Your early spring wine offer (!)

Clouds.

Still cool, still grey,

Still raining,

Yet we feel the inexorable march of Spring . . .

The World is not as lovely

As we might have hoped

This early part of the year . . .

Suffering grows,

as our fellows in Ukraine struggle for existence. And so it is with this thought in mind as I put out this offer:

10% of sales will go to this relief fund, International Rescue Committee as inspired by friends Michael and Matthew at threesacksfull, who have donated a percentage of the proceeds from their restaurant this past week. Michael and Matthew have a pop-up that operates out of Ebb&Co and La Medusa Restaurant, every other Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. They are thoughtful and authentic as people and their cuisine reflects this.

I have five wines to offer you this week.

1. Golden Cluster, 2018, Noburg-Oregon, Willamette Valley Chardonnay $32-

This is a cuvée from Jeff Vejre that, in my mind, is at once a nod to the Jura style of white wine making in that he allows some Oxygen into the vinification by not topping off some of the barrels; but with an eye also, to the sturdy, age-worthy wines of the Cotes du Beaune. This bottle has all of this, but retains its Vejre-ness which is to say, it walks the fine line of classic wine-making, and totally flying off the rails into what-the-fuck-land. This is a talent that can't be taught. What is this talent? When to trust the gut and when to tame with a bit of the cerebral. It's 15% alcohol! You would not know this, it is so balanced and nervey. There is a load of wine, stuffed into the confines of a bottle, that can barely contain it.

2. Etheric Wine Workshop 2021 Willamette Valley Skin Contact Auxerois $29-

John Grochau of Grochau Cellars, whose Melon de Bourgogne, I featured two offers ago, is the author of this super dynamic wine whose golden loveliness shines through the clear glass of the bottle. With 1% Riesling in the cuvée, there is enough of it to wake up the scent of the Auxerrois, causing it to fairly jump out of the bottle upon opening. The wine starts fermentation in Acacia wood barrels for two months, (a portion of it sitting on skins for six days, another portion pressed off the skins immediately) finshing in stainless steel until bottling. I drank the fuck out of this wine at our cycling team's first meet-up of the season the other night! Pungent on the nose, with petrol and skunk cabbage, (whose scent I love, don't be a hater) pineapple . . .WTF! until I put it in my mouth, and was treated to not only the follow-through of super heady aromatics, like lemongrass, but an acidity that girdled the wine and kept it in check. But this wine, like the Pinot Noir to follow, is the product of a personality that is obsessed with method, and follow-through, although, maybe not? I've not met John personally. But his wines in this series, (Etheric Wine Workshop), while minimally intervened with, have the deft touch of a person who knows their craft and as with Golden Cluster above, has the ability to leave well enough alone.

3. Etheric Wine Workshop, 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $29-

Light touch Pinot Noir that tastes like Pinot Noir, is lighter in its way, than the Auxerrois above. chill the fucker down a bit, and drink it in the sunshine, because this is meant to be drunk right now and throught the summertime, enjoyed with a slight sweat on the glass, fogging up that electric purple color. As with the Auxerrois, nothing added- no sulfites, no fining, no filtration; native yeast fermented, "Chill AF" . .

4. Cocoriko, Picpoul Noir, 2020 Cotes de Thau $25-

I had to look this little AOP up, as I'd never heard of it . . . and as the label in the picture would suggest, this is a simple, drinkable red wine to get you into the warmer months ahead. The place shares the same boundaries as the white wine appellation of Picpoul de Pinet, whose namesake grape produces pleasurable and pleasuring summertime whites to drink with whatever you may harvest from the sea...the red version is not so different! One grape it really reminds me of, is Hondarrabi Beltza, (Txakolit) from the Basque Country, which in turn reminds me of Pineau d'Aunis from the Loire Valley- this is to say, it's light-ish but has grip, with crushed herbs and black pepper, not to put my tasting notes in your head . . . It's simple, lovely, and priced accordingly, which is becoming rare right now . . .

5. Pranzegg Laurenc, 2018 Alto Adige Lagrein- $50-

I've offered the wines of Martin Gojer here before, also in the last couple offerings! If his Lagrein had been available then, I would have made it a trinity of godhead because his wines defy description as words just don't cut it. I don't care if you're the kind of person who rolls their eyes at the mention of "Natural", or rolls their eyes at the mention of "Classic" there is something for you here, Wake-UP! that something is beyond anything, in a way that one doesn't often come across.... it's like duckduckgoose and you've been smacked on the head and now you have to get up and chase that mthrfckr round the circle...you have been chosen. This Lagrein is an ecstatic amalgam of roasted meat, blasted stone, ponderous fruit, and powerful hands that work their way into your psoas muscle . . . not comfortable is it!? yet, the results can set you free.

That's it for this week! Contact me here Cantina Sauvage with any questions and orders.

4 bottle minimum in Seattle

6 bottle minimum outside city limits

Much love,

Marc

ALSO- YOU CAN GO TO THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE WEBSITE ABOVE, TO MAKE YOUR OWN DONATIONS!