Summer Wine Club 2023

After such a long and gray winter, it is such a delight to be writing this between bursts of sunshine and thundershowers! This time of year is a time of such growth and excitement in the natural world, and I’m so excited to be able to offer you these wines that will only accentuate the joy we’re all feeling through these longer warmer days.

This 6-bottle curation is one of the best things I’ve ever assembled and I’m enthralled to be able to share it with you. From a wine I discovered during my recent time in Italy to a wine I actually helped make, these are wines I regard highly and they’re some of the most special wines in the world to me. Some are benchmark and iconic bottles and others are on the leading edge of a new age of winemakers; they all bring something equally important to the table.

Before I dive into the wines, let me first tell you about my recent trip in order to spare myself from having to repeat it 40+ times (I still like you all equally). My partner Taylor and I were in Italy from May 2nd to the 11th and we spent 2 days each in Milan, Valtellina, Lake Como, and Piedmont. This was my first time in Italy so I had to experience as much as possible. For me, the highlights of the trip were our first day in Sondrio, the biggest town in Valtellina, but I will go into more detail in one of the wines (hint hint). Piedmont was incredible as well, and we were fortunate enough to visit 4 incredible wineries there of varying production sizes and styles, from micro-producers in Roero and Barolo to medium-sized houses with wines from many appellations. I aim to include more wines from these wonderful people in future clubs, but if you’re curious about them please ask!

Now, onto the incredible wines I’ve gathered for you to enjoy this summer and beyond!

Croix & Courbet “Savadonnay” 2018

David Croix of Domaine des Croix, and Damien Courbet of Domaine Courbet, winemaker friends in Burgundy and the Jura respectively, formed this exciting collaborative project that celebrates their combined interest in the Jura. Rich in its variety of terroirs, different climatic conditions, and due to the fact that they’re neighbors, the Jura is often compared to Burgundy. They also both produce savory, salty white wines.

This blend of Chardonnay and the local Savagnin grape is made to reveal Savagnin’s floral side and reflect the diversity of the Jura terroirs. This is a perfect execution of their vision that also provides unbelievable freshness. Savagnin matures later with good resistance to rot, is more robust than Chardonnay and also less sensitive to oxidation, allowing a very low use of sulfur.

For this reason, the Jura is often considered the birthplace of modern low-intervention winemaking and this bottle highlights the beauty of dry white wines from the region. Best paired with funky cheese, especially Comté which is from the region, or charred vegetables served over labneh with a touch of tahini.

I Vigneri Foti – Rosato 2020

When speaking of wines from eastern Sicily, especially the wines from the soils of Mount Etna, it is impossible to not mention the name Salvo Foti. He currently works for some of the most influential wineries in the region, while also having his own project that he farms and vinifies himself.

His wines are so limited, so highly revered by those who know them, that I haven’t brought them in until now. His rosé comes from his highest vineyard, and possibly the highest in Italy, at 1200 meters above sea level (that’s higher than Bend).

While most vineyards pick grapes for rosé first to preserve freshness, Salvo’s rosé grapes come in last because it takes that long to ripen. It’s a blend of too many grapes to name, many of which are unknown, grown by three quarters of an acre of 100+ year old vines planted in volcanic ash.

It’s probably the most stunning rosé I’ve ever tasted, with a depth I’ve only experienced in Champagne. Save this one for when things get hot and you can enjoy it by itself in the evening as the air cools and the wine warms, revealing even more complexity over the course of the evening.

Dirupi – Valtellina Rosso Olé 2021

Located in the heart of Valtellina, a glacial valley that runs east from Lake Como between the Alps, Sondrio is the economic center of the region. Once outside the town, the south-facing hillsides are packed with vineyards terraced with enough stone walls to reach Sicily and back, all planted to Nebbiolo, called Chiavennasca locally.

Arriving at the Sondrio train station was the beginning of the best adventure of my trip to Italy. We were immediately picked up by Davide Fasolino, “Faso” to everyone who knew him, which turned out to be a lot of people. He loaded our bags into his early model Fiat Panda and off we went through the tight winding streets of Sondrio, climbing onto the hillside quickly.

He dropped our stuff off at our agriturismo, we all had a shot of espresso, and off we went again. Our first stop was one of his newest and highest vineyards, bordering on the alpine forest above. Vineyards here are very fragmented, having changed hands and been divided many times over throughout their 2000+ year history.

This was about a half acre of his 12 acres of vines spread across 17 sites. Farmed organically and with a lush layer of ground cover crops, it was vibrant and alive. Often, the boundary of one person’s vines and the next happened between rows, with one half barren and scorched and the other half lush, green, alive.

Rows are short here, often containing a half dozen vines each and inaccessible by machinery, so everything is done by hand. Vines are replaced one by one instead of planted en masse.

Our next stop was his cellar, located beneath a 15th century farmhouse. Here we learned of his obsession with freshness in his wines, handling them as gently and deliberately as possible to preserve their high alpine characteristics. We tasted all of his cuvées from both large botti and bottles.

We then went to lunch, enjoying gnocchi with blueberry sauce and toasted hazelnuts, ravioli stuffed with trout from the local river, and a spruce dowel wrapped in marinated steak and grilled over embers.

When we returned to the states, I requested 48 bottles of Olé for our wine club. They had 47 in stock.

Olé is his Rosso di Valtellina, his introductory bottling that spends the least amount of time on its skins before pressing to avoid harsher seed tannins, keeping the wine lithe and fresh while still retaining the delicate Nebbiolo aromatics. Drink this at cellar temperature, approximately 55 degrees, alongside homemade Pizzoccheri della Valtellina.

Catherine & Pierre Breton – Bourgueil “Franc de Pied” 2020

Coming off of last release’s heavy focus on the Loire Valley, I was hesitant to put another one in this pack, but then these wines were released and there was no other choice.

The Breton family make exuberant wines through a philosophy that perfectly resonates with mine. While it’s well documented that older vines create more serious, age-worthy wines, this wine breaks that assumption.

This is a serious wine farmed using organics and biodynamics and vinified using the same techniques as their old-vine cuvées. The result is opulently fruity and aromatic, a picture-perfect Cabernet Franc from gravelly sand soils of Bourgueil, known for producing wines of profound freshness and aromatics.

Buona Notte – Dolcetto “Frutti di Bosci” 2021

Back in the fall of 2021, I worked my first harvest at Buona Notte in Cascade Locks. When we started the vintage, the winemaker asked what wine we wanted to make, and this wine was my answer.

Almost two years later, this wine is still a baby. Its tannins are powerful thanks to the heat dome and could use more time to integrate. Even in its youth, it’s exciting.

This is your steak barbecue wine, one that tastes best in a stemless glass chilled by the night air around a campfire.

Maloof – “Scrambled Sticks” 2021

Ross and Bee Maloof have been rapidly gaining recognition for their winemaking prowess and now farm their own vines. Bee recently quit her job as an aerospace materials engineer to farm full time, and 2021 was the first vintage produced entirely from their own vineyards.

Scrambled Sticks comes from the biodynamic Johan Vineyard and is made from Ribolla Gialla, Tocai Friulano, Pinot Gris fermented on skins in clay amphora, and direct-press Chardonnay fermented in barrel.

It’s one of the most complex and beautiful skin-contact wines to come from the region. With the ripeness achieved in 2021, this is an exceptionally powerful example. Enjoy it with pork belly tajine, ramen, or takeout from Wild Rose.