August 2026 Wine Club
Some of you might know this, but when we opened Petite in spring of 2023, I was still living in Portland (hi, it’s Nick). In the months leading up to the opening date and even during our first few weeks after opening, I was taking the train up to Seattle every week, splitting my time between the two cities. During my couple of years in Portland, I soaked up every bit of the wine scene I could, sampling bottles from the myriad natural producers within a stone’s throw of the city limits. One of my favorite places to shop was and still is, World Foods in the Pearl District. It’s where, among other things, I discovered Monument.
Pulling up my Instagram messages from spring of 2023, Tyler Magyar was the first winemaker I directly reached out to about sourcing bottles. The wines I had picked out at World Foods were curious, intentional and thought provoking. They seemed so effortless in their deliciousness, and had the added bonus of being visually striking when congregated on a shelf together, a product of Tyler’s degree in Arts and Contexts. Alas, Monument wasn’t yet distributed in Washington. I had to wait three whole years until, as of this week, we’re finally able to debut them in the Seattle market in our club!
As it turns out, Tyler was the wine buyer at World Foods, one of his day jobs in addition to winemaking. He got his start with Andy Young at The Marigny, and the next year started experimenting with making his own wines. ‘Smithereens,’ which is where we start off this month’s selection, was inspired in part by this experimentation, with its maiden vintage consisting of discarded and salvaged grapes from other pressings, rescued and promptly tossed into the press resulting in a beautifully random cépage. That ethos continues with all of his wines, his inspiration coming from making sincere wines that speak to the place, people and process. We’re delighted to debut them for you, and hope they bring you to a place of wonder and excitement just as they did for us all those years ago (and still do today). Cheers!
Monument Wine Co. ‘Smithereens’
From the winemaker: I’m really in love with this version. notes: quince, chamomile tea, japanese bubblegum, medicinal candies in ornate paper packages, fistfuls of flowers, the atlantic ocean right before it starts to get warm. for every thousand pounds of grapes dumped into the press, a handful always seem to miss. in 2018, i grabbed every cluster i could that had fallen astray and gathered them in five gallon buckets. the first vintage of ‘smithereens’ was just that - grapes salvaged from my cellarmates. i bottled that experiment and sold it to friends & at sardine head (portland‘s best-ever wine bar). that first vintage helped pay for the next one, and so on, and now i’m here - with higher stakes and better grapes, but the same notion that i can make something beautiful with a little luck and a lot of work.
The geeky details: Skin contact Chardonnay and carbonic maceration muscat. Native yeast fermentation. Unfined & unfiltered.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: Spicy, umami, salty, fruity! Pair foods with these notes with this wine and watch it shine. Gentle aromatics and bright lifted citrus notes will pair beautifully with Thai dishes, fish, even desserts!
Album pairing: Milan93 - A Garden Between Us EP
Monument Wine Co. ‘Jenny’
From the winemaker: Delicately walking the line between orange wine and rosé, this is a co-ferment of skin-contact muscat (willamette valley) and rosé of syrah (rogue valley). it's the best vintage yet. notes: a gummy bear asks a peach ring candy out on a date. they have tons of mutual friends, and it's low-key. picnic is packed, sun in shining. five minutes later? pouring rain, rushing under a tree, petrichor and warm air meeting chilly wind. holding hands, eating pickles from the jar, admitting secrets and texting your friends that everything went wrong but still is perfect.
The geeky details: Blend of sauvignon blanc, rosé of syrah, muscat, and gewürztraminer. Native yeast fermentation, bottled unfined & unfiltered.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: This is such a delicious blend, with its light body and soft floral notes on the nose. Treat it almost like a white - don’t throw anything too heavy at it. Charcuterie and seafood are obvious pairings. Pork belly?? Try it! It’s got some red fruit character and zippy lift - both attributes that should pair well with fattier cuts of meat, but again nothing too heavy!
Album pairing: Kokoroko - Tempos Difíceis Sempre Passam EP
Monument Wine Co. ‘Daughter’
From the winemaker: A 65-35 blend of pinot noir (rodriguez family vineyard, willamette valley) and syrah (mcallister vineyard, columbia gorge); aged in concrete, neutral barrel, and stainless tank... bright, and with just a hint of that je-ne-sais-quoi - dusty red fruit and white pepper meet tangy fruit leather and a fig bitten right off from the tree (if you've ever done that, you know what I mean).
The geeky details: Blend of Syrah and Pinot Noir, native yeast fermentation, bottled unfined & unfiltered.
Serve: With a light chill.
Food pairing: This pinot and syrah blend just works so well, and as you’d expect it sits somewhere in between the two. Light, fruity notes from the pinot combine with the fuller, slightly meaty syrah. Grilled, charred, smoky flavors ought to work great here, so fire up that grill. We still have a few weeks of summer left!
Album pairing: Fabiano do Nascimento - Cavejaz
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WHAT THE FUNK?!
Monument Wine Co. ‘Pollen’
From the winemaker: This light red reminds me of all the good things about spring: emerging from the thaw of winter, hopeful for summer plans, and slowly waking up the wines from the prior harvest from their rest. it also reminds me of the worst part about spring: allergies. notes: blood orange, watermelon candy, gentle bramble; if a shirley temple and a negroni had a baby. in little league baseball, i'd stand around in the outfield and dance, i sat down and chewed on dandelions, i hesitated when balls were hit so i could make a diving catch. a lot from then makes sense now, as a grown man with terrible allergies, a man who is very sensitive, a man who loves giving speeches and feels delight in small things, who doesn't feel ashamed to dance when the mood strikes.
The geeky details: Equal parts rosé of syrah (gorge), light maceration pinot (willamette valley), and skin-contact gris (gorge). Native yeast fermentation, bottled unfined & unfiltered.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: This is like a rosé meets orange meets light red. All bets are off! Just kidding, honestly this would be so good with a burger with some stronger flavors like grilled onions, truffles, mushrooms or Swiss cheese. It’s super light on its feet so it should cut right through anything fatty or salty!
Album pairing: Omar and the Eastern Power - Lil Elbouhala EP
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EASYYYY
Monument Wine Co. ‘Things I Don’t Want to Forget’
From the winemaker: Borderlines Vineyard is the single site for this syrah, on the border of the Columbia gorge and Columbia valley AVA, within the gorge. Located on a sunny slope at 1000 feet, it overlooks the Columbia river to the north and mount hood behind it. The owner of the vineyard is this badass guy who fought to get ICE out of the jails and works with people to know their rights as immigrants; he owns the old mint building in the historic nearby town, The Dalles. I could go on and on about him.
The geeky details: Single-vineyard Syrah, 25 year old vines, hand picked and fermented whole cluster with a 2.5 week maceration and pressed, settled and aged in old oak. Two barrels total production for this 2024 vintage. Native yeast fermentation, bottled unfined & unfiltered.
Serve: Cellar temp.
Food pairing: This is a pretty classic full bodied syrah. Pair this with a hearty dish like kebabs, steak, or a stew (we have a few cooler nights coming up!)
Album pairing: Jensine Benitez - Ilusión De Amor - Single