Fly Wines: Welcome to the Vine High Club

Wine clubs can be a whole lot of fun, and I just got this box by Fly Wines, whose goal is to share independent wineries from around the world with its customers. I have two daughters so you're damn right I'm gonna mention this is a woman owned business, aaaaand a black woman owned business. That is friggin' awesome.

So Fly Wines just launched recently and their first offering is four wines (in 187ml bottles) by Fortino Winery out of Santa Clara, California. Which was a good decision because the wines are very nice, and I always love seeing something different that doesn't get into the market of my area often like a Sangiovese from California.

But just by everything that I see, Fly Wines has their stuff together. They have an excellent presentation, with obvious care into their image, and they ESPECIALLY have beautiful and protective packaging. I've seen wine clubs that showed up with awful presentation and packaging, but Fly Wines is top notch in this area. The best I've personally seen yet of its kind.

Getting a delivery from this wine club would be a pleasure. I'm gonna give it a big thumbs up!

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Fleming's Uncorked Wine Experience with Duckhorn Vineyards

This summer Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is promoting Duckhorn Vineyards with tastings of their wines all throughout the month of July, and I'm super bummed that I'm unable to attend. Even though I only live an hour and twenty minutes away from their Boston location, I also live on Cape Cod. This is tourist and traffic season and the busiest time of the year for me, so I'm hunkered down here on the Cape and keeping busy!

But still Fleming's was awesome enough to send me a little box of goodies anyways! I've got a Fleming's corkscrew and wine glass tag, a sweeeeeeeet Duckhorn Corkcicle cup that keeps whatever you put in there warm or cold, some little chocolate ducks from Napa Valley's Woodhouse, a flash drive with the following press release, and a 375 ml bottle of Duckhorn Chardonnay. I'm sipping on that Chard and nibbling on that chocolate right now and they're both just so good! Thank you, Fleming's! That Corkcicle cup is gonna be my new favorite thing! And hopefully I'll be able to participate in your next Uncorked!

INTRODUCING AN “UNCORKED WINE EXPERIENCE” FROM FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE & WINE BAR FEATURING SIX DISTINGUISHED WINES FROM THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO

Sip through as many of the six luxurious wines to create your own personalized wine experience for $28* per guest with dinner

Tampa, Fla. (July 1, 2019) – Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is offering guests a whole new way to enjoy wine with dinner…personalized. Beginning July 1, guests are invited to sip through as many of the six distinguished wines as they’d like from the Duckhorn Portfolio as part of its new “Uncorked Wine Experience” for $28* per guest with dinner. 

“Discovering wine is a promise we make to our guests, and we are delighted to deliver on that promise with our inaugural summer Uncorked wine experience,” said Stephen Blevins, Director of Wine, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. “For four decades, the Duckhorn name has been known for optimal grape selection, innovative winemaking techniques and a premium barrel-aging program.”

The “Uncorked Wine Experience” offers guests the opportunity to create their own personalized wine experience while discovering as many of the six featured wines as they would like during their dinner.  

• Decoy Rose California: This lovely Rose displays enticing aromas of pink grapefruit and fresh melon along with hints of strawberry and spring wild flowers. Suggested pairings include Beef Carpaccio or Burrata with Prosciutto. 

• Decoy Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County: This bright and aromatic wine offers enticing layers of lemon and lime zest. Suggested pairings include Sweet Chili Calamari or Fleming’s Salad.

• Duckhorn Chardonnay Napa Valley: This is an intense and complex expression of Napa Valley Chardonnay, with alluring aromas of nectarine, yellow plum, pineapple upside-down cake and sweet spices. Suggested pairings include Shrimp Cocktail, Lobster Bisque or Miso Glazed Chilean Sea Bass.

• Calera Pinot Noir Central Coast: A recent addition to the Duckhorn portfolio, this wine is crafted using grapes from a handful of the finest vineyards on the Central Coast, this alluring Pinot Noir offers lovely aromatics, soft, velvety tannins and vibrant fruit. Suggested pairings include Pork Tomahawk or Main Filet Mignon.

• Duckhorn Merlot Napa Valley: This is a beautifully complex expression of Napa Valley Merlot, with inviting aromas of fresh raspberry, vanilla, tea leaves, pie crust and licorice. Suggested pairings include Prime New York Strip or Barbecue Scottish Salmon Fillet.

• Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley: A classic expression of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine combines beautiful complexity with rich intensity. Suggested pairings include Prime Bone-in Ribeye or Bone-in Filet Mignon.

Fleming’s guests will also have the opportunity to enter the Uncorked sweepstakes from July 1 through July 31, 2019 for a chance to win a trip for two to Napa Valley. For details of the sweepstakes and additional information on Uncorked, visit http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/uncorkedsweeps.

*Pricing and participation vary by location. Visit www.flemingssteakhouse.com for more information. 

About Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Nationally acclaimed Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar offers the best in steakhouse dining – here you'll find a passion for steak and wine, reflected in an exceptional menu of hand-cut steaks, an award-winning list of wines by the glass, and seasonal menu selections showcasing locally-inspired chef dishes. Fleming's was launched in Newport Beach, California, in 1998 by successful restaurant industry veterans Paul Fleming and Bill Allen. Today there are 70 restaurants nationwide and one in São Paulo, Brazil. Fleming's is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including Wine Spectator's annual Award of Excellence. For more information about Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, please visit www.FlemingsSteakhouse.com.

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Wine Club Review: WINESTYR Part 3, Colcanyon Estate Wines 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon

This is the conclusion of three reviews for Winestyr. For an introduction and how this wine club service works then check out Part 1's review of Anaba Sonoma Valley 2012 Turbine White. In Part 2 I went over the actual package and the extra items while reviewing Claypool Cellars Pachyderm Sonoma Coast 2012 Pinot Noir. Here in Part 3 I'll be reviewing Colcanyon Estate Wines 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and giving my overall impression of their wine club.

Colcanyon Wine Estates was founded in 2001 as one of the first Santa Monica Mountain wineries above Malibu. This Cab says Los Angeles County as the place of origin but it could now legally say Malibu Coast, the new AVA for the area. Never seen either of those on a wine before? I wouldn't blame you. It's not like when you think of LA you think of wine.

But luckily for me I've had the opportunity to be an admirer of Colcanyon for several years now even though I'm on the opposite end of the country. I look forward to seeing them at tasting tables so, just like the Pachyderm, I gave another fist pump after seeing that this was part of my Winestyr shipment.

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Wine Club Review: WINESTYR Part 2, Claypool Cellars Pachyderm Sonoma Coast 2012 Pinot Noir

This is the second of three reviews for Winestyr. For an introduction and how this wine club service works then check out Part 1's review of Anaba Sonoma Valley 2012 Turbine White. Here in Part 2 I'll be going over the actual package and reviewing Claypool Cellars Pachyderm Sonoma Coast 2012 Pinot Noir, then in Part 3 I review Colcanyon Estate Wines 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and give my overall impression of their wine club.

The package I have is the "Mix Club" three pack. I'm not sure if the same extra goodies come with each pack, only with your first shipment, or if it's something different each time. But here's what I got:

- A cloth wine bag with their logo that holds two standard bottles of wine. Nice quality material and, most importantly, strong stitching. 

- A wood handled corkscrew / cap opener. I expected it to be kinda loose and crappily made but it works and it's totally solid. However, for me it's just a cool thing to have and it will be a nice decoration in my office at work. I prefer the smooth sailing of the efficiently done waiters corkscrew.

- A personally written note to me by founder Bob Wilson hoping that I enjoy the experience. Also, a printed card on the same impressive stationary (it doesn't take much to impress me there) with their mission statement.

- Leaflets, for the lack of a better term, done in a very hipster way that gives you the information for each wine in your shipment. It's most definitely from recycled paper but I've never seen the kind of clip they use to hold it together in my life.

The actual cardboard box from shipping is well done and all the extra stuff is well done... but how's the wine? The first was awesome so let's move forward to the second one...

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Wine Club Review: WINESTYR Part 1, Anaba Sonoma Valley 2012 Turbine White

This is the first of three reviews for Winestyr, an online wine retailer and wine club based out of Chicago. In Part 1 I'll be talking about the service itself and reviewing Anaba Sonoma Valley 2012 Turbine White, in Part 2 (Sunday, April 17th) I'll be going over the actual package and reviewing Claypool Cellars Pachyderm Sonoma Coast 2012 Pinot Noir, and in Part 3 I review Colcanyon Estate Wines 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and give my overall impression of their wine club.

Membership to the wine club starts at $75 a shipment at the time of this review's release. This is what they call the "Mix Club" with three bottles a shipment. If you want to up it to six bottles then the price goes up to $133. There's also an "All Reds Club" that only includes high end reds, and that will run you $99 for three and $179 for six. You don't have to get it monthly! You can totally only get shipments bimonthly or quarterly! Which makes it a far easier wine club to handle for those of us that have realistic bills on a "I'm not friggin rich, goddamnit" income.

Here's an important thing to note: they sent me their March or April three bottle "Mix Club" package. So these wines together would cost you $75 if you joined the wine club. HOWEVER!!! If you were to buy all three wines separately it would cost you $120 total. How's that for a deal?

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Wine Subscription Review: Wineist Wine Carte, Part 2

"Small in size, big in wines" is the Wineist motto. They're I guess what you could call a wine club but they call themselves a "wine carte". Carte is actually a good choice of wordage because it can mean menu or map. You're getting a taste of the wines they sell and their wines are from all over the world!

This is how it works: you go to WINEIST.COM and see what plan works for you. You can get a monthly subscription, six month subscription or a yearly subscription. Let's just say you get a monthly subscription, which is $29 a month at the time of this review. Every month you'll receive six 50 ml sample bottles in a neat little box. There's also a pamphlet telling you what each bottle is, all the tech information you could possibly need, winery information, food pairings, etc, and space for your notes. If you like any of the wines then you can buy them in normal bottle size.

Just by seeing what they do, having this package in my hands, I can tell you this is a very cool product. But how are the wines in the package that I got?

I'm breaking it down into two reviews: In Part 1 I had a Riesling from Germany, a Pinotage Rosé from South Africa, and a Tempranillo blend from Spain. In Part 2 I've got a Chianti Rufina Cru Basciano, a Shiraz blend from South Africa, and another Tempranillo blend from Spain.

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Wine Subscription Review: Wineist Wine Carte, Part 1

"Small in size, big in wines" is the Wineist motto. They're I guess what you could call a wine club but they call themselves a "wine carte". Carte is actually a good choice of wordage because it can mean menu or map. You're getting a taste of the wines they sell and their wines are from all over the world!

This is how it works: you go to WINEIST.COM and see what plan works for you. You can get a monthly subscription, six month subscription or a yearly subscription. Let's just say you get a monthly subscription, which is $29 a month at the time of this review. Every month you'll receive six 50 ml sample bottles in a neat little box. There's also a pamphlet telling you what each bottle is, all the tech information you could possibly need, winery information, food pairings, etc, and space for your notes. If you like any of the wines then you can buy them in normal bottle size.

Just by seeing what they do, having this package in my hands, I can tell you this is a very cool product. But how are the wines in the package that I got?

I'm breaking it down into two reviews: In Part 1 I've got a Riesling from Germany, a Pinotage Rosé from South Africa, and a Tempranillo blend from Spain. In Part 2 I've got a Chianti Rufina, a Shiraz blend from South Africa, and another Tempranillo blend from Spain.

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