Ya Know Free Rangers,
Some people find me abrasive. No, it’s true. I rub some folks the wrong way. Reasons and excuses exist for individual interactions, but from a mile up it’s largely a defense mechanism. A defense of the limited time we are granted on this ball of dirt against the endless void.
So, Charles Smith is a notorious asshole. This doesn’t change the fact that he bottles some fully delicious wine, thoughtfully made with those notorious meathooks. I’ve heard many firsthand stories to corroborate his course legend. One from a distributor rep who Charles slapped across the face for the crime of leaving a party too early (it was almost 3am). That’s rock ’n’ roll, but it’s not cool. Would that make it more punk rock? Maybe ask someone at The Mossy Stone. At a small tasting meal a few years back, at some attractive but nondescript New American joint in Manhattan, I had a reasonably deep conversation with Charles about how the vast majority of his winemaking decisions are based on mouthfeel, especially when to end fermentation. He knows when one of his lush K Vintners wines is done when it weighs properly across the pocket of the palate, more about density and viscosity than flavor(s). Tasting a handful of these wines from different vineyards and vintages side-by-side will confirm this notion. Shortly thereafter he became bored, started downing tequila (it was a lunch), and devolved directly into the boorish bloated werebear of which I had heard tale. While I never saw him violate anyone’s personal physical space, a string of braggadocios unpleasantries swamped the place, like a John Zorn room-clearing sustained brown note, driving a $300,000 car. I won’t repeat what I said, across the table before I left (and I can promise that he won’t remember). I wouldn’t want to come off as abrasive.
Regardless, Charles Smith bottles some of the more compelling WA reds we’ve carried, and I have a long vertical of his boldest bottles in my personal collection (most of which age quite well). I’d much rather spend time with the contents of his bottles than one more moment in his presence, so let’s do that. The crazy closeout of which we were just informed allows us to get a few of his wines on the shelf well below regular retail, and a good bit less even than that right here and now.
The reds offered below are labels I’ve been collecting for years, and while these ’16 and ‘17s are drinking very well, they will also reward further bottle age for at least the next half decade. K Vintners Roma is a big dark Cab with the added lushness of 20% Syrah, perfect for hearty meals, or as a warming nighttime sipper. These are generally $55-65 bottles and we had to triple check the math to make sure we could really sell them for the numbers below and still get our cut, but these are as close to giveaway pricing as wine of this rarity and quality ever gets.
K Vintners The Boy, aside from being the starkest use of negative space on an American wine label, is a bold Grenache of significant body and acidic zip. Not as big as the Roma, this is still quite a bit more than is typical of the varietal, and will integrate and grow more delicate with further bottle age. Wonderful wine its youth becomes an equally enjoyable quaff of greater intricacy down the line. If you’d like to try a mini-vertical of this one, The Boy 2014 is still in stock as well (though not on super sale).
Full disclosure: I have not yet tasted The Viognier as it arrives today (but I have tasted several previous vintages, or it wouldn’t be on its way). I don’t often differ to the notes of a professional wine reviewer, but have long respected Stephen Tanzer, the consistency of his palate, and his even keeled analysis. When Parker and Miller were handing out 100 point scores like they were going out of style (they were), this guy was turning out reliable non-hyperbolic assessments of worthy wine every day. So here’s what he said about this K Vintners Viognier Art Den Hoed 2017 (which should arrive any minute now):
“(from nearly 25-year-old vines in a high-elevation vineyard; the two blocks on pure limestone and broken basalt river rock are vinified together in concrete, then aged on the lees in barrels for four months without the malolactic fermentation taking place): Pale silver-yellow color. Sexy scents of peach, lime, mint and white flowers. Sweet fruit salad and candied pineapple flavors show excellent intensity and framing acidity. A fairly large-scaled Viognier but also pure and crisp, finishing with positive phenolic grip, a suggestion of nutty oak and surprising dryness. In a hedonistic Gangloff style, revealing a faintly meaty quality.” — Stephen Tanzer
Now, Here’s the deal:
(!) Click here for hidden sale page (!)
K Vintners Viognier 2017 3-pack
Sale: $42 Retail: $81
Roma Vertical 2-Pack (2016 + 2017)
Sale: $69 Retail: $118
K Vintners Reds 3-pack (1 each: Roma ’16, Roma ’17, The Boy ’17)
Sale: $109 Retail: $167
K Vintners Reds 6-pack (2 each + free wine tote)
Sale: $189 Retail: $334
*** This week only, as supplies last! ***
*** No other discounts apply! ***
Aloha,
Jack
Proprietor
Free Range Wine & Spirits
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