Welcome to your June wine club shipment! I hope you’re ready for some great wine. We begin the journey in the seat of all things delicious and winey: France. Wine number one is a beautiful Châteauneuf-du-Pape from an old producer that just got REALLY good. Consider it the first installment in a two-part Grenache comparison that is impressive for the the difference and deliciousness of the wines. The second installment is from only a few miles away in Priorat, Spain, made by a group of outlaw winemakers (everything tastes better when you’re breakin’ the law!)
We finish up in Italy. For the white drinkers out there, we head to Piedmont, for a Chardonnay that renews my faith in the grape, for the red drinkers, to Tuscany for the first vintage of the top wine of joint project between a First Growth Bordeaux Château and an excellent Chianti Producer.
Also, keep your eyes peeled on the website over the next couple of months, as we announce some great new events, and more than a couple of other fun things, including the opportunity to order additional wines from your shipment online.
That’s all for now!
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro*
Jake
*a Spanish toast, literally translated: “it arrives, down, to the center, for the inside”
For The Next Big Thing, click here to see the wine descriptions
For The Next Big Thing All Red, click here to see the wine descriptions
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The Chardonnay from the area has a stunning natural acidity, and because of this, it stands up well to a very intense winemaking regime. After sorting in the vineyard, fermentation is begun in temperature-controlled stainless steel, but as soon as it begins, the wines are transferred to new French oak barriques, where it remains during a cool, slow fermentation. After fermentation, the wines are racked and returned to new oak for twelve months. The wine then rests in the bottle for one year before release.
Vinos Sin-Ley means “wines without laws” and represents a joint venture between a group of young Spanish winemakers who wanted to recognize that there was amazing innovation going on in the Spanish wine industry in terms of viticulture, winemaking technique and creative expansion and exploration of traditional wine areas that wasn’t necessarily recognized by the rigorous, and for these vigneron at least, slow-moving Spanish wine laws.
This wine, made by Emili Esteve , who makes wines for a number of top properties in Catalunya, including the famed Francesca Vicent Robert is made from very old (a 
good portion are 100+ years old) Garnacha from Priorato. It is aged for twelve months in French Oak, and only 500 cases were made. 300 of those were sold in Europe, leaving 200 for the U.S.
This is one of those wines that wasn’t really on my radar until a trade tasting last month. I love Châteaneuf-du-Pape, but am the first to admit that the difference between the merely good producers (most of them) and the best producers is enormous. If this 2004 is any indication, Michel Maret has made the leap from the sea of good Châteauneufs to the rarified ether of the top few. His website, in classic French understatement, hints at the transformation: “Michel took over the family estate. As a passionate winemaker, he brings to 