PAST SHIPMENTS
Spring shipment 2024
Prieure SAINT Christophe
FIELD NOTES
2018: A no-sulfur cuvée that aged for 18 months in barrel. This accessible Mondeuse has come into its own beautifully from time in bottle, not unlike a Northern Rhone Syrah. Increasing pepper and herb notes as the baby fat of 2018’s ripe vintage is shed.
MV: A mini solera bottling of vintage ’19 and ’20 saw some extended elevage in barrel. There is less of the larger foudres in this blend so the barrel influence, despite being neutral, is more pronounced texturally. As always, it is insanely refined and deep…
RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW
2018: Drink now - 2048+
MV: Best 2025 - 2050+
SEASONAL PAIRING
Herb-roasted game, potatoes with alpine cheese melted over top, roasted veggies. Awesome with Syrian / Lebanese flavors…
FIELD NOTES
FABLE CYSER-ACERGLYN-PYMENT: The boys in Vermont just broke the mold with this bottling. 35% honey (2016), 35% apples (2015), 20% maple (2016/21), and 10% La Crescent grapes (2019) render this reductive, salt-kissed beauty category-less. The rearing of these barrels prove in bottle how ‘problem child’ ferments, much like low and slow cooking, can yield glorious results. This is a triumph of uncommon patience that should bode well for mid-term cellaring.
FABLE APPLE-GRAPE-SEABERRY: From our friends down the road, Fable Farm, we bring you a gorgeously refreshing sparkling wine of foraged seaberries mixed with apples and a muscat-derived hybrid grape called La Crescent.
FABLE PEAR-RASPBERRY CYSER: All things feral here with apples, pears and raspberries co-mingling in bliss. The apples provided the base and the pears delivered generosity and a touch of sweetness due to unfermentable sugars. That’s where the raspberries came in to counterbalance the sweetness. The finesse on the bubbles is incredibly refined. Give this time to ripen up in bottle over the years and you’ll reap the rewards…
LA GARAGISTA 2021 NOUVEAU: Welcome to a wild, witchy Vermont bottling from the three women of Mt Hunger: Deirdre Heekin (La Garagista), Camila Carrillo (La Montañuela), & Willa Deeley (Disciple). Frontenac Gris and Marquette are spun together for a lightly effervescent potion of dark fruits and mandarin essences. This witch’s brew has melded over many a winter, and will continue to age gracefully over the years.
LA GARAGISTA THREE OF CUPS PIQUETTE: The Three of Cups is a tarot-inspired potion concocted by our three witches (see above). Vermont seems to be the epicenter for creative freedom in winemaking. This bottling is a piquette of Brianna skins (a hybrid grape) steeped in the juice of plums and apples. A bit of destiny, in this one.
RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW
CYSER-ACERGLYN-PYMENT: Drink now - 2036+
APPLE-GRAPE-SEABERRY: Drink now - 2031+
PEAR-RASPBERRY CYSER: Best 2025 - 2037+
2021 NOUVEAU: Drink now - 2028+
THREE OF CUPS: Drink now+
SEASONAL PAIRING
CYSER-ACERGLYN-PYMENT: Salted nuts, olives, braised greens with anchovies, bold cheeses, white beans with good onions and lemon, grilled sardines.
APPLE-GRAPE-SEABERRY: Green olives stuffed with almonds, anchovies, or even ascolane (if you feel like a project!), crudités with aïoli, potato chips.
PEAR-RASPBERRY CYSER: Steamed clams with beans and ramp leaves (or spring onions), salt cod croquetas, fresh green peas and mushrooms
2021 NOUVEAU: Grilled radicchio, tomato stews, farro with butter, gnocchi fritti with lardo.
THREE OF CUPS: Raclette with frisée and potatoes, garlic hummus, good bread and olive oil, floral rind cheeses.
FIELD NOTES
2017-18 BRÜCK RIESLING: Pure stones on the nose and mouth. Light elderflower florals and spicy, salty nuance coalesce on a racy, linear palate. Both ’17 and ’18 vintages are warmer years that are held back by a cool region and stony granitic minerality.
2017-18 VIESSLINGER STERN RIESLING: From the old vines of Brück vineyard, Muthenthaler’s Viesslinger Stern bottling is a hand-harvested micro-parcel that we’re very lucky to have. Both wines are texturally more generous and ethereal with citrus/apricot notes and savory/spicy stones. In a pair of warmer vintages, 2017 is a little more forward but will appear tighter because of filtration and more sulfur usage. It is a generous year that will arrive at maturity faster than the ’18, but the evolution will be insanely delicious along the way. As for the 2018, you’ll find more purity, simply from the lack of intervention. There is more concentration and energy here which will make this a stunning vintage in the vein of 2015. Quite frankly the greatest wine I have ever tasted from Martin…
RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW
2017 BRÜCK: Drink now - 2035+
2018 BRÜCK: Drink now - 2036+
2017 VIESSLINGER STERN: Drink now - 2035+
2018 VIESSLINGER STERN: Drink now - 2040+
SEASONAL PAIRING
Schnitzel, choucroute garnie, Thai, ramen, pho…
2019 GANEVAT croix de batailles
FIELD NOTES
Blends of red and white wine find rare harmony in the capable hands of the Ganevat family. Gamay and Chardonnay were co-fermented here with the staple zero-additive playbook. This is darker and more intense than the De Beauté bottling. It brims with energy and mid-palate drive.
RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW:
Drink now - 2034+
SEASONAL PAIRING:
Wild fowl pâté, braised lamb with flefle pepper, Paella, lentils with wine and lardons.
FIELD NOTES
CHOQUE CULTURAL APPLE GRAPE WINE: Back to the Hiyu factory again…Choque Cultural means culture shock in Spanish as grapes and orchard fruit co-mingle in a stunning cuvée from Adrian Cornejo. Gewürztraminer from a Columbia Gorge vineyard planted in the ‘60’s (Atavus) is blended with a small portion of quince and apples from Mt. Hood Organic Farm.
CHOQUE CULTURAL SAUVIGNON BLANC CHERRY WINE: Behold part II of Choque Cultural (aka culture shock). Our collab with Hiyu’s Adrian Cornejo keeps the ‘new adventure’ on its toes. A little 2020 Sauvignon Blanc from an organic farm in the Dalles (eastern part of the Columbia Gorge) was met in vessel with biodynamic Queen Anne’s cherries from Analemma in Mosier. The cherry juice was mid-fermentation when we bottled and has now kicked off for a very mild effervescence. This wine is both weightless and dense full of briny white wine goodness…
RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW
CHOQUE: Drink now - 2033+
CHOQUE CHERRY: Drink now - 2029+
SEASONAL PAIRING
CHOQUE: Moroccan carrots, sharp cheeses, chopped liver toast, chicken tinga.
CHOQUE CHERRY: Bùn Bó Hoe, grassy goat cheeses, roasted garlic artichokes, crudités and anchoïade.