October 2026 Newsletter
The leaves, they are a'-changin'. Here's some wines to go with crunchy leaves underfoot, brisk evenings, and slow-roasting smells from the kitchen.
Jean Aubron Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur lie Cuvee Elegance 2024 $16
Our first time tasting this particular wine was at Wine Paris, one of the largest wine fairs in the world. Tasting along with my wine-importer wife, we sat with Jean-Pascal to try his full spread of wines, from humble Gros Plant (a common feature in these newsletters) and this muscadet. My notes for this wine amount to increasingly frantic stars, check marks, and the phrase “NEWSLETTER SLAM DUNK!!!”. It was incredible stuff then, and now seven months later, it’s here in Portland, and it tastes just as good. No surprise, because Jean-Pascal Aubron is one of the best vignerons in the Vallet Cru of Muscadet’s heartland, the Sevre et Maine region. His vines grow out of volcanic-derived Gabbro soil, one of several in the region that produces particularly sharp edged minerality in wine. The nose begins with white peach and white cherry and apple, with a bit of wintergreen and breezy seasalt. The palate is shaped by flinty minerality and powerful driving acidity. Flavors arrive thick and fast of lemon and nectarine, lavender, fresh herbs and salt. A stunning Muscadet at any price, but more so as little as this one costs. Serve with oysters and other fresh seafoods.
Pascal Biotteau Mary Taylor Wines Anjou Blanc 2024 $18
Some sort of Biotteau has been growing Chenin Blanc grapes in Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets for four generations. Pascal’s vineyards are on a dividing line between two distinct terroirs in Anjou, the chalky limestone tuffeau that gives the central Loire its elegant, high toned minerality, and the black schist of Anjou Noire that belongs to western Anjou and the Pays Nantais, where weight and depth and mineral punch live. Thanks to the work of importer Mary Taylor, we get to enjoy this precociously balanced Chenin Blanc for a remarkable price! The nose here is textbook Chenin; peach and apricot, honeycomb and potpourri, orange peel and sagegrass. The palate is vivid and textural, with notes of lemon curd and apple, and bright acidity, leading on to lemon zest and schist-y minerals lingering on the finish. Fans of classic Savennieres will find something to admire here, beyond the much more reasonable price. This is a wine with enough weight and intensity to stand up to an impressive array of dishes, especially things from the ocean or the river.
McKinlay Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2024 $22
In almost every language in the world, the modern word for the color orange did not exist until someone saw the fruit that so perfectly encapsulated the hue. Before oranges made it to England, they called the hue yellowred. In Matt Kinne’s latest little triumph of a Pinot Noir, there’s a lot of yellowred in the aromas and flavors. Eschewing fame and fortune for the chance to live an unharried life making great wine on his farm, Matt Kinne nonetheless belongs among the ranks of Oregon’s best winemakers. His Willamette Valley Pinot Noir never fails to give incredible complexity and value for some of the lowest prices in the valley. In 2024 that means even more, because it’s a fabulous vintage for even – perhaps especially – the humblest wines. Aromas begin with bright red cherry, strawberry sunshine, and cara cara orange, with clay soil underneath, all powerfully struck because all the aromas in Willamette Valley’s 2024 are powerful. The palate is juicy and silky and bursting with the sort of strawberries and raspberries that stain your hands. Lime and orange zest and chalky tannins linger long and strong on the finish. Dial this up with all the classics like duck and pork loin, or a really good burger.
Weingut Jurtschitsch Niederösterreich Gruner Veltliner Terrassen 2024 $21
Alwin and Stef Jurtschitsch took over the family vineyards in 2006, and their first order of business was to convert their Langelois estate to organic farming. Today, the property is teeming with life, from fruit trees and wildflowers to butterflies and bees. In Alwin’s words, “The more life you have in the vineyard, the more stable the entire system is.” This is Gruner Veltliner of a classic sort, the wine of their grandparents that always seemed to balance fruit with mineral tension. The wine is aged in stainless steel, and gives cool climate aromas of red apple, orange and pear, with white strawberries and white pepper, lean and fresh and energetic, just like the palate, with additional notes of gooseberry and lemon before a peppery, mouthwatering bright finish. Serve with schnitzel, with your favorite tofu stirfry, scallops, and just about anything in between.
Celler Marià Pagès Emproda Negre Serrasagué 2024 $15
In the small town of Capmany, there are a lot of wineries and restaurants with the last name Pages. The family has been here, just a few miles from the French border, for a long time. Celler Maria Pages is one of the oldest wineries in Emporda, and they make correspondingly old-school wines from Emporda’s traditional – if atypical – blend of Spanish, Catalan, and French varieties. This is the northernmost bit of Spain, a valley tucked into a bend of the Pyrenees and just a few miles from the Mediterranean. Originally founded in the eighteenth century, not a heck of a lot has changed in the intervening centuries. Wines age in barrel for 10 to 12 months before release, and the intention is to make sturdy, everyday red with old Spanish soul. The Serrasague is a blend of Garnatxa, Ulle de Libre (a Catalan edition of Tempranillo) and Cabernet Sauvignon, and offers up aromas of dried cherries and currants, woodspice, vanilla bean and potting soil. The palate is dense packed with woodsy tannins, black cherry, vanilla and cocoa powder, with touches of cedar that linger on the finish with black fruits. Serve with hearty squash dishes, risottos, and stews with game in them.
Quinta Milu Ribera del Duero 2024 $21
German Blanco’s “vinos de pueblo” is seriously old-school Ribera del Duero. Older, in fact, than those wineries where the term is generally applied. There are a number of new sheriffs in towns in Spain, and they’re making wine with significantly more aromatic lift, less alcohol, softer tannins, and far less oak influence. German makes his Tempranillo in very small batches from tiny organic vineyards near his winery in La Aguilera, Ribera del Duero’s easternmost bit where it almost touches Rioja. There are no new oak barrels in the winery, German uses only aged oak after fermentation in concrete vats. The wines practically jump for joy right out of the glass with aromas of fresh baked blackberry pie, strawberries, currants, orange peels and fresh baked brick. The palate is luxurious, framed with silky smooth tannins that build on the finish and burbling acidity alongside flavors of currants and raspberries and black tarry soil. German calls this “Wine for every day, and everyone.” We think it’s primarily wine for barbecue, but burgers, brats, potatoes bravas and other pub fare are all equally good picks.
Bodega Tandem Navarra Blanco Casual 2024 $16
The Valle de Yerri is in the northernmost quarter of Navarra, just a little way southwest of Pamplona and not terribly far from the Bay of Biscay. Where much of Navarra is hot and dry, it is much cooler here, at elevation where alpine winds cool the vineyards. For a valley so close to Rioja, there’s remarkably little wine grown here, which had always seemed a shame to Alicia Eyaralar and José María Fraile, who came from other corners of the wine industry to found Tandem in 2003. From the start, the vines have been farmed organically, and the winery was built with gentle winemaking techniques in mind. This ‘Casual’ white is just what the name implies, an easy everyday white that’s up for just about anything. It is made from 100% Viura, the grape of White Rioja, and known as Macabeo in France and Catalonia. Aromas show lemon balm, green apple and gardenia, with touches of rosemary, chalky soil and salty minerality. The palate is lightly creamy and overflows with white peach and apples. Acidity lands on the finish like a crashing wave of limes and apples, giving the wine a note of textural tension that sets the really good stuff apart. Serve with things like Pho and chicken soup, yellow dal, mezza platers, and white fish dishes.
Quinta de Porrais Douro Branco 2024 $14
Quinta de Porrais is a relatively small property in that part of the Douro Valley that has lately become fashionable: the canyon’s rim. More and more famous wineries and winemakers are looking up from the river’s edge to see what sort of wine they can make in the cool, windswept vineyards unsuitable for Port production. Many of these new wines fetch premium prices, and while they are often fantastic and noteworthy wines, Quinta de Porrais was up there before anyone took note, and the winery remains one of the most impressive values in Portugal – or anywhere else. The wine is a blend of Rabigato and Codega de Larinho, two classic whites of the valley with a yin of minerality and a yang of fruit. The nose is flint and pear, lemon balm, yellow apple and a little salty. The palate is apples and pears all over, minerality comes in on the finish with a steely note. The wine is fairly weighty with juicy acidity that leaves the finish fresh and lemony. A wine for shrimp, clams, scallops, or traditional Portuguese Feijoada.
Gurrieri Sicilia Grillo 2024 $21
The Gurrieri family, under the hands of siblings Giovanni and Angela, belong firmly to a new school of winemaking, one taking root all over the world, but especially in sleepy places like southeastern Sicily where the wine world hasn’t paid much attention until recently. At its heart, the philosophy is simple. They seek to make better wine by working harder in the vineyard and less hard in the cellar. Rigorous organic practices yield grapes that don’t need much help in the cellar in the way of yeast or acid corrections. The wines they make come from highland foothills of the Hyblaean mountains, high enough to enjoy cool evenings and nights during Sicily’s unholy hot summers. Every wine they make is wrapped around a core of bright acidity and yields a refreshing array of fruits and flowers. This Grillo in particular offers pleasantly fresh aromas of lemon and green apple, tarragon and sage. The palate is medium weight and scored with salty minerality running through flavors of lemon, pineapple and herbal accents before a satisfying crisp finish. Serve with almost anything from the sea, especially if it ever had a shell.
Saraja Cannonau di Sardegna Inkibi 2024 $22
Saraja is a large winery, producing a wide range in most of Sardinia’s wine producing regions, but they do it with both care and attention to details. This Cannonau comes from the eastern shore, the region called Ogliastra after the numerous olive groves found there. Vineyards are on the shoulders of the wild and rocky mount Gennergentu, exposed to Mediterranean winds. Like other Cannonau coming from the island more recently, this one gives more of the fresh red aromas and spices that remind us how closely related this grape is to Spanish Grenache. Notes show of dry, sandy soil, ripe strawberries, cherry blossom and orange peel. The soft shouldered bottle shape is a clue that the palate will be lithe and lush with silky tannins and punchy flavors of strawberry, citrus peel, rosemary and organic earth, before a mouthwatering finish of orange comes begging for another bite of food. Serve with lamb skewers, pasta dishes with meatballs or falafel, and other hearty-but-easy meals.
Mussio IGT Trevenezie Cabernet Franc 2025 $15
After decades running an Italian restaurant in San Francisco, Giuseppe Mussio returned to his homeland in Friuli and planted vines in the village of Zoppola shortly after the Second World War. Here, gravel soils and gentle Adriatic influences had inspired vignerons for centuries to plant grapes native to Bordeaux, a favorite style of wine for the Venetian aristocracy. Today, Max Mussio oversees the same vineyards where he produces simple, everyday wines with surprising depth of flavor. This Cabernet Franc is aged in stainless steel and offers pure berry aromas of blackcurrant, rosehip and raspberry jelly, lavender and earthy clay. The palate renews these notes of clay and potting soil, with back raspberries and cherries soaked through this full bodied wine with stern tannins and a distinctly peppery finish. This wine will appeal to Cabernet Franc fans and hearty Italian fans alike, perfect for the first stews of the fall, both in the broth and alongside.
De Forville Barbera d’Asti 2025 $20
The Anfosso family, descended from the original De Forvilles who emigrated to Piedmont in the 1848s, have always been an important part of Barbaresco’s winemaking scene. The fifth generation of Valter and Paolo Anfosso have maintained the traditional methods of their parents and grandparents, making their Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Barbera in a slow and controlled way with long, cool fermentations to ensure their grapes give every ounce of flavor and aroma to the finished wine. Their Barbera d’Asti is harvested from vines on a sunny hillside in the Ga’Grosso Cru within Barbaresco, and always delivers that signature note of red-fruity freshness that defines the category. Aromas of red plum, strawberry and rosemary follow into a bouncy, fresh palate of cherry and currant with dusty soil gathering on the finish. The wine is structured enough for delicate cuts of steak, but truly at home alongside a mushroom risotto or polenta.
The Winemaker's Barrel: Saul Mutchnik of Championship Bottle
Saul Mutchnik makes high fidelity wine in the Willamette Valley. Inspired variously by his favorite movie, favorite albums, and favorite wines from Italy's Friuli region, he makes stunning wines filled with personality, flavor, and verve, but without the pomp and circumstance. We will have his latest releases stacked all month and on Saturday the 10th he will be behind the counter with tales to spin and wines to pour.
Championship Bottle Chardonnay Gravity's Pull 2023
Championship Bottle Rosato History Ablaze 2024
Championship Bottle Pinot Blanc Hard Promises 2024
Championship Bottle Pinot Noir Lost Coastlines 2024