Blenheim Vineyards wines in DC and Montgomery County. Blenheim is perhaps best known for its owner Dave Matthews, but vintner Kirsty Haron makes top notch wines. This is brand new to me so I do not have all of the details concerning the products and the prices. I do know that we will have a Viognier, a Chardonnay and a Rosé made with Cabernet Sauvignon. If any licenssees out there are interested, please contact me for a tasting.

Cheers!

[JMac]

Here are the Blenheim products that are available for sale in DC and Mongtomery County. Also, my last post said the Rosé is Cabernet Sauvignon. The Rosé is Merlot. Anyway, please ask for them at your retailers and restaurants.

2009 Chardonnay

2009 Rose

2009 Viognier

2008 Blenheim Farm Chardonnay

2009 Syrah

NV Red Table Wine

NV White Table Wine

2009 Cabernet Franc

2009 Seven Oaks Merlot

I just got the wines yesterday and am sampling with customers. Black Salt is my first customer and ordered

2009 Rose - will pour by the glass

2009 Viognier

2008 Blenheim Farm Chardonnay

2009 Seven Oaks Merlot

Any retailers out there please contact me for a tasting.

Cheers!

[JMac]

Simon N Cellars has donated some wine for the contestants and judges at the American Institute of Wine and Food I Love Crabcakes event on Sept. 20, 2010 at Phillips Flagship.

Also, a magnum of 2007 La Bastide Saint-Dominique Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Hesperides will be auctioned off. This would be a great addition to any red meat centered holiday meal for this year or the next ten years. It is 50% Grenache aged 18 months in stainless steel tank, 25% Syrah aged 18 months in oak barrels , 25% Mourvedre aged 18 months in oak barrels. 120 cases made of which Simon N Cellars bought 100.

Come on over to the event, great food and wine will be there. It is for a good cause and you will rarely see so many luminaries of the DC food scene in one place at one time.

Cheers!

[JMac]

Tasting this weekend at Cork & Fork Bethesda. 7110 Bethesda Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 841-7204 Drop by between 3:00PM and 7:00PM this Saturday 9/25/10. We will be tasting

Domaine Vincent Ricard, Touraine white Le Petiot '09, 100% Sauvignon Blanc it is highly praised in another thread on this site, excellent with sea food

Domaine Vincent Ricard, Touraine red Vilain P'tit Rouge '07, 80% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Franc, also mentioned elsewhere on the site, perfect for steaks

Bastide St. Dominique Côtes du Rhône red '07, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, great year, great producer, the '07's will probably be gone by the end of this year, get 'em while you can!

Domaine Brusset, Cotes du Ventoux "Les Boudalles" ‘09 60% Grenache, 15% Carignan, 15% Mourvèdre, 10% Clairette, another gem from the Southern Rhône. This is lighter bodied, perfect for pizza.

Cheers!

[JMac]

Dave McIntyre wrote nice things about Linden Vineyard's dessert wines in today's Washington Post. Linden has a late harvest Petit Manseng and a late harvest Vidal. Very small quantities were made. Both of them are terrific, but don't take my word for it, see what Dave McIntyre has to say. They come in elegant 375ml bottles. The wines are great with dessert and are also great to have instead of a dessert. They also make nice gifts.

I can't sell them directly, but ask your local retailer to place an order through me.

Cheers!

[ol_ironstomach]

We drank a good number of bottles from Simon N Cellars at RTS last night, evidence of Mark Slater's fondness for the wines themselves. In particular, Eric Bonnet (Saint-Dominique) won a bunch of new and rabid fans with his food-friendly reds, but all of the selections represented some absurdly good values, including the Mabileau cab franc and the Brusset Ventoux.

If these were typical of SNC's portfolio, color me impressed...I'll be keeping an eye out for their back label in the future.

[JMac]

We drank a good number of bottles from Simon N Cellars at RTS last night, evidence of Mark Slater's fondness for the wines themselves. In particular, Eric Bonnet (Saint-Dominique) won a bunch of new and rabid fans with his food-friendly reds, but all of the selections represented some absurdly good values, including the Mabileau cab franc and the Brusset Ventoux.

If these were typical of SNC's portfolio, color me impressed...I'll be keeping an eye out for their back label in the future.

Thank you for the compliments. Bastide St. Dominique is the heart of our lineup so to speak.

Cheers!

[Sthitch]

You may want to update your website to acknowledge the passing of Benoit Germain (he is still listed as wine maker for Chateau De Chorey) - he was a great and gregarious soul that the world was better for having had walking upon it.

[JMac]

You may want to update your website to acknowledge the passing of Benoit Germain (he is still listed as wine maker for Chateau De Chorey) - he was a great and gregarious soul that the world was better for having had walking upon it.

Thank you for the note. I passed it along to our front office. Yes, Benoit Germain's passing is a big loss, the Chorey wines are wonderful. Didier Simonin, the owner of Simon N Cellars did send an e-mail about Benoit's passing to our in house list and I tweeted/Facebook posted about it but it is not mentioned on the web site. I will see if we can fix that.

Thank you again,

[Mark Slater]

Thank you for the note. I passed it along to our front office. Yes, Benoit Germain's passing is a big loss, the Chorey wines are wonderful. Didier Simonin, the owner of Simon N Cellars did send an e-mail about Benoit's passing to our in house list and I tweeted/Facebook posted about it but it is not mentioned on the web site. I will see if we can fix that.

Thank you again,

Benoit's passing is truly tragic. I counted him as a friend. He was a top tier wine maker. For the past 8 years he made a point of coming to visit to personally taste his new vintages with me. He was also very generous with older vintages from the Chateau's extensive holdings. I still remember fondly the incredibly delicious 1985 Beaune Teurons.

[Mark Slater]

The 2009 Lirac, Réserve Saint Dominique has arrived and it is stunning. As good as the 2007 was, '09 is a firmer, juicier more attractive vintage for my taste. On the list at Ray's: The Steaks Arlington for $32. Also available for retail under $20. Eric Bonnet only made 250 cases of this tasty treat. Don't wait too long!