An interesting dilemma faces the Duke with this email. As most of you know, Bob Long of Long Vineyards is a "long"-time friend. In fact, he has been a favorite attraction at our tasting seminars for longer than we dare to remember. He has even made commemorative bottlings of some of his legendary Chardonnay for our anniversary celebrations.

Bob now faces a transition in his wine business and he has decided to cut back drastically on the amount of wine he intends to make. He has also decided to reduce the amount of wine in the winery's inventory. As sad as we are to see Bob make less wine, we are delighted to be able to help him reduce his inventory and offer our customers his stylish Napa Valley Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon at greatly reduced prices. Going forward, 2009 and beyond, he intends to keep his production less than 200 cases of each varietal.

Incidentally, Bob took this picture of his vineyard. That is Lake Hennessey about a mile away in the background, the cooling influence that allows Bob to make crisp, succulent, long-lived Chardonnays and elegant, luscious Cabernet Sauvignons that thrive on cellaring.

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Long Vineyards 2004 Chardonnay
The Pritchard Hill location is the primary reason for the outstanding acid-balance of Long's Chardonnay, which, in turn, is the primary reason that the wine is capable of aging for decades. Pritchard Hill has a longer, cooler growing season than most of Napa Valley, allowing the grapes, both Chardonnay and Cabernet, to ripen slowly and evenly and still keep the acids high enough to make wines that can take cellaring. Here is a wine that has it all - fresh, crisp apple flavors and aromas, well-integrated oak and the acid underpinning that holds it all together magnificently. A vibrant wine!

Personal testimony: One of the Duke's staff opened a bottle of Long Vineyards 1990 Chardonnay, a wine bottled especially for the store's 25th anniversary, about 6 months ago. Fifteen years of bottle age and the wine was absolutely incredible - delicious flavors and still elegant.

The regular retail price of Long Vineyards 2004 Chardonnay is $30.00 and our regular discount pricing was $25.00 per bottle. While the supply lasts, our super-special pricing is $19.99 per bottle. Wait! It gets better!! Buy 12 or more and we make the price just $17.00 each. What a deal! You can save over 40% on a Napa Valley classic!!

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Long Vineyards 2003 and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Pritchard Hill Cabernets show many distinctive characteristics as opposed to Cabernets from other areas of Napa. These are a typical dark red color, softer tannins, higher acidity and very clear cherry, blackberry, cassis and anise flavors. The wines seem to hold new oak well and may be among the best-aging wines in all of Napa Valley.

Long Vineyards Cabernets have all these characteristics in spades. Luckily, we have two vintages from which to choose - both 2003 and 2004! The 2003 is rich and velvety on the finish, while the 2004 has a firmer structure - typical vintage differences. Both vintages have the wheels to go the distance in the cellar - 20 years or more in our view.

Ahhh! Pricing! The list price is $50.00. Our special price during this inventory reduction is $27.50 per bottle. Even more special! Purchase 12 or more for $25.00 each. You can mix or match the vintages or even the Chardonnay to get to the threshold.

Premier Napa Valley wine at super-dicount prices!
Call the Duke today!!