$20 restaurant & $12 retail

It seems that just about every product we purchase in our lives was produced with the consumer in mind. While something is to be said for that, we at Block 7 look for a bit more than that. We look for wine, beer and sake and serve food that is both appealing, but also nourishes the soul – that there was more to it than the never ending quest to buffer the bottom line.

Enter Brasserie Lebbe, located in the very heart of the French Pyrenees, and owned by a Belgian ex-pat cheese farmer and beer enthusiast. Pierre Lebbe doesn’t make his Farmhouse Ale for the masses or even for his neighbor. He makes it for himself to quench his thirst after a long day with his herd of goats. With a measly production of only 600 bottles/50 cases per month – it’s a hobby and nothing more.

Crisp, grassy and with loads of citrus, malt, dried herbs and hop bitterness. Both rich and intense as well as crisp and refreshing. Block 7 is honored to present this beer to you, for the first time in Texas!

Rarely does a value bottle whop us over our heads, but at a recent tasting Pellegrini’s 2005 Family Blend did just that. Away are the overripe, high alcohol fruit bombs or thin, uninteresting whippets that one normally finds from California at this price. No – this wine is intense, rich and succulent without the rocket fuel alcohol that usually comes with this price-tag. Amazing texture with black fruit notes and impressive extraction.The wine just coats your tongue – which is what you’d expect from a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and jaw-dropping 100+ year old Carignan vines. The wine drinks like it came from an old vine parcel within la Liviniere, Minervois – definitely not Sonoma County. Unlike a great, old vine Carignan from an esteemed producer such as Gauby or l’Oustal Blanc, this one is accessible for every pocketbook.

We’ll be pouring this wine, along with several other amazing values during this weekend’s Saturday Tasting from 12-2pm. See you then!

$20/$16 btlx4

Tough times call for remarkable values. Since Block 7 opened, our #1 priority has been PQR (Price/Quality Ratio). In other words: the quality of wine in the bottle far exceeds the price-tag. We think we’ve done a pretty good job seeking out wines that exemplify our philosophy, and in the process we’ve obliterated barriers to wine appreciation and knowledge. Not all of the wine we carry may suit your particular fancy or fit within your comfort zone and that’s OK. One of the great joys in life is experiencing the new and different, and we find immense pleasure in introducing wine that will alter our guests perception of what wine is.

With this, we introduce one of the great values we have come across in a very long time. 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape has been rocking the wine world every since harvest, and has only built up (along with the price) ever since The Wine Advocate released their ratings last fall. Naturally, when it came possible to offer an actual, unheard-of value AOC Chateauneuf, that delivers ten-fold for the price, it obviously raised some eyebrows among the Block 7 Wine Team.

A classic blend of 50% Grenache, 20% Terret Noir, 20% Clairette, 5% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre – 2007 Domaine des 3 Cellier Rouge is a petri dish of Southern Rhone complexity with deep, extracted primary notes of cherry, blackberry and secondary notes of Herbes de Provence, meat drippings, earth and much more. Plus, unlike most ’07 CdP’s we’ve encountered this one is impeccably balanced, with in-line alcohol and acid. Not one component overpowers another. It’s accessible to the novice, and impressive for the experienced.

Try it by the bottle or by the glass.

48/38