July 2025 Wine Club
Domaine La Piffaudière ‘Touraine Pif’ 2024
The vibe: Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc! We’ve never had a Savvy B in the wine club (*cue audience gasp*). Not that it isn’t worthy or that we’re a no-Sauv-zone. It just feels like it’s all we ever get asked for when really, really, what people are asking for is something like a Sauvignon Blanc, and that’s usually what we recommend. You’ll want something light, not too dense. Something crisp, but not too racy. Something refreshing, but not thin as water. Maybe some perfume and grass on the nose, but not grandma’s potpourri drop-kicked across a John Deere convention. Balance people, balance and finesse. Bonus points if it’s native yeast, unfiltered, and slightly, ever so delicately textured. By the end of that checklist, you’ve weeded out about 98% of Sauv Blancs. The rest, needless to say are incredible, and that includes this one! Hailing from the land of Savvy B, the Loire Valley. This bottle is from winemaker Olivier Bellanger, who focuses solely on making natural wines using the common grapes of the region. All that to say, this is one seriously dialed and ALIVE Savvy B. It’s the perfect time of the year to debut it in the club and we can’t stop crushing. Savvy B season 4ever.
The winemaker: Olivier Bellanger grew up in Month Sur Cher, a scant hour east of Tours in the center Loire. He obtained his agricultural diploma in 2000, and spent the next 8 years working for various domaines in the Loire, notably Philippe Tessier. In 2008 he got the opportunity to buy 6 hectares of vineyards in Thesée near his native village. He immediately converted them to organic farming and now farms about 10 ha.
The geeky details: 100% Sauvignon Blanc from AOC Touraine. Organic farming. 5-35 year old vines on clay, flint, sand and limestone. Aged 6 months in tank before bottling unfiltered.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: This wine’s got some subtle pyrazines (highly recommend going down a Google rabbit hole on that one if you’re not familiar). The long and short of it is that this component enhances delicate flavors in lighter dishes. Think veggie-based appetizers and plates with briny, tart, acid-based dressings and sauces. Some Szechuan smacked rice vinegar cucumber salad for example. Or maybe grill-roasted veggies tossed with a balsamic glaze and fresh herbs. Go crazy and splash some malt vinegar over your fish and chips. Shake it up! No, really, give this bottle a lil inverted spin, all the good stuff is down there.
Album pairing: Janko Nilovic feat. The Soul Surfers - Maze of Sounds
Lasalde Elkartea ‘Balea’ Txakoli Rosado 2024
The vibe: If you were in the club this time last year (thank you so very much), you’ll recall receiving this very bottle and hopefully you loved it! We loved it so much we’re dropping the fresh new vintage in this month’s selection, the first wine we’ve shared multiple vintages of in the club! This new release improves on an already near-perfect bottle from last year’s vintage, making it well worthy of a double-take. Bursting with even more red fruit this year, and a subtle blink-and-you’ll-miss-it salinity, this Rosado Txakoli (pronounced 'choco-lee') is exactly what we want to drink this time of year. Call it an aperitif or call it a porch pounder, this is a session-able rosado from Basque Country, land of our favorite dry sidras and Txakoli wine, lightly sparkling, effervescent wines often compared to Vinho Verde but with a very distinct Spanish twist. The proximity to the ocean often leaves grapes crusted with salt, and you pick up on that here underneath a mouth-watering tartness. It’s just so good. Salud!
The winemaker: One of the original 10 growers to build the Getariako Txakolina DOP in 1990, Lasalde Elkartea is mere miles from the Bay of Biscaye and is dedicated to producing honest, traditional wines using indigenous Basque varieties. Lurdes Zubizarreta and her son Iker Eizmendi run the estate as well as an ever-growing flock of sheep.
The geeky details: 40% Hondarrabi Beltza (red) and 60% Hondarrabi Zuri (white). Stainless steel fermentation, unaged. Bottled while still young to capture residual CO2 for a slight effervescence upon opening.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: SeafooOOOOoooDD. Pintxos/tapas of the sea, ceviche, oysters!!!!! Anything salty or savory or charcuterie-adjacent. Fruit-based deserts could also be a fun pairing!
Album pairing: Lexx - Rhythm of Love
Sylvain Bock ‘Agathe de Blouge’ 2023
The vibe: New producer alert! Sylvain Bock is a relative newcomer to the French winemaking scene, part of a new wave of natural winemakers, many based in Ardéche, focused on bringing winemaking back to its roots (so to speak) with a farmer-first approach and minimal intervention in the cellar. Though we’re debuting his wines in the club this month, he’s been on our radar for some time as he’s worked alongside the legend, Gerald Oustric at Le Mazel. Sylvain takes a similar approach, focusing on drinkability, freshness and purity of fruit, the wines serving as a liquid magnifying glass into each season’s yields and growing conditions, rather than an attempt at controlling nature. Blends can be and often are shifted around to bring balance, rather than taking more invasive measures as conventionally practiced. Here, we have a blend of volcanic basalt soil Syrah with a splash of Sauvignon Blanc providing a welcome herbaceous lift.
A note on BGE:
Syrah can sometimes fall victim to ~Big Grape Energy~, or BGE for short. BGE is becoming more and more prolific as the earth continues to swelter away summer after summer. Not so with this Syrah, as Sylvain refers to Ardéche as the North of the South of France, allowing for longer ripening seasons and cooler microclimates. It’s definitely Syrah, and it’s got the telltale black pepper and violet-floral-meets-smoked-meat profile, but the big scary BGE is hiding under the bed. It’s slumbering away, its snores barely audible in the background of your light red-hued dreamscape.
The winemaker: Sylvain Bock is based in the southern Ardéchoise town of Alba-la-Romaine where he has been running his domaine since 2010. After years of experience working with local legend Gerald Oustric of Le Mazel he set off on his own and has now amassed 7 hectares of organically certified vines planted nearby to his cellar. Over the years he has learned how to get the best from these plots, and now will most often opt to ferment the grapes on their stems ensuring a perfect balance of fruit, freshness and drinkability, often belying the ‘glou glou’ traits commonly associated with carbonic maceration. Other work in the cellar is minimal, with élevage taking place in a mixture of cuve and barrique, and wines bottled with no additions.
The geeky details: Two-thirds Syrah and one-third Sauvignon Blanc. After a five-day whole-bunch maceration, the wine underwent a brief élevage in stainless steel, preserving its lively character.
Serve: With a light chill.
Food pairing: Wowowow so this wine is pretty complex in its notes but also light enough that you could throw a lot at it. Being spicy and meaty, the classic Syrah pairings usually have bold, strong flavors like spicy, gamey, herby, grilled dishes, which could totally work here. You don’t have to go big or go home though because, well this wine isn’t big! BBQ fare and lighter plates like seafoods and tart vinaigrette-based salads would be equally at home next to this bottle.
Album pairing: Adrian Quesada - Boleros Psicodélicos II
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WHAT THE FUNK?!
Dorcha Carbonic Frankinja 2023
The vibe: Frankinja! Possibly an even cooler-sounding version of the grape varietal Blaufränkisch, also known as Frankovka in Czech or Franconia in Italy. Lots of fun names for the same funky grape, choose your favorite! It’s one of our favorite varietals for its light to medium bodied, earthy, blue-fruited demeanor and a bright and sometimes racy acidity. This one has the carbonic treatment, akin to a Beaujolais. Read more in the geeky details below but basically, the grapes do what the label depicts. Fermentation begins within each individual grape before bursting at a certain level of alcohol. Speaking of alcohol, this one is low at right around 11%. Throw it in the fridge for a bit and try not to glug it all in one sitting. Or do. You do you, boo.
The winemaker: Located in Ritoznoj in Štajerska, Dorcha is the brainchild of Izidor (Dorcha) Vehovar. He is the 3rd generation of his family to continue the path of viticulture and winemaking, and is intent on a new direction, a friendlier path. A farmer without a conventional view of wine production, a winemaker who is following the local tradition of producing pure, vibrant wines. Gaining from some fresh perspective from his relatively-new neighbor in the village (Nick Gee, Heaps Good Wine Co.), he is now adding to his family's tradition by making exciting wines made naturally with a modern twist. Farming is done with the greatest respect for the land, with entirely sustainable viticulture, and all under Slovenia’s strict integrative farming requirements, with no use of pesticides or herbicides in the vineyards.
The geeky details: Handpicked. Whole bunches filled directly into tank. Tank filled with carbon dioxide gas and sealed. Pressed off skins after 32 days, last 15% of fermentation finished in tank.
Serve: With a light chill.
Food pairing: BBQ wine! Anything smoked, seared or grilled would pair up real nice with this crushable chiller. Sliding scale though - you could ratchet up the fancy or dial it down. Treat this wine like a vibe enhancer. What’s the vibe? You decide!
Album pairing: L’Eclair - Cloud Drifter
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EASYYYY
Victor Sornin Beaujolais Rosé
The vibe: We’ve had Beaujolais of the red variety from Victor Sornin in the club before, and seeing as it’s rosé weather currently we thought we’d check out the domaine’s lighter expression this month. This cuvée is named after Victor, son and apprentice of Fred Sornin, who together run the estate as 9th and 10th generation farmers and winemakers. This release, as with all of the Victor Sornin releases, is Fred’s tribute to natural winemaking methods, and reflects the new generation of winemakers as his son is involved in making it - including drawing the label! We love a light rosé that drinks with more layered, juicy depth than its color suggests. Behind this light rosé is a bright, crunchy fruit bomb, dry profile and zippy acidity providing great tension and balance. This one goes down way too easy with a big chill!
The winemaker: Fred Sornin is the 9th generation winemaker at this estate based in the Regnie Cru. His vines are between 50 and 60 years old. Named after the winemaker’s son Victor, this bottle is a special project with the focus of building upon their existing organic winemaking to make wines that are as natural as possible using the best grapes. Victor participates with Frédéric in all aspects of winemaking. He is a true apprentice, learning at the side of his Papa so he too can one day make great wines on his own.
The geeky details: The Sornins have access to very old Gamay vines (40+ years), densely planted (10,000 vines/hectare) to sandy granitic soils. The fields are tended by sheep, and their droppings are the only fertilizer these vineyards will ever see. Everything is hand-harvested, as befits an Organic winery, and Nature is allowed to run its course with indigenous yeasts doing their work in stainless tanks. The wine then stays in tank until Spring, at which time it’s bottled unfined and with just a light filtering.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: We’ve been digging the premixed salads at Trader Joes a little too much lately - for when it’s too hot out to cook inside (or outside, for that matter). If you’re feeling extra fancy I suppose you could whip up a fruit salad or strawberry balsamic situation from scratch, and it would go brilliantly with this lil rosé number.
Album pairing: Lapa Dula - Agua EP