Don & Sons Lucky 7
$99.99 (Normally $209.95) 52% off List Price
2010 B Side Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2009 Aquinas Philosopher’s Blend, Napa Valley
2010 B Side Blend, Napa Valley
2011 The Crusher, Clarksburg Petite Sirah
2010 Don & Sons Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2010 Project Paso Blend
2005 Used Automobile Parts Dessert 375ml
CT links above
The Crusher is awesome. Just one of the best-made $12-17 PS out there. More accessible and darker fruit out of the bottle than Concannon, more structure and way less oak and jam than PSPS. Not the most cellarable PS, but one of my go-tos for parties, BBQs, and larger gatherings. Also, one of the wines I’d use to introduce people to PS. Highly recommended.
Now this is interesting. Had the Project Paso 2009 from World Market on sale for ~$8, and went back to get more @ ~$10. New world style, plenty of fruit but a very pleasant bottle.
Just tried some 2010 PS @ $11 also from World Market, good QPR. Not the most complex but well worth the price.
Sipping on UAP as I type, yummy, and wouldn’t mind adding some more.
Bring back the Orange!
Tasted a whole lot of these at the Hallowoot tasting party. So let’s go through them:
2010 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir: Nose was clean and plummy with that cola-ish type of aroma. No heat. Palate was cherry, a hint of oak, and the nice mushroom/earthy flavours I so enjoy in a good Sonoma Coast PN even though it had more the nose of a Russian River Valley PN. Nicely balanced and it improved with more air and tasting.
2010 B Side Red Blend: Initially smelled to me like a big Napa fruit bomb. Nothing much else that was distinguishing about it, though. It’s a great table wine with great structure and acidity. Reminded me enough of a Ty Caton-styled wine to make a note on it.
2010 B Side Cabernet Sauvignon: Similar to the B Side Blend - very ripe Napa Cab, great balance, seemed acidulated (in a good way) and would happily vanish on any night of the week.
I feel like the mystery PS was perhaps the Crusher. I recall it smelling like a PS but tasting nothing like one to me if that was the case.
That’s all folks! We’ve got at least two nice relatively ripe, big daily drinkers and a fairly true to varietal Sonoma Coast Pinot. Looks like a good deal for the price overall, especially if you mentally allocate $15-20 to the PN.
I also tried some of these wines at the Hallowoot tasting.
In addition to Klezman’s notes above, the Sonoma coast Pinot has a solid structure and firm tannins. This is a fuller bodied pinot that is drinking well now, but can probably hold up 5+ more years. The B Side Cabernet has a blueberry, blackberry and green pepper profile. The B Side Blend has lots of sweet, lush, dark fruit on the nose and palate; some parsley in there as well.
Overall, I thought these were very drinkable wines and a good QPR.
With shipping the bottle average is $15, so even allocating $20 to the Crusher doesn’t make the other wines much cheaper. And rjquillan mentioned finding some of these at World Market in the $10-11 range. This doesn’t seem like such a great deal to me.
So do we have an estimated date when VA will be back in the ship to list? Seems like I’m wasting my time checking every day.
I think that until VA fixes the law that it broke, you are wasting your time checking every day.
The Crusher is the PS, not the PN. That said, I’ve seen SOME of these wine in the $10-$15 range (like the PS, which is quite good), but most retail for much more. Just that half-bottle of port retails for around $50. A lot of the others are in the $30 range.
If I wasn’t about to pack up and move across the county, I would definitely be mashing that “I Want One” button
Here’s a linkie to Wine Enthusiast’s article naming Don & Sons their 2005 American Winery of the Year. It’s an older article, but at gives some nice background on the winery.
You also have to remember to allocate $25 for the UAP dessert bottle that drinks very well. Two for $50 and five more for $10 each. Not screaming, but a solid deal, delivered.
Winery Retail Price: $183.95
Average Shipping: $24.00
Average Tax: $7.00
Woot Shipping: (-$5.00)
Total MSRP: $209.95
Trying to figure out where woot came up with the retail price.
Pase Blend - $15
B-Side Cab - $30
B-Side Blend - $30
UAW - $45
PS - $18
This Aquinas is not listed, but four other Aquinas wines are all listed at $22 so we will go with that.
That leaves $23.95 to allocate to the PN. Nothing on their website is listed with cents, so I think woot is just wrong here, for what its worth.
Judge for yourself on the value here. The UAP has been on woot several times at $25. Someone said they got the Paso blend for $10 and the PS for $11, which appear like good prices. That leaves $54 to allocate between the PN, Aquinas and two B-Side’s, which would be $13.50 per bottle and seems pretty solid.
Not to mention you will probably never see all 7 of these wines offered in the same place at the same time again (maybe not even if you walked in the winery). Too bad I am on a SIWBM.
Crap. I’m in old timey Pennsylvania. I would love to get my hands on this, particularly the B-Side.
Wait… You’ve always been able to ship to VA. Now you can’t? What’s up?
I double checked – No laws have changed.
If I were buying wine, I’d be in. This is a pretty awesome pack. A little bit of everything. And while some of the bottles are available, running around and finding them = time/gas/not worth it.
What part of PA? Can’t find someone in a nearby state (say, NY) to wootleg? I’m in Buffalo, if it helps. 
Good point. Some of us that live in rural areas would find it next to impossible to drive around and locate all these wines. I’m in.
I love The Crusher. Good PS that a wine bar I frequent has fairly often. Alas, Ohio isn’t on the list and I have that Wellington case coming. Otherwise, I’d be in for this deal. Maybe next time.