Hello, Feastlings.
We’ve all been there- turning a bottle of wine in our hand, trying to guess whether it’ll be worth the price, a foreign label divulging nothing. No clever name, no cute label, just words we don’t know, further enshrouding the wine in mystery.
This week’s tasting is another in our long-running series of Trust Your Importer tastings, reminding us that while we may not recognize the name on the front label, we can get an extremely good idea as to how much we’ll enjoy this wine based on the label that we DO recognize- the importer’s name on the back. Martine Saunier began bringing French wine into the US in 1979 and did so for 33 years before passing the torch to Greg Castells, who’s stewarded the company for the past 13 years. Martine passed away in February of this year at 91, but leaves a legacy of excellent wines that continue to cross the water and make their way to our tables.
Our friend Rob will be here at 2:00 this Saturday, September 27th, with four of Martine’s wines, and, it being the last Saturday of the month, we’ll be pairing food with each wine. You’ll taste both some easygoing, mid-range French and Portuguese wines and some fancy-pants wines that you wouldn’t ordinarily open on a weeknight. And I dare say you’ll be glad you did. At $50 plus tax and tip, it’s not the most economical tasting you’ll attend, but since simply tasting these wines by the half-glass would run you the price of the tasting and we’ll be throwing in some thoughtfully constructed food pairings as well, you’ll come out a winner. And if you fall in love with one, you’ll save 10% on a bottle, and if you fall in love with several, you’ll save 15% on a case.
If you want in, call us at (520) 326-9363 and we’ll ready a glass for you, and snacks to boot.
Trust Your Importer- Martine’s Wines
You can see the tasting order, pricing and food pairings here.
2022 Dominique Cornin Pouilly-Fuissé (Chardonnay,) Pouilly-Fuissé AOP
2021 Neipoort Lagar de Baixo (Baga,) Bairrada DOC
2022 Domaine Douhairet-Porcheret “Clos du Meix Garnier” Monopole (Pinot Noir,) Monthélie AOC
2023 Gilles Robin “Papillon” (Syrah,) Crozes-Hermitage AOC