Monthly Wine Reservation

Sparkling · Champagne, France What are the holidays without Champagne – am I right? This Champagne packs a load of pedigree for the price. The blend includes the main three varieties of Champagne – chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier, and is aged sur latte for 36 months (minimum requirement for the region is 12). The cuvée also draws about 40% of the blend from reserve wine that averages 10 years of age which deepens and enriches the final wine. Compact effervescence produces a creamy mousse that lifts notes of praline, vanilla, toast, honeydew melon, and dried apricot with a long, lemony finish. Sustainable farming practices with no herbicides or synthetic pesticides. $49 / bottle

White · Rioja, Spain Speaking of wines that will pair well with Thanksgiving Turkey Time... I love white wines this time of year that are a little bit richer. Husband and wife team Oscar Alegre and Eva Valgañón are at the heart of an atavistic movement in Rioja – where producers are returning to old traditions and practices. They farm the tiny plots of land owned by their families and currently produce just two wines. Their Rioja Blanco offers a full-bodied palate layered with notes of persimmon, green apple, fennel, and beeswax. Practicing organic viticulture. $26 / bottle

White · Chablis, France Until just the last couple years, this wine was not available in Wisconsin. Moreau-Naudet is one of the most coveted and celebrated producers in the Chablis, and one of my favorite white wine producers in all of France. These wines are known for their breathtaking minerality and tension that resolve into expressive and ripe fruit character. Unlike their famous counterparts in the Côte d’Or (the heart of Burgundy), the chardonnays of Chablis are rarely fermented or aged in new oak barrels. Instead, these wines are about vivid fruit, vibrancy, and minerality. Practicing organic and biodynamic viticulture, zero pesticides or herbicides $49 / bottle

White · Loire Valley, France The intense minerality, bright acidity, and purity of fruit in this wine are a result of some of the coldest vineyards in the Loire Valley and the flinty ‘silex’ soils for which this wine is named. Jasnières is a tiny region that is at the northern border of the greater Loire Valley. I was first drawn to these wines over a decade ago for their exclusivity and unique terroir. Chenin blanc from the Loire Valley is the archetype for the variety, and the wines of Janvier are just another reminder of the wide range of expressions of the variety that come from the Loire. The palate starts with ripe stone fruit and guava before giving way to the smoky minerality and citrus that drive the finish of this wine. Sustainable farming known as lutte raisonnée in France. $28 / bottle

White · Hawke's Bay, New Zealand For those that missed the dinner, we hosted Simon Buck from the historic Te Mata winery about a month ago, and he was a riot. It helps that all the wines we had were exemplary, but the estate sauvignon blanc was really a crowd pleaser. Contrary to the wine region of Malborough, Hawke’s Bay is on the North Island of New Zealand and hence has slightly warmer climate and a longer growing season. The result is riper fruit that resounds with gooseberry, guava, pineapple, and the classic passionfruit notes for which NZ sauvignon blanc is famous. The wine still displays varietal grassiness but doesn’t have the intense green or jalapeño pepper notes you can get in Marlborough. Certified sustainable agriculture with a focus on regenerative farming. $25 / bottle

Red · North Coast, California Trousseau is a grape native to the Jura region in France, home to the French-Alps. In some ways, it is like a more Alpine cousin of Pinot Noir. It is lithe and elegant, with red fruit characters like raspberry and cranberry along with floral and woodsy aromatics like heather and lilac. This rendition has texture and subtle tannin to the wine, refreshing acidity, and – being a Californian wine – more depth of fruit than its Jura counterparts. Arnot-Roberts is one of my favorite producers in the United States, and their Trousseau is a wine that disappears quickly after release. I’ll be taking home a couple bottles myself. A combination of organic and sustainable viticulture. $39 / bottle

Red · Rioja, Spain Bodegas Hermanos de Peciña is an old school Rioja producer. Their Crianza is aged for two years in neutral American oak barrels and a further two years in bottle before release – well beyond the two year total minimum requirement for Rioja Crianza. Well-developed tannins carry notes of berry compote, balsamic, and cedar. It's a classic Rioja that delivers all the comfort and warmth I want in a red this time of year. If I had to pair a wine to go with a warm, crackling fire, it would be Rioja. Also great with lamb and grilled meats. Organic and sustainable farming practices. $26 / bottle

Red · Barolo, Italy Wildly effusive with aromas of violet, orange peel, and black cherry that carry through into a savory palate framed by the fine-grained tannins and lifting acidity of nebbiolo. I was mesmerized by its rustic beauty when I tasted it with Eleonora Barale at the winery last spring. Fratelli Barale is owned and operated by Eleonora, and her sister Gloria, who continue to uphold the winery’s traditional practices of wild fermentation, long maceration, and extended aging in large oak botti. This is their ‘Commune del Barolo’ bottling, which means all the vineyards for the wine are grown within the commune, or township, of Barolo. Certified organic viticulture. $67 / bottle

Red · Willamette Valley, Oregon When in doubt, pinot noir. Pinot is almost always an affable wine that is a chameleon on the table, pairing well with a wide variety of dishes and meals (like Thanksgiving). Having worked there, I have a particular affinity for pinot from Willamette Valley. It is somewhere between California and Burgundy, stylistically. It has more acid and is generally lighter in body than California but has more density of fruit character and structure than Burgundy. The ‘23 Vincent leads with strawberry, hibiscus, and pomegranate followed by more vivacious red fruit and an herbal undertone on the palate. All vineyards are dry farmed and most are organic or biodynamic certified. $34 / bottle

Red · Swartland, South Africa I was at a South African wine tasting in Chicago about a year ago with some great producers and wines, but the wines from Franco Lourens stood out to me the most. They were as intriguing as they were utterly drinkable. His “Howard John” bottling is an homage to his father, who provided the seed money to start the winery. The blend is typical of southern Rhône, but also of this area of South Africa where there are many old bush vines. It’s an energetic wine on the palate packed with fresh, juicy red fruit character with warm and savory spices like anise, black pepper, and allspice in support. Another banger for Turkey Dinner. Dry farmed and practicing organic viticulture. $27 / bottle