May 2026
Domaine du Gringet
La Bergerie 2022
Gringet
Savoie, France
Dominique Belluard was a Savoie winemaker who slowly rose to fame, and who loved and championed the gringet grape. Gringet is a tough, finicky grape that struggles with both powdery and downy mildew. He was known for his magical touch on a difficult grape to coax out flavors, terroir, and personality from each and every bottle. Highly regarded for his talent and passion for wine, he is still remembered for the impact he had on the region of Savoie. Unfortunately, in 2021, he passed. Friends of his, such as Franck Balthazar and Jean-Francois Ganevat (Ganevat being one of our all-time favorite winemakers), helped ease the transition to the domaine’s new winemaker, Vincent Ruiz.
In 2022, Vincent transitioned all winemaking to the Arve valley in Savoie. This wine, being a 2022 vintage, is his inaugural vintage of leading the domaine. He has done a phenomenal job of continuing Dominique’s legacy while implementing new techniques and making the domaine his own. He has transitioned to fully hand harvesting, no tractors allowed here. Maintaining the spirit of gringet is no easy task, but is one that Vincent excels at. Lovely, firm acidity is the driving force of this wine, supported by bright citrus, and a light salty minerality. This makes the wine complex and a true representation of philosophies and place.
We hope as you drink this wine, you raise a glass to a true legend in Dominique Belluard. He was a deserving human for his efforts in growing a region that, unfortunately, still isn’t recognized enough for its quality and uniqueness. Gone too soon, but lives on forever in every glass of gringet. Cheers, and here’s to the future.
Pairing: Vichyssoise with Aioli
Fun fact: Dominique Belluard was one of the first producers in France to use the concrete egg for fermentation and aging.
Clos de la roilette
Fleurie 2024
Gamay
Beaujolais, France
One of the many magical things about humanity is the ability to find beauty and quality in areas that others can’t. It reminds me of the phrase “one man's trash is another man's treasure”. Clos de la Roilette is one of many examples of this ideal. The vines of this domaine have been farmed since at least the 1920s when the Fleurie appellation was created in Beaujolais. These vines were under the Moulin-à-Vent appellation when in 1927, a map was created for a new appellation to be called Fleurie. The map and appellation were finalized in 1936. The winemaker of the time was furious over this decision because he lost the ability to call his wine Moulin-à-Vent, another famous Cru of Beaujolais, and started to slowly give up on these vines. The original owner’s heirs continued this trend, and by the 1960s, they had lost all interest in this land, and abandoned the majority of it to mother nature. In came Fernand Coudert, someone who saw beauty where others didn’t.
In 1967, Coudert purchased the land and replanted the vines. In 1984, his son, Alain, joined him, and is still the winemaker to this day. These wines showcase darker fruits that are typically associated with gamay. It almost presents as a pinot noir. Unique in itself, it maintains ageability, which is not typically known for Beaujolais wines. Various cuvées have more ageability than others, and the one we have selected for you sits right in the middle. The Fleurie is drinking beautifully right now with dark fruits, tannins that are just firm enough to balance out the very present acidity and spice in this wine. This wine can age or be drunk young, and it purely depends on how long you can wait before popping this stunner open.
We are thankful for those who recognize greatness in places that others slough off. If it weren’t for those people, we wouldn’t have the modern day Clos de la Roilette. It makes us think of the areas that we might turn away from, and contemplate the potential greatness that lies in every aspect of our lives. It makes us thankful for great people (and great wines), who are different from us, and who approach life from a different perspective. Without them, wine and the world would be bland, and that’s not the life we want to live. Cheers to everyone else, and to you who will undoubtedly have a different take on this wine than we do, and for that, we are grateful.
Pairing: Roast Chicken with Plums
Fun fact: The horse on the label has been a staple since 1910, an homage to the previous owners favorite and most prized racehorse.
Castiglion del Bosco
Gauggiole 2021
Sangiovese
Tuscany, Italy
Names are important. It is the primary identifying factor in someone or something. There is power in choosing your own name, or sticking with the one you were born with. The quote on the estate’s website (with some spelling corrections) puts it best: “The name itself reveals its character: the bosco, (wood), surrounding the Castiglion (walled castle), is the domain of deer, boars and pheasants. And of Sangiovese.” Being able to grasp some of the domain’s philosophy just from its name is expressive and powerful. Expressive in the sense that you can picture the winery; powerful in the sense that they are firm in their identity. Knowing right away about the winery’s ideals of the convergence of human intervention with nature elicits respect and elegance.
The grapes that go into this wine are picked with respect and elegance as well. They are cherry-picked from a couple different vineyards within the northeastern part of the estate. The name of this wine is also tied to the farmstead whence it originates. This estate’s wines are made up of 100% sangiovese, and this allows every individual wine to express its terroir throughout the vines this producer cultivates. The family that runs this estate was a part of the consortium who elevated the status of Brunello di Montalcino from just DOC to DOCG (the higher classification). Funny enough (and without prior knowledge of this), the Consorzio del vino Brunello di Montalcino website uses the same rhetorical comparison of names that we used to start this essay. It sounds like this wine is perfect for our wine club.
This wine is elegant with a powerful backbone. Flavors of resinous herbs dot the palate with the support of bright cherry, minerality, and that quintessential Italian rusticity. Fine tannins are the dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s, finalizing what we think is a wonderful experience. As you can tell, it’s a little too easy to wax poetic, and be a little bit snobby about this wine. But what’s life without a bit of healthy snobbishness? This wine pairs great with friends and a fun board game. We hope you enjoy and find the same amount of metaphorical similarities that we did. Cheers!
Pairing: Spicy, Creamy, Weeknight Bolognese
Fun fact: The estate’s previous winemaker, Cecilia Leoneschi, originally wanted to be a veterinarian.