SIP INTO SOMETHING COMFORTABLE
So, who is ready for something just a little bit easy? Seems like everything is a little uncomfortable and difficult right now. Wearing masks, the news, being stuck inside, the news, missing friends and family, the news, all of it. I don’t know about you, but I find myself feeling anxious and overwhelmed trying to figure it all out most days, which leaves me longing for a deep exhale and something utterly uncomplicated. Even my daily wine selections have been shifting from super nerdy and complex to simple and satisfying most nights. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to nerd out a couple times a week, (just you wait for my next feature on mountain wines) but at the end of a mask-clad, order-pulling and -ringing, advice-offering, run-home-to-make-dinner day, I want to sip the uncomplicated. Wines that feel like slipping into your favorite pair of jeans, absolutely comfortable and that go with everything from dress shoes to flip flops.
Came across two remarkably friendly and easy wines while plowing through a recent drop of samples, both of which not only had me thinking Wine of the Month and devouring the bottle in its entirety, had me on the phone to my sales reps ordering piles of them! If you are going to grab one, grab two, if you were thinking six you better just grab twelve, these wines are just so damn easy to drink and at these prices getting into that second bottle is pretty uncomplicated too!
Marc Portaz 2019 Savoie Blanc Tete de Cuvee, Apremont $14.99
It is without shame that I confess drinking my first sample bottle of this lip-smacking white all by myself. No shame because it was over the course of an afternoon off, and because it is only 11.5% alcohol. Apremont is a vineyard in France’s Savoie region, the vineyard named for the rough mountain the vines are at the base of. It is located at 1,050 feet above sea level and the soils are loaded with limestone and glacial debris, caused by an avalanche in 1248. The variety here is Jacquere, native to Savoie, and it is all hand harvested and aged in stainless. A tremendously fresh, snappy, bright white wine, loaded with citrus, green apple and mouthwatering minerals. Nothing complicated, easy, uber friendly and utterly gulpable.
Piron "Coq Leon" Red Wine $11.99
We’ve been stocking Domaine Piron Beaujolais for nearly as long as we’ve been open, the wines always offer so much for the money, and have been consistent year in and year out, so we were thrilled when we were sent this new wine to try. We immediately noticed the label, first of all because it is so stinking cute, but more because of what wasn’t on the label, Beaujolais. Turns out this wine is a Vin de France, not Beaujolais because there is 5% Gamaret added and Gamaret is not permitted under the Beaujolais A.O.C. Gamaret was created in the 90s with the hope that it would be approved for the region but alas, it was not. There are still a few growers with vines of Gamaret and Piron happens to be one of them. 95% Gamay and 5% Gamaret, this light bodied, simply loveable little red is real deal glou-glou. Dry, light, brimming with tart red cherries and so friendly! Little chill, pop the cork and get to glugging.