Wine Club

Thulon Beaujolais 2022 Beaujolais VIllages

Grape Varietal: Gamay
Origin: Beaujolais, France

We have featured Domaine de Thulon before, in our Wine of the Month slot, and most likely will do so again in the future. Why? It's quite simple. They make great wine and sell it at very fair pricing. That's it!

With the 2022 bottling we are talking about some classic old vine Beaujolais-Villages! Made with 100% Gamay grapes, the vineyard situation at Thulon is both typical and perfect: on a granite hillside with south-west exposure. This is the ideal soil as it moderates Gamay grapes natural high acidity and lets the fruit and flavors shine through while still allowing plenty of structure (soft tannins) to keep the wine whole and complete. The south-west exposure means more sun, more fruit ripeness, more flavor!

This farm is located on the old estate of Château de Thulon (15th century) and was purchased by Annie and René Jambon in 1987 after they were "métayers" for 20 years there (tenant farmer). Their children Carine and Laurent are now running the estate, and a passion for experimentation sets them apart from peers in the region. These are some of the best values in French wine we've come across in the last decade.

Tasting Notes: With an intense, purplish-ruby color, this Beaujolais is packed with delicious aromas of cherry and strawberry that explode from the glass. Notes of forest floor, raspberry and persimmon round out the rich scents. Fresh and fruity, with just a slight hint of Allspice, this is a well-structured, delightful red. Cherries and berries lead the flavor profile with touches of citrus, mineral, fruit leather and garden loam. Concentrated and lovely! Try it slightly chilled to bring out more delicate fresh fruit flavors. Pair with light bbq, sausage pizza, lamb, charcuterie.

Santa Julia 2024 "El Burro" Natural malbec

Grape Varietal: 100% Malbec
Origin: Mendoza, Argentina

A customer favorite is back just in time for summer, and it's one of the best editions yet! If you haven't been introduced, Santa Julia's "El Burro" Natural Malbec is a tasty, clean red that's perfect for warm-weather sipping! It's dry, with a youthful, juicy fruit tone cut through by a savory streak and grounded by lightly grippy tannins, making it a great partner for the grill. It's hard to beat the value you get for a natural wine of this quality!

The Santa Julia "Natural" line of wines comes from the Zuccardi family, icons of Argentina's sunny, high-altitude Mendoza region at the foot of the Andes Mountains. The key here is pure-and-simple winemaking that beautifully expresses the intensely sunny days and dramatically cooler nights: their Natural Malbec is generously textured and flavorful, but still refreshing!

What makes this wine "natural?" They farm organically, ferment with native yeasts, don't add sulfites to preserve the wine (yeasts naturally create a small quantity), and neither filter nor fine it before bottling, other than letting it settle in stainless steel vats. Pure and simple! Serve this on the cool side, around 58-60F.

VINOUS 93 POINTS - "The 2024 Malbec El Burro hails from Maipú. Purple in color, its modest aromas include plum, blackberry and a line of balsamic herbs. The palate is juicy with a tea-like texture, pure infusion and delicate tannins. This is primary, expressive and full of flavor-delicious within the context of natural wines." - Joaquin Hidalgo

Wine Tip

Enjoy this red a little chilled.

San Felice 2021 "Il Grigio" Chianti Classico Riserva

Grape Varietal: 100% Sangiovese
Origin: Tuscany, Italy

San Felice's 2021 "Il Grigio" Chianti Classic Riserva is a fantastic edition of an already-popular Italian red, making the #24 spot on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2024! This classically-styled riserva is a taste of old Tuscany: mouthwateringly vibrant, dry and savory-toned, and ideal for meaty tomato sauces and steaks... we're getting hungry just thinking about it!

The ancient settlement of San Felice in southern Chianti Classico is today the heart of an expansive estate and resort, with vineyards and olive groves dotting the gently undulating hills. Here, the Mediterranean climate is more obvious than in other parts of the region, with warmer and drier Summers. This leads to a Chianti Classico that's more rounded in feel and darkly-toned in aroma without losing the vigorous structure of bright acidity and grippy tannins to frame it all.

The 100% Sangiovese 2021 "Il Grigio" Riserva shows a poised tension between its generosity and noble austerity, a classic riserva that slowly opens up with time in the glass. It exudes subtle aromas of high-toned red currant and violet, then a dense core of juicy black cherry thoroughly infused with aromatic herbs like sage and tobacco, fragrant sun-kissed clay earth and woody balsam, along with glimmers of leather and vanilla pod. On the palate, it's rounded, warming, medium-bodied and firm, with its dry, earthy-woodsy side grounding the juicy dark-red fruit. Sangiovese's classic mouthwatering, citrusy acidity sings on the finish, along with a coating of fine-grained, grippy tannins, making this an ideal wine for rich, vibrant sauces and meats. This is a sturdy wine that will get even better with age, so tuck some away if you're so inclined! Serve at a lightly cool 65F.

#24 WINE SPECTATOR TOP 100 WINES OF 2024
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "Offers cherry and plum fruit framed by earth, mineral and wild herb flavors. Poised between elegance and power, this red is beautifully balanced. Dusty tannins support the fruit on the long finish..."

VINOUS 93 POINTS - "The 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva Il Grigio da San Felice is a dark, dense, rather somber wine. Black cherry, leather, tobacco, incense and dried herbs reinforce that initial impression. A Riserva of substance and power, the 2021 has a ton to offer. It's an especially fine edition of Il Grigio." - Antonio Galloni

Bodegas Avancia 2023 "Cuvee de O" Mencia

Grape Varietal: 100% Mencia
Origin: Valdeorras, Spain

We've got another captivating Spanish red that we're offering at at an easy-to-swallow price for the quality it delivers. The 2023 edition of Bodegas Avancia's "Cuvee de O" Mencia is full of sleek, floral-tinged fruit and spice, sure to impress fans of ripely-fruited-but-dry reds. This is a small-production bottling that we're offering at the lowest price we've seen, so we don't expect it to hang around too long!

Mencia is northwestern Spain's starring red variety, an old grape that's found a more recent following thanks to its distinctive and charismatic character. Avancia's bottling bottling shows off Mencia's warmer side, with velvety dark fruit and floral aromas like Syrah, the lift you find in red-berried, citrusy Cabernet Franc, and the dark-spice accents found in both (like pepper & anise). Their Mencia's classic gravelly earthiness grounds those flavors, and harmonizes with its soft, mineral-like grip. The winery is careful with their oak aging, using well-seasoned barrels that are mainly used to slowly oxygenate the wine for just under a year, imparting only subtle baking spice notes (like clove, nutmeg and vanilla).

Owner and winemaking visionary, Jorge Ordonez, is an icon of the modern Spanish wine scene. He started as an importer, introducing the U.S. to some of Spain's best under-represented wines throughout the 1990s: old-vine Garnachas, Monastrells, Albarinos and Godellos that we couldn't imagine the wine world without! Wanting more creative control, he founded his own estates, including Avancia. This estate's old, bush-trained Mencia vines grow on the rugged, slatey hills of Galicia's warm Valdeorras region. In line with the Ordonez family philosophy, they farm organically and without irrigation, instead letting the vines find their natural balance in this dry environment. What a deal for such a delicious and authentic wine!

WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "Blackberry paste, black plum skin and ripe black cherry flavors are brightened by tangy blood orange peel acidity in this minerally red. Sleek and well-structured, with sculpted tannins firming the well-spiced and floral finish. Drink now through 2033. 3,000 cases made, 1,500 cases imported."

Cantina Terlano 2024 Pinot Bianco Classico

Grape Varietal: 100% Pinot Bianco
Origin: Alto Adige, Italy

WINERY NOTES - "Pinot Bianco has always been one of the most important wines at Cantina Terlano; it lends powerful expression to the terroir where our grapes mature. As a varietal, the delicate and above all mineral Pinot Bianco, is a hallmark of the winery.

On the nose this classic Pinot Bianco scores with crisp notes of pear mingling with aromas of raspberry and lime, plus a touch of chamomile and lemon grass to round off the composition.

Body and balance sum up the Pinot Bianco, which intrigues the palate with the fruit of the pear and quince aromas combined with a salty minerality. The wine tickles the tongue and goes on to deliver a persistent aftertaste."

Pairing: A good companion with hors d’oeuvres such as salmon and tuna carpaccio; courgette flowers with a stracchino cheese or in combination with burrata; avocado salad; regional dishes like spinach spaetzle or schlutzkrapfen; also in combination with spaghetti alla carbonara; scallops au gratin, and grilled scampi, dentex or sea bream.

Ameztoi 2024 Txakolina

Grape Varietal: Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarrabi Beltza
Origin: Getaria, Spain

The vines that are made into Txakoli (chah-koh-lee) wine grow like little trees among the rolling hills that flow into the moody Atlantic Ocean of Northeastern Spain. For generations, the Ameztoi (ah-mess-TOY) family has made their wine around the fishing town of Getaria, near San Sebastian. Just as this Basque country has had its own culture for many centuries, it has its native grapes like Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarrabi Beltza that make distinctive, authentically regional wines. The main lineup of Ameztoi family Txakoli (white, rose, and red) all share in common a very light body with refreshing acidity & natural spritz left over from fermentation.

These are wines that inspire us to get out there and enjoy the day as it passes into night... as they say in Basque country, "Aurrera Txalupa!" (onward, the boat!).

WINEMAKER NOTES - This light and crisp wine is bottled with residual carbon to give it its signature natural spritz. Bright briny sea salt combined with limey fruits. Fresh and eminently quaffable.

A wine that captures mornings on the coast. Lightly fizzy, with citrus like lime, tart apple, a cool herbal note like mint, and even a minerality reminiscent of the briny Atlantic breezes. Serve with grilled or tempura squid, Caesar salad, chilled mint & pea soup, and ceviche.

Suggestion: Keep this one chilled around 45F, or about 30 minutes in an ice bucket.