 A good liter sized bottle of wine is becoming an essential accessory as a party-goer these days, especially a white wine at this time of the year. It's always good to have that extra splash of juice in the bottle to top off everyone's glasses, and if you know where to look there can be some surprisingly special wines hiding in there. Collestefano is one of the top producers of Verdicchio in the Matelica region of the Marches, which along with Castelli di Jesi are the two premium DOCs for the variety. Castelli di Jesi is more coastal and influenced by the Adriatic with a more mineral and crisp style, white Matelica is a more landlocked interior valley, quite rural and built in a juicier more forward style. Like many producers here they only work with the Verdicchio grape and rarely deviate from more than 1-2 bottlings, maybe the occasional sparkling wine or older vine single vineyard if they're lucky enough to have it. This bottling is relatively new to the Collestefano lineup coming from newly planted estate vineyards and replanted parcels that aren't quite ready to go into their top wine, so the juice is 'declassified' to make a less expensive wine that's remarkable for all of its own reasons. Lighter and leaner than its big brother with a lovely pop of fresh lime and cool melon aromas, uncomplicated but fresh and inviting. The palate covers all the right notes for a Verdicchio with lots of zip and zest to the fruit and a touch of skin tannin dryness on the finish. Far more compelling than most whites going dollar for dollar, an absolute crusher for cookouts.
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 As evidenced by the frequent use of K's and X's in their name, this is a white wine from the Basque region of Spain. If you have not Basqued before (yes that's a verb), the wines and ciders are very unique to the region, built from a lengthy relationship with the sea and the rugged isolated coastline. Their pocket of the Atlantic is one of the cleanest and least disturbed in all of Europe, making it a destination for seafood lovers, and their beverages are built to marry with them perfectly. Bright energetic acidity and a bit of twang on the palate cuts through the salinity and oily preparations for all the shellfish, eel and multitudes of fresh fish they can conjure up. For this producer they pay homage to the historical relationship with the wineries and whaling vessels of the region, where the wineries provided barrels of wines and on a successful return the ships refilled the barrels for the wineries with whale oil. Pure classic Hondarribi Zuri grape here, pale and clean with a lower abv and the slightest tickle of SO2 that disappears after a moment in the glass. Some would think this would be compared with a Vinho Verde, but the has SO much more muscle and energy, especially on the palate where the puckering lime and salty notes on the finish leave a tingly finish well on until the next bite of food. This wants and deserves fresh seafood more than almost any other wines you may come across.
 Despite Mount Ventoux being close enough to Avignon, Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the bulk of the Rhone to be a significant part of the horizon (think Charlottesville's view of Wintergreen), the wine region of Ventoux might as well have been light years away in terms of reputation. Very little effort was spent making quality improvements or seeking out the best terroirs in the ways it was withing the Rhone proper, even though vineyards have been planted in Ventoux at least as long. In the early 1990s Domaine de Fondreche was among the first to buck this trend and look to elevate the region, now creating wines that more than hold their own with the Village wines from areas like Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Rasteau, and still deliver great values. A classic Grenache/ Syrah/ Mourvedre blend made in a mix of large vats, wooden foudres and concrete eggs that delivers a rich textured wine with loads of flavor. Inky colored with lots of black fruit, dark spice and pencil lead on the aromas that gets some warm raspberry and redder fruits as it opens up. Loads of natural ripeness and unfiltered fine-grained texture that gets all the fruit intensity coating your palate but finishes surprisingly fresh with a light cocoa-powder type dusting of tannins. A great deal for this quality of Rhone varietal wine; keep an eye out for their White and Rose, which will be following up in the store soon as well!
 The world of wine is a journey, constantly finding new surprises in a varietal or region that you never knew existed or was capable of making interesting wines. Inevitably these surprises tend to happen somewhere in Italy, where they have sooooo many centuries of viticulture and fierce attachment to their local grapes. Tucked away in the isolated Alpine foothills between Milan and Lake Garda, Togni Rebaioli farms what is among the very last parcels of the Erbanno grape, certainly one of the oldest sets of vines at over 60 years of age. A labor of love, the variety is an offshoot of the grapes used in making Lambrusco, but as a region it is very rural without a lot of tourism so there isn't any sort of draw that has helped to get them recognized. The combination of unique grape and some time to mature in the bottle makes this a singular wine to taste (found ZERO tasting notes in either the Vinous or Wine Advocate database for the varietal), and one we didn't know we needed in the store until we tasted it ourselves. A bit rugged at first, the evolved note of earth and leather start to show through with a bit of air behind the deep blue-skinned berry and peppered savory fresh-off-the-grill notes. The palate is fascinating, starting out with lots of polish from the age on the immediate tannins and initial dark dry fruit tones, then building a long fine tannin on the finish and some Alpine-born acidity that brings some citrus complexity to the finish. Hard to say what this is comparable to, maybe a blend of the refinement of Nebbiolo and the flavors of Dolcetto, but that still doesn't do it justice. It is what it is, and it's delicious.
 Brand new wine to the store, arriving at the perfect time to get into your late Spring/early Summer drinking rotation. Chenin Blanc is one of the noble grapes of the Loire, reaching its most noted levels in Vouvray to the East of Tours and Anjou to the West. Sandwiched in between are the regions of Chinon, Bourgueil and Saumur, which are best known for producing Cabernet Franc but do have the occasional smattering of Chenin planted here and there. When done well they deliver a very clean style of Chenin, not as honeyed as Vouvray can be, and are usually surprising values. This small producer manages about 40 acres spread around several really diverse terroirs around the central Loire all with either sustainable or organic certification and was an immediate must-have when we first tasted several weeks back. Pure pretty aromas of white flowers and light peach with a mix of minerality and dried beeswax. The palate has leesy weight but not sugar weight, so you get that crystal clean mouthfeel full of bright fruit and a long tingly mineral finish. There's the potential for this to open up with more flowery aromatics and a bit of added weight to the palate if you are patient once you pop the cork, but that may be hard to do with how charming this is right from the get-go. A killer wine with everything from a cheese plate to pork and chicken dishes, just great to have in your warm weather arsenal.
 Falanghina is one of the noble and ancient varietals of the Campania region surrounding the city of Naples. Historically it doesn't tend to reach the exalted heights of Greco or Fiano, more of the intro/first course wine that sets the table for the evening's meal. But when it's good it's delightful, and in the right hands it can be great like this one is. Third generation owner/winemaker Alexia Perlingieri has established their family vineyards as the class of the Solopaca region, further North among the mountains from where Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino are made, and with less volcanic soils underneath. Still, with their high quality of farming and using the 'right' clone of Falanghina that naturally delivers more minerality, they deliver one of the most distinctive and exciting versions of the wine in Campania. Dry white peach, almond skin and wet stone aromas with a touch of green apple or grassiness that sort of parallels a Loire Sauvignon Blanc, but only slightly. The palate is much rounder and juicier than most Falanghina you will come across, really delivering the long distinctively mineral citrus flavors, finishing fresh and nervy. Another great all-purpose seafood wine that will pair with anything citrusy and fresh.
 Let's speak some truth here: Anybody that turns up their nose at drinking Primitivo/ Zinfandel because they think it is a sweet or low character grape are completely missing out, and may need to have their heads examined. OK, maybe not THAT far, but goodness gracious you need to put those thoughts aside and give these beauties a try. Pietraventosa is a newer winery started in 2005 using family vineyards inherited by their grandparents in the Giolla del Colle region just outside Bari. Bringing modern technology to their ancient vineyards the focus was always on quality, specifically identifying and developing older strains of Primitivo that were more quality capable as opposed to the more prevalent high yielding strains. The results are striking, creating a wine that is noticeably less jammy and extracted but still delivering every bit of complexity you could ask for. Deep black berries on the nose with lots of dark spice, tar and tobacco notes that just keep rolling out as the wine opens up. The palate is dark and has plenty of body but is not thick feeling at all. If anything. it is surprisingly elegant and pushes a bit of citrusy chocolate orange note from the acidity through the finish, as well as a little dusty cocoa from the fine tannins. A great wine for grilled foods, and an all-time favorite with most forms of BBQ styles and spice levels.
 Another week of Insider's Picks, another white wine brought back from the brink of mediocrity at the hands of a visionary. Much like the Spanish Verdejo of two weeks ago, the Melon de Bourgogne grape that makes up Muscadet in France was long thought to be a very simple grape. Light, higher acid and without a lot of natural intensity, it spent most of its existence creating extremely straightforward, largely uninspiring wines that only served to compliment the oysters and seafood of the region. Enter Marc Ollivier, owner/winemaker of the Domaine, who in the late 80s became one of the first producers of 100% estate grown wines in Muscadet, and began focus on the unique and subtle subdistricts, creating single vineyard wines from several of the oldest parcels in the appellation. Most importantly, he began to emphasize extensive 'sur lie' aging for all his wines, where the wine is kept on the yeasts and fine particles of the grape after fermenting to add body and texture. It's a time-consuming process, and almost nobody thought Muscadet was worthy of the effort, but thankfully Ollivier saw beyond that. With some of the bottlings now approaching near-ludicrously long sur lie time before bottling, the process is now the norm for any decent Muscadet and has influenced many white wine producers around the world. This is their 'entry level' wine made from blending their estate fruit with a few adjacent friendly vineyards, but speaks of everything wonderful about Muscadet. Light lemon and seashell aromas with a distant crunchy pear skin tone, seemingly straightforward at first. The big win for this wine is on the palate where all that lees aging really shows its stuff, pulling surprising body out of thin air without compromising the dry citrus zing and almost salt water tone on the finish. It adds length, intensity, and makes it beyond perfect for peak Spring oysters, or pretty much any briny seafood you can think of.
 It isn't often that we as wine drinkers get the opportunity to taste the wine that is the not just the standard bearer for a region but the literal starting point and touchstone for the grape variety as a whole (a least not without having to spend a ton of $$$). For most of its history Rueda and Verdejo were most noted in Spain as producers of a Sherry substitute during the Moorish empire occupation of the Jerez region. After the phylloxera epidemic in the late 1800s, there was an effort to make more 'everyday' white wines from Verdejo, but the grape has issues making wines that survive and transport very well, at least at that time, so they largely fell into obscurity until the 1970s. Angel Rodriguez' family had a small plot of Verdejo on their Martinsancho vineyard that had survived phylloxera, and used those cuttings to replant the entirety of their 25 acres starting in 1972. The family was one of the primary names to help establish the Rueda appellation in 1980, and the cuttings from their property have been used to replant most of the region. Thankfully technology has also progressed with the Verdejo grape, allowing it to overcome its shortcomings to produce much more stable and even age-worthy wines like this. Fans of Semillon from Australia and Semillon-heavy White Bordeaux will LOVE this, as it has a lot of the dry and waxy texture that those wines historically feature. Bright and zesty aromas of green apple and citrus that grow more peachy and white fruited as it opens up, strong but not perfume-y. The palate is really where it's at, long and lush with lots of lemon/lime fruit and that lingering skin finish that sets this apart from the more typical everyday versions of Verdejo. A killer wine for Spring salads and fresh seafood dishes, and can handle some cream or fat as well.
 There is likely no wine region in the world whose reputation was 'done dirty' in the 1970s worse than Lambrusco. Sure, the name was popular; you say '**** On Ice!', and many people will still be able to respond 'So Nice!' But that was the sweetest version of Lambrusco and by far the least distinctive (or even most popular style in its Emilia-Romagna home). It is like having your only exposure to red meat be from a fast food chain's burger. The wines are actually dynamic, usually quite dry, and very deserving of more attention. Sorbara is the name of both a grape used to make Lambrusco as well as a subregion, both of which are considered elite sources of quality. This version is also made using the older 'Frizzante', so not as much pressure and carbonation as the Prosecco-style Charmat method. While it looks to lose its carbonation quickly in the glass, it will maintain a bit of prickliness on the palate for a while. Very pale salmon in color, the aromas are of impressively fresh strawberry fruit and strawberry leaf, as well as a background of tart citrus. The palate is juicy, savory and racy all at the same time with refreshing salty tingle to the finish, which is EXACTLY what you want this type of wine to be when you pair it with salami, roasted vegetables, and sauces or dishes finished with Parmigiano Reggiano.
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The Best of the Best.We offering free tastings on these wines in the store every Thursday and Friday, and a 10% discount off the retail price through the duration of the day. Come on by and give them a try! Archives
March 2026
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