Indulgence-NWCG Wine Club June 2021 Wine Notes

Indulgence—NWCG Wine Club

                                    June 2021 Wine Notes

It is that wonderful fertile and at times, equally frustrating “shoulder season” when the
weather shifts dramatically from one moment to the next, at lunch I want a crisp salad and by
dinner time, I want something that will take the chill away. Either way, I am happy to be
garnishing, cooking, seasoning liberally with the fresh herbs that are spilling from our potted
garden on the steps. My warmth comes from fresh chives, garlic, spring onions, and fresh
spring radishes that give my salads bite and spice. My culinary inspiration comes from the
simplicity of these herbs this month, and the wines that pair best with them are all an example
of tipicity of place and character. Surely my selections for June are a reflection of an attitude of
acceptance of the place where we live and the fresh produce that nature gives us.

To begin with, the Value 3 pack offers you a red, a white, and a rosé for the season—freshness
is a critical component in all three, which is a reflection of acidity but also the way in which the
wine is vinified. The NV Broadbent Vinho Verde made under the watchful gaze of
Bartholemew Broadbent maintains the freshness and spritz of its traditional character by
minimizing malolactic fermentation and by bottling immediately and shipping in refrigerated
containers. Broadbent is committed to the idea that his wine will taste as it would if you were
sitting in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal. The grapes, 50% Loureiro, 40% Trajadura, & 10%
Pedernã, are pressed gently and co-fermented to allow for the flavors to marry before bottling,
when they get an injection of CO2 to ensure that spritzy quality. This is a simple wine that is
easy to throw back when the sun is shining brightly upon us and the imminence of summer
warmth is encouraging us to build a beautiful salad from early lettuce and radishes! Similarly,
the 2020 Cherche Midi rosé is traditional Provençal style, smooth, approachable, and easy like
a porch swing in a summer breeze. Light and easy drinking with a touch of white peach, melon,
and just a bit of minerality that gives the wine a nice soft texture. If you enjoy Provencal rose,
this one is for you!

For those cooler moments of early summer, enjoy a glass of 2019 Antonio e Raimondo
Piemonte Barbera. The dark, berry nose is seductive, the wine is fresh, soft, and alluring on the
palate. The Barbera grapes are grown on the hills of Alba in the Piedmont in Northern Italy,
where the sun is hot in the summer, but the cooling Alp effect and the regions continental
winter climate means that wines maintain their freshness. This is an ideal choice for when you
fire up the grill and get a little char on some thick cut porkchops. I tried it last night

with Shartner Farms Green Pepper Jelly rubbed on the pork before grilling, boiled new potatoes
with loads of butter and fresh chives, and a big salad of greens from Paradise Farms with thinly
sliced radishes, spring onions, and thyme finished with a malt vinegar dressing. The Barbera
was silky and easy, elevating a simple Tuesday night supper!

To round out the Value Wines for June, I added a few other gems that are intended to
illustrate traditional character. 2019 Pallus Halozan White comes to us from the steep hills
of Stajerska in Slovenia where the long cool winters and hot dry summers produce fruit that is
intense and very aromatic, light and fresh. The wine has a youthfulness on the palate that
invokes for me the crack of the bat, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the sounds of summer
fun. Halozan is a blend of Welschriesling, Riesling, Chardonnay, Furmint, and Pinot Blanc,
producing an intriguing complex flavor that blends tree fruits, with citrus and minerality. You
could enjoy this as an aperitif, all on its own, but it would be lovely with a platter of fresh,
young goat and sheep’s milk cheeses.

For the reds, I wanted to provide the option of something a bit lighter than the Barbera and
another that would offer a richer wine for a cooler summer evening. The 2020 Aupa Pipeño is
a blend of Pais and Carignan from the southern Maule region of Chile. It is made traditionally
with intention to produce a classic example of old world style Pipeño. It is light in color with
bright berry notes, aromatic herbs on the nose that smell like you are sitting among my potted
herb garden. The fruit on the palate is easy, bespeaking a summer moment in itself. I suggest a
slight chill on this one, so you really get the lift from its lively acidity. It would be wonderful
with grilled fish or lighter meats and vegetables, but I am going to enjoy it with one of my
favorite Greek treats, grilled tomato and feta drizzled with olive oil and fresh lemon juice and
torn pieces of fresh basil! The 2020 Domaine de la Patience Merlot takes the palate in
another direction! Variety is the spice of life, they say, and I want to give you a lot of options,
since mother nature does the same. This wine comes from a very small family estate
in Costieres de Nimes, and it is named after the aromatic herb La Patience that grows wildly all
over the vineyard. Like this herb, growing naturally where he was born, Christophe Aguilar
makes wine that is steeped in tradition, in a vineyard that was farmed by his grandfather. The
wine has deep cherry notes and a dark purple color, it smells of ripe plums and lots of herbs,
which translates for me onto the palate—plum, blackberry, and fennel, sage, and thyme. I
want grilled sausages, bell peppers and eggplant, tahini, and couscous with preserved lemons
with this wine.

The Select Level wines are intended to further exemplify traditional methods and the resulting
character, so these wines should please you with some familiarity or provide a sense of distinct
traditional flavors and styles. To begin with, a classic Southern Rhone rosé, 2020 Gour
de Chaule Rosé is made from a direct to press method. The juice spends a short period of just
hours on the skins and a cold stabilization follows. The wine is crisp and fresh, and yes, it is dry,
which means there is no residual sugar. It has a darker hue than many rosés from the region,
but the Cinsault, Grenache, Mouvedre blend results in wine that is dominated by flavors and
aromas of fresh macerated strawberries and a hint of mint. This one is best enjoyed all on its
own, in my opinion, though it can handle food, it is almost a shame to muddle it! For food, grab

the Gruner! In 2007 Christina returned to her family’s estate in Carnuntum just east of Vienna
to make wine simply and naturally, as her family has done for generations on the land. She
uses what one might call a primitive wine making technique that gives the wine a suggestion of
simplicity but not without tension and nerve. The wine is a joyful expression of Gruner that has
a real vibrancy to it that balances the somewhat richer “melony” fruit on the front palate. I like
the crisp pear notes with lemon zest, and that touch of peppery spice on the finish that makes
the wine an ideal pairing for Indian or Asian spices. Keep a few bottles of this 2020 Christina
Gruner Veltliner on hand this summer!

For another aromatic summer white that would pair well with your spicy dishes, try the 2020
Otto’s Constant Dream Sauvignon Blanc. It has all the ripe and zesty grapefruit, lemon, and
lime with peach and melon notes that New Zealand SB is known for. If you find yourself
typically grabbing a French Sauvignon Blanc, give this new world wine a try. You will see the
distinction immediately. Otto’s SB is less flinty or earthy than its French counterpart, and it has
more tropical fruit and citrus notes. It is refreshing, tart and crisp. It is the flavor of the waves
turning onto the dry beach sand—if one could bottle that!

For reds, I have included three distinctly different styles reaching across cultures and continents
to provide you with some choices to handle June’s unpredictable weather! For a lighter meal
after a hot afternoon on the water, grab the 2020 Rogue Vine Pipeno Tinto; when you need
something a little weightier for grilled meats, enjoy 2019 Fitapreta Touriga Vai Nua Tinto; and,
when you need to warm yourself or seek a little more elegance, open up the 2016 Chateau
Vieux Chevrol.

Leo Erazo and Justin Decker began making Rogue Vine Pipeño Tinto in 2011 in a garage in
Concepcion, Chile, where they met while teaching at the University. They make wines from the
Nipas and Guarilihue subregions of the Itata Valley, from hillside vineyards that are dry-farmed
bush-vines, some of which are over 100 years old and the soils are comprised of decomposed
granite with a mix of clay and quartz. The winemaking is simple and natural, which means using
native yeast, concrete globes, old barrels, with minimal or no sulfur prior to bottling (like all the
wines that I curate for you!). These guys are focused on promoting the rich culture and history
of this region’s rural farming community, and the result is a very traditional light bodied red
that is a blend of Cinsault, Pais, and Carignan. It is easy to drink, but don’t mistake that for
simplicity. The wine is compelling, so sip it on its own before pairing it with those grilled meats
and vegetables.

At Fitaperta in Alentejo, Antonio Maçanita rides a fine line between tradition and
innovation. His process is traditional and natural, so he maintains the flavor profile of
Portugal’s national grape—Touriga National but he employees a carbonic method that
maintains a freshness that is a surprising new take on this wine. Via Nua, loosely translates to
“going naked,” or for Antonio this means no blending and no oak. Instead, his
short elevage happens in stainless steel, so the wine showcases the regional plushness with a
lighter expression. I absolutely love this wine. Fruit, floral, and finish, it is Touriga, but its style
is so wonderfully surprising that it makes for a whole new way of knowing this grape. Rich

intense flavors—blackberry, plum, and blueberry, comingle with lighter fresh flavors of anise
and rose petal. It is the perfect wine for a cheese and charcuterie plate, so why work any
harder than that? If you are inspired to throw something on the grill, I suggest pork with this
one, it wants the sweetness of that meat!

I cannot resist throwing in another Merlot for your June table because it has that ideal balance
of freshness and intensity of fruit flavors. This one comes to us from the lieu-dit Chevol, at
Chateau Vieux Chevol, where the Champseix family has been making wine the same way for
many, many generations. What is popularized now at “natural” wine making is an age
old tradition for this family run winery, which means to make wine that grows from grapes that
flourish naturally and produce delicious wine with minimal intervention from the wine maker.
(Yes, this is my mantra, and you have heard it before, but it bares repeating.) Jean-Pierre
explains that the acidity of the clay soil of his area naturally gives freshness to the wines, as well
as its fragrant aromatics. To maintain those elements in the wine, the land is worked by hand,
the grapes are all hand harvested, and fed by gravity into stainless steel fermenting vats, after
press, the wine undergoes a gentle, untouched elevage for a year, and then is allowed to settle
for natural clarification without filtering. All of this simple work produces a Merlot, with just a
pinch of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, that is supple with plum, berry and cherry
notes, firm but approachable tannins and a wonderfully juicy fresh style. This one is food
flexible, you can enjoy it with a lamb chop on the grill with some rosemary and thyme, or you
can get creative in the kitchen and pair this some a Szechuan Steak—it can handle the heat!

For a couple of wines that suit the Collector, I included two very special reds that will elevate
your early summer table. The 2017 Mullineux Syrah Swartland is a perfumed and alluring Syrah
from South Africa. It has surprising spicy citrus notes that are balanced with black fruits and
violets. It is elegant and rich but with restraint, so it has powerful flavor without a heavy
handedness. What I find so compelling is its silky texture that is supple and also fresh because
of the wine’s natural acidity. The wine is a true expression of the shale and shist soils, allowed
to showcase itself because of the gentle, whole cluster fermentation with indigenous
yeasts. Again, this is natural wine, without intervention or manipulation, and the result is a
natural intensity that is balanced by freshness, making these ideally suited to enjoy with
food. Syrah is made with lamb on the mind and South Africa is known for their braai, so fire up
the grill for this one, and harvest loads of those herbs—sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. I
want earthy flavors with this wine.

2002 Chante Alouette Cornell St Emilion is yet another Merlot in the June mix, and one with
nearly twenty years of bottle age. It is a treat to get my hands on something with age, so when
another case of this popped up, I jumped at the chance to put it back into the club for June. If
you are lucky enough to have been a member for the last year, you may remember this one
(and you will be happy to see it again). The wine is holding its freshness while showing all the
style and maturity of its age. Chante Alouette Cormeil is situated in a tiny lieu dit, just about a
mile from the magical medieval city of Saint Emilion, where the Deloi family has been
organically farming since 1818. Samuelle is the winemaker now, and she is continuing the
traditional methods of farming and vinification that her family established long ago. She makes

a gorgeous wine—layered, nuanced, subtle, with richness of flavor and texture. Mostly Merlot,
but with a small amount of Cabernet Franc and an even smaller amount of Cabernet Sauvignon,
the wine is juicy, with a combination of black and red fruits, mint and sage herbal notes, and a
tertiary layer of leather and tobacco. It calls for meat, but I would avoid the grill with this one,
its mature elegance would pair better with a pan seared steak, or some thyme sautéed
mushrooms for a vegetarian option...that said, I think I will have both!

Understanding and celebrating typicity does not preclude us from enjoying and commending
innovation. In fact, just the opposite. We appreciate creativity when it is an intervention into
an ongoing conversation. All of these wines provide an education into the character of
particular grapes from specific places, the wonderful world of wine allows for this conversation
to be never-ending, so let’s keep it going.

Cheers, happy summer time eating, drinking and thinking,

Maria