October 2025 Newsletter Wines
October 2025 Newsletter wines are here! Read below for wines to pair with all the upcoming slow cooked soups, roasted birds, and baked squash to come.
The First Four: Wines from Italy, Austria, and Romania
Our first batch of Newsletter wines comes from all over southern and eastern Europe. We will have classic Gruner Veltliner, beautiful reds from Sicily and Emilia Romagna, and Liner & Elsen’s first Romanian Newsletter wine.
Taubenschuss Weinviertel Poysdorf Gruner Veltliner 2023 $19
The Taubenschuss family has been making wine in the Weinviertel, Austria’s northeast corner, for four generations, and today they stand as one of the region’s oldest producers. They have never changed their philosophy of winemaking, and never introduced their vineyards to machine harvesters or invasive pesticides. They keep a herd of sheep that naturally ‘tends’ the vineyard. The most important vine is Gruner Veltliner – both in this northeastern corner of Austria and for the Taubenschuss family. This is their baseline cuvee, aged in stainless steel tanks and intended for the cabinet, rather than the cellar. That said, the quality of the fruit is so high that even this entry tier wine has impressive weight and substance. Aromas of white peach, orange, apple, accented with herbs and spices: white pepper, basil and sage. The palate has a creamy texture and flavors of lemon curd and apple that leads to a fresh finish full of minerality.
La Sapata Niculitel Feteasca Regala 2024 $17
If you wonder why Roberto Di Filippo and Roberto Pieroni spend time making wine in Romania, away from their home in Umbria at Plani Arche, the answer is easy to taste and smell in this wine. The project was born of a family connection, but Romania is one of the largest wine producing countries in the world, making – for example – three times as much wine as Austria and twice as much as Germany. Feteasca Regala means “princess” in Romanian, and it is one of the most important quality grapes in the country, famous in vineyards throughout Moldova and the Danubian plain. La Sapata’s vineyards are near the Black Sea coast, just a few miles from the border with Ukraine, and the oceanic minerality is strong throughout. The wine begins with aromas of tangerine, lime zest, and orange with spring blossoms and a touch of salt. The palate has intense notes of orange, lemon and lime, with a juicy, full texture and lively acidity that bursts on the finish. Try this wine alongside scallops, shrimp, crab, and other crustaceans.
Gurrieri Terre Siciliane Frappato 2024 $22
Frappato is a surprising grape. Sicilian wine is not supposed to be bright, crunchy, and zesty like this one. It is certainly not supposed to clock in at a cool 12.5% alcohol; not even Etna Rosso, grown at thousands of feet above sea level, does that. Yet here Frappato is, a juicy and delicious counterpoint to Nero d’Avola, and an increasingly popular alternative for grape growers and wine drinkers alike. The Gurrieri family grows their Frappato on the southern coast, dedicated to organic practices. This latest vintage offers a fresh blast of raspberry, strawberry, and smoked orange peel on the nose. The palate is crunchy and crisp, and tastes of the raspberries that fall off the bush when you try to pick them and a dusting of black pepper. As you work your way through the glass, light chalky tannins build up on the finish, something to chew on while you eat fresh pasta, fried calamari, or margarita pizza.
Tenuta La Viola Romagna Rosso Oddone 2023 $22
In the hills of Bertinoro, the Gabellini family makes Sangiovese. This is not Chianti, which has always made these red wines something of a challenge to sell, but if Romagna is going to make Sangiovese this good, maybe it’s time to change that. The terroir here is a complex mix of Italy’s signature clay-limestone marl with sediments brought by the nearby Po river over millenia. The Adriatic sea is about a half hour away by car, but the plain below is so flat you can see it from the vineyard. The steady seabreeze that filters through these hills gives Tenuta La Viola’s wines an even temper and complex aromas. Cranberry, raspberry, dried roses, tobacco and tangerine zest. The palate is silky, with firm tannins and brisk acids wrapped around red fruits, cranberries, allspice and cinnamon on the finish. The Oddone cuvee is named for a legendary figure from Bertinoro who liked to party so much that he is remembered today even though he lived in the 11th century. For best results, we recommend a group of friends and a stack of pizzas.
The Second Four: Newsletter Wines from France
Our second set of Newsletter wines comes from France. Here are wines from the Loire, Languedoc, the Rhone and Bordeaux. Vive la France!
Jean Louis Denois Vin de France Les Garrigues Blanc 2024 $17
The Denois family makes an impressive array of everyday sparkling wine from the southernmost of France’s sparkling wine appellations in Limoux. Their still wine is for every other day, when the meal and the occasion call for a heady still wine blended from classic Languedoc white grapes like Vermentino, Bourboulenc, Grenache blanc and (checks notes) Sauvignon Blanc. All the farming at Denois is done organically, and very little sulfur is added at the winery. Jean Louis is something of a rabble rouser, and while he’s an important figure in Limoux, he’s not generally keen on following the rules. His dedication to farming half a dozen grape varieties not allowed in Cremant de Limoux is just one symptom of his restless nature. The Garrigue Blanc has everything a Mediterranean white wine should have: good weight and clean-cut lines thanks to the acidity Vermentino and Bourboulenc provide, alongside ripe fruit notes of melon, orange zest, with granite ground minerality that lingers through the finish.
Chateau Soucherie Rose de Loire l’Astree 2024 $22
Chateau Soucherie is quite a house. This is true of both the consistently delicious wines they make and the literal building at the heart of their vineyard (really, it’s worth looking up). The fairy-tale-ready house is accompanied by a 34 hectare domaine that stretches from Chaume, the bullseye at the center of the Coteaux du Layon, to Savennieres, where most of the best dry Chenin Blanc is made. Almost as an afterthought, the cellarmaster at Soucherie is Thibaud Boudignon, who is one of the younger rockstars of Anjou in his own right. Chenin Blanc may be Soucherie’s main activity, but their rosé is a casual delight. Blended from 70% Grolleau and 30% Gamay, it has that quality of tension that allows it to be both powerful and light. Pink like cherry blossoms, with aromas of cranberries and strawberries, juniper and sage. The palate offers an electric shock of acidity, frothing with red cherries and redder strawberries with just a hint of lemon and lime that echoes on the finish. Serve this with appetizers and small plates with shellfish, potatoes, or soft cheeses.
Mas de Libian Vin de Petanque 2024 $20
Jean-Pierre and his wife Jacqueline are the latest generation of the Thibon family, farmers in the Ardeche since 1670. The Mas de Libian winery is only about sixty years old, but organic farming and philosophy of minimal intervention are very old family traditions. This part of the Rhone Valley, technically within the Cotes du Rhone, is the less formal part of the valley, where the vineyards tend to be smaller and less expensive. The area has lately become the focus for young, natural-leaning winemakers. Mas de Libian was here before most of them arrived. The Petanque is a cuvee to open while playing France’s signature lawn game, a satisfying, garrigue-filled red that’s rustic in all the right ways. Aromas fly thick and fast of blackberries, currants, cherry fruit leather, oregano, orange peel and pipe smoke. The palate is fresh thanks to a lilting cut of acidity, framed by dusty tannins and earthy flavors with black raspberry fruit and a touch of citrus. There’s enough weight here to stand up to pork loins and vegetable-rich stews, but a burger is the classic choice for food.
Chateau Lafond Canon Fronsac 2016 $19
What an unexpected treat it is to have a Bordeaux like this for under $20! I imagine it was difficult for the Chateau to hold back stock of the excellent 2016 vintage, but we’re glad they did because as good as it was when first released six years ago, it’s only gotten better since. Lafond is the second wine of Chateau Mazeris, one of the oldest and most important wineries of the appellation, and since the vineyards are planted on the classic right-bank recipe of sand and clay, this is pure Merlot country. Meticulous organic farming – a nice surprise in such a big-business wine region – makes for beautifully balanced grapes that need no oak to add structure or complexity. Aromas begin with blackberries and blueberries, tobacco and rich clay soil. The palate is strung with long tannins that have aged into elegance, with deep black cherry, wild blueberry and currants with more rich soil lingering on the finish.
The Third Four: Newsletter Wines from Spain
Here are the Spanish wines. There's high mountain white wine from Madrid, a new and exciting Txakolina, Catalan Sumoll, and an exciting – delicious – new school Rioja.
Altxor Txakolina Getariako Txakolina 2024 $23
It rains quite a bit in Basque Country. This corner of Spain’s north coast is measured by the Bay of Biscay, a corner of the Atlantic especially famous for storms. It is therefore difficult to grow grapes organically here. That the folks at Altxor do so is refreshing, though generally speaking everything about Txakoli from Getaria is refreshing. This signature Basque wine is just unlike anything else in Spain; this is probably the most refreshing wine on earth. Altxor’s take is made from the native Hondarrabi Zuri grape, and while it’s just as crisp and fresh as any, there’s a surprisingly complex aroma wafting out of the glass: peach, preserved lemon, lemongrass, bee pollen and margarita salt. The palate shows lemons and apples and a note that’s not entirely unlike yellow gummy bears. The texture has that touch of trapped CO2 and lightning-kin acidity, but there’s a little more weight and fruit than usual, before the classic salty note arrives on the finish. Txakolina is often typecast as a summer sipper, but we recommend it all year long with fresh fish dishes and patatas bravas.
Camino de Navaherreros Vinhos de Madrid Blanco 2024 $18
In 1923, Vincente Alvarez-Villamil, a doctor from nearby Madrid, planted vines in the sandy soils of the Sierra de Gredos. Before he could realize his dream of making wine in the mountains, the 1930s arrived, and a lot of bad 20th-century things happened to Spain. It wasn’t until Vincente’s great-grandsons Juan Diez Bulnes and Santiago Matallana Bulnes returned to the project in 2006 that the Camino de Navaherreros was born. This was one of the first wineries to make Garnacha from this mountainous area, and with consultants like Raul Perez and Marc Isart Pinos to help establish the winery, it remains one of the most successful. In addition to the trend-setting Garnacha, the winery makes this perfectly balanced white from a mixture of grapes including the local favorite Albillo, with Godello, Verdello, and Macabeo. Aromas include Meyer lemon, lime zest, cooked pear, almond and flinty reduction. The palate is crisp and creamy, with a strong core of minerality and flavors of pear and lemon curd and a touch of mountain herbs on the finish. Perfectly weighted for soups made of root vegetables, eggplant, and chicken in any style.
Alegre Valgañon Rioja 2021 $24
Oscar Alegre and Eva Valgañón are two Rioja winemakers at the center of an important renaissance. Much of Rioja is enjoying a return to the classic wines of the 1940s-1970s. Winemakers are turning their backs on the Big, brawny, high octane wines of the 1990s and 2000s for a more elegant approach. Oscar and Eva – alongside a cohort that includes folks like Sandra Brava and Telmo Rodriguez – are casting their gaze even further, to the 1870s. Rioja before the introduction of French winemakers from Bordeaux was a much different place. Vineyards were tiny, planted on steeper, rockier ground at high elevation, and aging vessels were uniformly neutral, whether concrete or well used oak barrels. This wine is an homage to the days when Rioja was hand made. Three quarters Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, grown at elevation along the edges of the Obarenes mountains, the northwestern edge of the region closest to the sea. The scent offers bright black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, olives and pepper and Jamon Iberico, and a lilt of orange. The palate is more than medium bodied but soft textured, with gentle tannins and flavors of dusty clay, black fruits, underbrush and herbs.
Can Sumoi Penedes Sumol Garnatxa 2022 $22
Sumol is the most uniquely Catalan grape in the world. About thirty years ago, the variety teetered on the brink of extinction. Too difficult to grow, with unreliable yields and uneven ripening. Also, it would have been financially irresponsible to even try to work with this grape many people even in Barcelona had completely forgotten. We are lucky that a few dedicated Catalan winemakers – among them the folks at Can Sumoi – nonetheless brought the grape back. It is still a pain to work with, and often enjoys the fruity support of Garnatxa in blends like this one, but the grape offers rare aromas and flavors, making a Catalan wine that’s very hard to mistake for Spanish. Aromas here start with sweetfern (a delicious-smelling shrub native to New England; it’s a useful shorthand for resinous, spicy, and slightly earthy aroma with a subtle green and citrus note), currants, blueberries, oregano and thyme. The palate is silky and refreshing with some heft, filled with marion- and huckleberries, clay and floral notes that linger on the finish. Pair with traditional Catalan small plates, it will go with most of them.
The Winemaker's Barrel with David Paige
David Paige has made a lot of wine in Oregon, and you’ve likely had some. He was the winemaker for Adelsheim for two decades before, in 2018, he decided to start his own brand. After teaming up with a couple business partners, he found a vineyard in the Eola Amity Hills on volcanic soil and started making David Paige Wines, working with the same care and attention to detail that made his other wines famous.
David Paige RPG Vineyard Pinot Blanc 2022 $27
David Paige Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2020 $27
David Paige Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019 $37
Special Event: Understanding Sake and Food with Eli Nygren
Wednesday, October 15th, 6PM
Sake is great. One of the best parts of Sake is the way it pairs with all sorts of food. If you’re trying to wrap your head around a drink there’s no better way to do so than with a bite of food alongside, so on October 15th, we will sit down with Sake expert Eli Nygren for a detailed seminar and a taste across the spectrum of this fantastic drink, just as complex and food-friendly as wine.
Seating is limited and reservations are required, $45 per seat