Some days, I venture into The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan just to pick up the monthly club selections.  The two wines arrive at just under thirty dollars and are curated by the owner and his staff, and I have to believe that they are a loss leader and an enticement to visit the shop.  On top of the two wines, the club entitles me to get case discount pricing, even if I only buy one bottle of wine.  Not to mention, that I truly enjoy just spending some time there. 

The first wine always represents the Old World and this wine was Tome Wines  “Tocca Dentro” Pinot Grigio Treviso, Friuli-Venezia Giuli, Veneto 2021.  Robert Tomé is the founder and CEO of Tomebrands. Robert was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; his father was an immigrant from Friuli Venezia Giulia home of some of his favorite vineyards, and his mother is a third-generation Canadian of Scottish descent, from where he learned to love golf. His earliest memories of wine are the wines made in his family’s garage by his father and uncles.  Years later he found himself working at a golf club, where he developed a passion for the game, as well as the hospitality industry, where he eventually received a full scholarship and then a degree in hospitality and tourism.  By the nineties he was working full time in the wine industry, and in 2004 he launched his own wine importing agency in Canada.  In 2017, he sold his interest in the agency and fulfilled his dream and created Tomé Group of Brands, making wines from Washington State and in Italy.  As with every wine of his that I have encountered the “name” is from golf lingo and “Tocca Dentro” in Italian means “Tap In.”  The wine is pure Pinot Grigio, and I will venture to say that the wine was vinified in Stainless-Steel.  This straw-yellow colored wine offers notes of apples, pears and almonds.  On the palate this soft summer quencher displays tones of apples, nectarines, pears and almonds with a “twinkle of acidity.” 

The second wine that we received from the club representing the New World is Two Mountain Winery “Show Pony” Yakima Valley NV.  After four generations of Yakima farming, an uncle sold the owner the Schmidt Orchards planted in 1951, and in 2006, it became the Copeland Vineyard, which he and his uncled planted in 2000.  The winery is named after the two mountains seen from their grounds: Mount Adams and Mount Rainier.  The wine is a blend of sixty-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon, eight percent Merlot and twenty-four percent Cabernet Franc, and the blend is changed each year; as the newest incarnation is listed on their website as having thirteen percent Super-Secret Sauce (which I hope is stated with tongue firmly in the cheek).  The fruit is from the Copeland, Mary Evelyn, Portteus and Marcela Vineyards.  The wine is aged for twenty-two to thirty months in a mix of French and American oak, both new, used and neutral.  There were five-hundred-sixty cases made of this wine.  The wine is described as offering notes of baked cherry, coriander, dried Eucalyptus and coffee grounds.  On the palate the wine displays notes of red and black fruit, followed by cola flavors, fresh fig and baker’s chocolate with lingering soft tannins to leave your mouth salivating for more.