February 2026 Newsletter
Domaine de l’Estang Coteaux du Giennois 2023 $20
Sancerre is the rising tide that has lifted all of Sauvignon Blanc’s boats, and the once-sleepy appellation Coteaux du Giennois is the latest boat to set sail across the Atlantic. Every year, a new domaine comes across our tasting counter, and every one has the snappy fresh fruit and flinty rim of great Sauvignon Blanc. The latest is the Domaine de l’Estang by a fellow named Bertrand Guillot. Trained in Burgundy, he brings a more patient winemaking technique to his grapes farmed on the sandy, limestone clay eastern bank of the Loire. He leaves the grapes on the vine later than his neighbors and leaves the wines on their lees a year longer too, all in an effort to make “tender” wines with all the mineral cut of the best Sauvignon Blanc but with more finesse. His 2023 edition has aromas of lemon and tangerine, lemongrass and flint with delicate spring blossoms. The palate is light but gently creamy, with citrus and apple fruit before classic flinty minerality leads to the finish, which leaves behind a gentle touch of salt. Perfect wine for a classic lemon roasted chicken with herbs or freshwater fish.
Plani Arche Umbria Grechetto 2024 $19
Grechetto is Umbria’s favorite white grape, with strong fruit and complicated notes of spice running throughout. Roberto DiFilippo and Elena Pompeii’s version is as classic as they come, from organically farmed vines on clay soil across the valley from Assisi. This is the white wine of two Plani Arche wines we’ve selected for this month’s newsletter, and while the flavors are obviously very different, there’s more than a passing familiarity between the two. They have the same rough cut texture, which takes the shape of crunchy minerality in the white. They’re both unusually intense wines, so these aromas of pineapple, plantain, peach and ginger and salted almonds come thick and fast out of the glass. The palate is full bodied and full of tropical fruits like mango and star fruit. The finish is a citrus twist with a salt rim. Try this with a cheesy polenta dish, creamy mushroom pasta, or well seasoned lentils.
Plani Arche Montefalco Rosso 2022 $22
Plani Arche is in the heart of Umbria, named for the shrine marking the spot where St Francis of Assisi gave his sermon to the birds. Roberto DiFilippo and Elena Pompeii work organically in their vineyards, till with horse drawn ploughs, and employ geese to defend the grapes from hungry foxes. We’ve selected two of their wines for our newsletter this month, this Montefalco Rosso is a blend of Sangiovese with the stubbornly local Sagrantino variety, the backbone of Umbria’s most structured red wines. The aromas are deep set and persistent: blackcurrant, leather and sandalwood, plum and graphite and pepper. On the palate, the wine is sternly structured and full bodied, with rough cut tannins, dense packed blackberries and currants and iron-rich soil. There’s a hum of acidity running around and through all this structural weight that keeps all these aromas and flavors vivid and alert. Pour this wine next to a Pappardelle al Cinghiale or a rich stew full of root vegetables.
Luigi Tacchino Barbera del Monferrato Gusti 2018 $17
When Luigi Tacchino was 11 year old, his father passed away, and his mother Clelia had to sell the family vineyard to make ends meet. Years later, Luigi was able to buy the vineyard back, so it meant a little more to the family when he was able to pass the operation of the winery on to his children Romina and Alessio. Today the winery makes a range of Piedmont classics in the southeastern corner of the Monferratto hills near the town of Ovada. This is a region well out of the spotlight but it deserves more attention, because there’s plenty of good limestone clay and hillside vineyards more than 1000 feet above sea level, ideal conditions for well-balanced Barbera. This black and blue wine is farmed organically, picked by hand, and aged in steel tanks to make the purest wine possible. It starts with a pungent nose of mashed black cherries, cinnamon, dusty earth, cocoa, and orange oil. The palate follows with a lush texture framed by dusty tannins, full of cherries and black plums, leather and dusty earth. Serve it up with lasagna or a hearty ragu.
Neumeister Steiermark Gemischter Satz Sarmat 2023 $20
The southeastern corner of Austria and the northern edge of Slovenia is a bright green-gold landscape called Styria, where Alpine foothills meet the headwaters of the Adriatic Sea to the west and the warm Pannonian Plain to the east. The striking green tint to the land is due in part to the rich volcanic soil that gives Austrian Steiermark the new appellation title Vulkanland. It is also covered in steep hills facing every which way, where vines bask in the Mediterranean sun during the day, and cool down in the Alpine breeze at night. It is a perfect place for powerfully flavored and crisp wines. Christoph Neumeister is best known for the iconic Sauvignon Blanc of the region, but he also blends Gelber Muskateller, Welschriesling, Müller Thurgau, and Scheurebe into a classic Austrian Gemischter Satz. Raised in stainless steel tanks to preserve clear headed aromas of apple blossom, orange, and a crisp and flinty mineral note. The palate is crisp and zesty, with notes of salted lemon, lime, and rosewater followed by a mineral burst on the finish. Substantial enough for curried chicken salad, white fish, and salty cheese on a board.
Yura Jurançon Sec 2023 $21
This label is brought to us by the Plaimont supergroup dedicated to improving the fortunes of Southwest French wine. Yura is short for Yuranosû, the antiquated local Bearnese name for what is now called Jurançon. This pleasant range of hills in the southern part of France’s southwest grows some of the most interesting grapes in the country, Gros Manseng and Petite Manseng. More distantly related to each other than the names imply, these are grapes that were clearly meant to be together, because the blend in Jurançon is a magnificent combination of luxuriously creamy texture and live-wire acidity that’s balanced the same way the fusion-powered core of the sun is balanced. Aromas burst out the glass like orange, apricot, peach cobbler, lime zest and honeycomb. The palate is full, and full of tangerine concentrate, kiss melon, and slate minerality that emerges on the mouthwatering and crisp finish. This is a versatile wine at home with mac ‘n cheese, with oysters, and almost anything in between.
Vaeni Naoussa Xinomavro 2022 $20
Naoussa is the finest wine of northern Greece, from a region of gentle foothills between the Macedonian plain and the mountainous spine of the country that defines so much of Greek history, culture and day-to-day life. This was the first Greek wine to re-emerge on the world stage in the late 20th century, drawing comparisons to Piedmont’s Nebbiolo. In truth, Naoussa was famous across the Mediterranean centuries before Nebbiolo’s moment arrived in the 1950s, but the last five hundred years have been complicated for Greece, and until recently the Xinomavro grape [pronounced K-Seeno-Mavro] was a strictly local treat in the dockside cafes of Thessaloniki. Vaeni is a cooperative representing more than 200 growers, more than half of all wine made in Naoussa, every one of them farming sustainably. The wine ages for a year in oak barrels before release, and emerges as a wildly complex wine. Aromas include raspberry jelly, raspberry leaf, cherry and sage and orange peel. The palate is lithe, with silky tannins and fresh acidity that brings to life flavors of cherry and anice and cinnamon. Orange zest and cherries linger on the persistent finish.
Camille Cayran Rasteau 2022 $21
When you need a reliably hearty red wine, Cotes du Rhone is always the ticket. When you really need a hearty red wine, look for Cotes du Rhone from the newly elevated village of Rasteau. The wines of Rasteau have had their own appellation since 2010, because they achieve the sort of broad shouldered weight generally only found in Chateauneuf du Pape and certain Gigondas properties. Camille Cayran’s Rasteau is made at the nearby Cave de Cairanne from vines on the sunniest slopes in the Rhone, a typical blend of Grenache with dollops of Syrah and Mourvedre. It smells of razzleberry pie, chocolate, sage, thyme, and savory – both the herb and the adjective. The palate is full throttle, like a cooked strawberry pie rimmed with dried herbs and dusty soil notes. Tannins and acidity are both gentle, and the finish echoes the nose and palate with a menu of dried fruits. Serve on cold nights with warm stews, on sunny days with smoked meats.
Klaus Lentsch Sudtirol Eisacktal Gruner Veltliner Cuvee Syvi 2024 $19
Klaus Lentsch is a third generation winemaker in the Eisacktal of Italy’s Alto Adige region. He established his own winery in 2008 in Bronzolo, a village just south of Bolzano and surrounded on all sides by snow-capped Alps. In a region dominated by large wineries and even larger cooperatives, this remains a small estate focused on high quality, single vineyard wines. For his entry-tier wine, Klaus blends a little Sauvignon Blanc into his Grüner Veltliner to add a scoop of extra fruit. In this land of cool mountain winds and bright sunshine, wines always have zesty minerality and fresh aromas. The Syvi shows classic notes of lemon peel, white pepper, kiss melon, apple and alpine herbs. The palate follows fresh and steely, with green apple and lemon balm flavors that linger on the finish. Serve with small plates, ceviche, and those first warm days of Portland’s false Spring.
Joseph Drouhin Mâcon Villages 2023 $21
We’re pleased to present the return of a Liner & Elsen newsletter standard, Maison Joseph Drouhin’s unmistakable Chardonnay. The Mâcon-Villages is drawn from the family’s extensive holdings in the southernmost quarter of Burgundy, all organically farmed vineyards along the rippling limestone ridges to the west of the city of Mâcon. Under Veronique Boss-Drouhin’s steady hand, the wine ferments slowly, over the course of 10 months, to brew a wide range of aromas in the finished wine. Lemon curd, marmalade and almond, brioche and flaky salt. The palate is light yet creamy, with clear-headed flavors of lemon and tangerine with a dash of chalky soil. When the wine glides towards the finish, there are lingering notes of lemon and crème brûlée. The wine dictionary quite literally features a picture of Drouhin under the heading of Mâcon-Villages, and it is the standard by which all the rest are measured. Serve with roasted chickens, with trout Amandine, and the soft cheeses of eastern France.
Ferrando Canavese Rosso 2023 $24
Alto Piemonte is home to a particular sort of wine that doesn't quite exist anywhere else. The vineyards of the large Canavese region are carved onto the eaves of the Alps around the city of Ivria at the mouth of the Valle d’Aoste. This is Nebbiolo country, but where southern Piedmont traditionally makes structured, brooding Nebbiolo, here the wine is as bright as sunlight on a snow capped mountain. The Ferrando family are perhaps the most important winemakers this side of Barolo, responsible for saving the legendary wines of Carema from total obscurity. While their soaring Carema both deserves and commands prices similar to Barolo, they also produce this charming blend: 65% Nebbiolo, 30% Barbera, and 5% Neretta, picked early and vinified gently to make a clear-headed, crisp red. Aromas here start with juicy black cherry, clay soil, red roses and licorice. The palate offers cherries both red and black, orange peel and pepper, framed by dusty tannins and brimming with cheerful acidity. A classic choice for charcuterie, it will do for just about any weeknight Italian fare.
Chateau des Adouzes Faugeres le Tigre 2023 $19
Faugeres is one of the crown jewels of Languedoc, a long, sunny bank of shale-crusted vineyards north of Bezieres. Chateau des Adouzes is one of the best estates in the region, and an early adopter of organic farming under the previous owner Jean-Claude Estève. In 2018, Jeanne and Olivier Coste of Domaine Montrose added the Chateau to their own collection of organically farmed jewels. Very little has changed in the wine. A blend of Grenache, Syrah, and very old vine Carignan, Le Tigre cuvee shows a distinct meaty signature and plenty of Mediterranean sunshine. Aromas of sun-baked raspberry and black cherry fruit, tarragon, lavender, and fresh tilled earth. The palate is not quite full bodied but plenty hearty, with dusty tannins and rustic notes of leather, smoked meat, black cherries and orange oil. Earth lingers on the finish with dried herbs. There may not be a better wine on earth for your next burger.