Top Picks From the Wine Cellar: PLCB now offers free shipping

Imagine purchasing top-notch wines online and then enjoying prompt, free shipping directly to either your home or business on a routine basis. Impossible, you say?

Not if you live in Pennsylvania and spend at least $99 at FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s ecommerce website. Consumers may also directly ship online purchases under $99 to their home or business for a reasonable, competitive fee of $12 for one to three bottles, plus $2 for each additional bottle over three.

According to the PLCB announcement, as of Jan. 2, direct shipping is available for more than 6,400 wines and spirits listed online at the website. It represents an impressive wine selection, even with an exclusion for “special liquor orders.” The direct shipping requires a signature by an adult of 21 years old at the time of delivery.

This development marks a major step forward for the PLCB. It enables the commonwealth’s online wine business to compete with out-of-state, privately owned retailers who now routinely ship to home and business addresses in Pennsylvania.

The new policy also significantly improves convenience. Ordering online and shipping to your home or office eliminates the need to travel to more than one PLCB store to purchase desired wines. This clearly saves both time and fuel costs.

All this said, the new shipping policy leaves a glaring gap. The PLCB still does not offer direct shipping of wine and spirits sold only at its “brick and mortar” stores. A truly comprehensive home shipping policy should cover all items offered for consumer sales within the system’s entire inventory.

As with any changes within large bureaucracies, it’s one step at a time. Meanwhile, enjoy the following tasty picks available both for direct purchase at select “brick and mortar” PLCB Premium Collection stores and online:

White wines

The 2016 Wines of Illyria, Stone Cuvee, Bosnia Herzegovina (Luxury 76041; $15.99 — available at select PLCB Premium Collection stores and online) originates on the Balkan Peninsula in the region formally known as Yugoslavia. Grape growing traditions here reach back over 2,000 years with indigenous grape varieties virtually unknown outside the region.

For example, this tasty bottle uses primarily hand-picked Žilavka, a grape that does well in Herzegovina’s sunny, drought-prone climate. Check an excellent video by Matthew Horkey of Exotic Wine Travel for more information on this intriguing grape.

The wine opens with unique green apple, lychee, honey and subtle herbal and floral notes. Ripe peach, apricot, apple and tangerine flavors follow with medium body balanced by fresh acidity. The generous ripe fruit carries through the lingering dry finish. Pair it with chicken thighs sautéed with mushrooms, shallots, minced garlic and herbs. Recommended.

The 2018 Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef, Bernkasteler Badstude, Riesling Kabinett, Germany (Luxury 80916; $22.99 — available at select PLCB Premium Collection stores and online) comes from the well-placed Badstube vineyard on slopes surrounding the old wine village of Bernkastel. This location on the Mosel River provides some the world’s best terroirs for growing exquisitely well-balanced Riesling grapes.

This wine delivers delicate apple, peach and white flower aromas with pleasant smoky hints. In the glass, delicious peach and honey flavors unfold balanced by superb, fresh acidity and a touch of lingering sweetness in the long finish. Pair it with a green salad with diced apples, pears and cheese tossed with a light vinaigrette. Highly Recommended.

The 2018 Château Trinquevedel, Tavel, France (Luxury 77630; $21.99 — available at select PLCB Premium Collection stores and online) comes from a southern French appellation with an outstanding international reputationbased solely on producing rosés. Grapes from Tavel’s best parcels go into the delicious rosé wines which demonstrate forcefully that rosés need not be only summertime sippers.

The wine’s inviting deep ruddy red salmon color offers ripe red fruit and spice aromas with lavender notes. Ripe fruit flavors with good concentration balance with fresh acidity through the dry, fruity finish. Pair it with baked salmon steaks topped with a capers and cream sauce. Highly Recommended.

Red wines

The 2017 Paolo Scavino, Dolcetto D’Alba, Italy (Luxury 82148; $17.99 — available at select PLCB Premium Collection stores and online) comes from wine grower Enrico Scavino and his daughters Enrica and Elisa. Their family tradition favors classic reds highlighting elegance, finesse and fruity purity over power.

Using Dolcetto grapes grown around Castiglione Falletto, a commune not far from Barolo, this delicious wine’s dark purple color offers plum, cherry and bell pepper aromas. In the glass, ripe red and black fruit with medium body balances beautifully with fresh acidity and smooth tannins through the pleasantly lingering finish. Pair it with a hearty ox-tail stew with mushrooms and turnips. Highly Recommended.

The 2016 Pedroncelli, Sangiovese, Alto Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Calif. (Luxury 82148; $17.99 — available at select PLCB Premium Collection stores and online) comes from hand-picked grapes growing on terraces perched on steep hillside vineyards. The Pedroncelli’s planted this variety to honor the Italian heritage of their family which put down roots in the Dry Creek Valley in 1927.

The wine offers a dark ruby color with bright aromas of cherries and plums with a hint of vanilla. Ripe red and black fruit flavors follow with subtle oaky notes, silky tannins and a fresh fruity finish. Pair this easy drinking red with either pasta with a red sauce and meatballs or a crispy thin crust pizza with pepperoni . Recommended.

The French idiom “Le Pied à l’Étrier” translates to “the foot in the stirrup.” This gives a pretty good idea of the terrific liveliness of the delicious 2016 Domaine de L’Enchantoir, Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame “Le Pied à l’Étrier,” France (Luxury 81024, $18.99 — available at select PLCB Premium Collection stores and online). The wine comes from cabernet franc grapes grown organically in chalky limestone. Fermentation occurs with native yeasts to enable the wine’s natural, authentic personality to unfold. Bottling with minimal added sulfites again allows the fruit’s raw, unadorned personality to shine. And shine it does.

Ripe raspberry and strawberry aromas lead the way. Touches of meatiness and earthiness add intriguing notes. Pure, raw red and black fruit flavors unfold on the palate balanced by lively, crunchy acidity and firm tannins. It’s an exuberant, gutsy wine of terrific lingering pleasure. Pair it with a savory roast beef with carrots, onions and garlic cloves. Highly Recommended.