May Wine (and pairings)

A peek into my wine club!

Hello! If you are just picking up the Grape to Table newsletter, thanks so much for joining to learn more about wine, food, and life. We have just wrapped up my origin story (click here to read), and we are diving into fun content focused on meaningful time at the table with delicious wine and food. For now, my newsletter is free and you can find all the content by clicking here – basically a little Grape to Table website created by the great folks at Substack. As always I really appreciate when you hit the like button at the bottom as it helps get this newsletter in front of more people :) and spread the joy of wine and food! 

This is my bonus edition of the newsletter where I fill you in on my current wine club offerings, which I think you will enjoy even if you have no interest in signing up for the club and/or don’t live in Charleston. It’s a nice little look into wines that I think pair well with this time of the year (late spring/early summer in my neck of the woods) and the stories behind them AND pairing ideas. Perhaps you can even find these wines at your own local wine shop! I will include the brass tacks about my wine club below in case you are interested in signing up. But feel free to scroll down to my May  wine picks if you are just here for the reading!

I am honored to host my wine club out of Wine & Company (a bottle shop and wine bar) at 441 Meeting Street, corner of Meeting and Spring, in downtown Charleston, SC. That’s where you will pick up your wine if you sign up :)

About the wine… this is a wine club that celebrates the magic of wine and food through an exploration of small, family-run wineries and detailed pairing suggestions! I definitely draw heavily from the old world (Europe!) with an occasional new world gem thrown into the mix. All of the wines are sustainably farmed with some producers going the extra mile with organic and biodynamic practices. 

The GTT wine club is $70/month for 3 bottles that are available for pick-up on the first of each month. You can choose between my seasonal mix, all white, or all red.  But the seasonal mix is the MOST popular option for good reason!!

Most importantly – wine club is a great way to learn about new grape varieties and styles that you might not reach for yourself! If you want to join: sign up is easy and secure by clicking here!

Cheers!

Now about May’s seasonal mix offerings:

Domaine Marion Pral Beaujolais Blanc
Grape: Chardonnay
Region: Beaujolais, Burgundy, France 
Story: Domaine Marion Pral is located in the southernmost tip of the Beaujolais region, and Pascal Chatelus works with his wife Marion and their family to make pure, delicious wines like this Chardonnay. Yep, there is indeed some Beaujolais Blanc, and it’s always made from Chardonnay! The Chatelus/Pral family farms sustainably and makes some terrific red wines as well.
Pairing: Of course there are many things you could pair with this minerally white, but I am thinking something classic like a roasted chicken before the heat really sets in and we no longer crave roasted chicken. I was scrolling through some New York Times recipes the other day and came across a perfect, simple recipe for Roasted Chicken Provencal, and it incited this pairing and also made me realize that I didn’t have an Herbs de Provence blend in my pantry. I remedied that through one of my fave herb/spice companies – Burlap and Barrel. I can hardly wait for it to arrive :) 

Cataldo Calabretta Ciro Rosato 
Grape: Gaglioppo (offspring of Sangiovese, sibling of Sicily’s Nerello Mascalese)
Region: Calabria, Italy 
Story: Cataldo Calabretta is a fourth-generation grape grower and winemaker located in the far southern reaches of Italy – a region known as Calabria. If you like to refer to Italy as a boot for geographical references then this is the toe of the boot. It’s a warm area and mostly known for bulk wines, but then you find someone like Catalado who is focused on native grapes and organic farming. The name of their town is Ciro, hence the name of the wine! 
Pairing: I am sure there are some of you who will balk a little at the color of this rosé. Yes, it is a dark rosé; no you should not be scared of dark rosé :) In fact, I find them to be even more versatile pairing partners than the pale pinks as they can stand up to more. So yes, you could definitely pair this wine with pizza! But if you are looking for a more off the beaten path pairing…how about takeout Chinese food, specifically from Beautiful South (if you live here in Charleston). Longtime wine club members know how much I love Kwei Fei so I was super excited for their new restaurant, which happens to be right across the parking lot from Wine & Company! It’s focused on Cantonese cuisine so none of the spice you find at their other restaurant (Kwei Fei) making it very wine friendly! I am especially obsessed with their scallion oil noodles!

Brisca Garnacha 
Grape: Garnacha (aka Grenache)
Region: Navarra, northeast Spain
Story: Since 1980 the Pastor-Gilabert family has been in the wine and hospitality business. In 2003, Vinos de Terruños was born, founded by Jose G. Pastor and with the subsequent incorporation of his daughter Teresa Pastor. They began making their own wines in different DOs throughout Spain with the close collaboration of small local producers. Brisca Garnacha is a wine made with the brothers Andres and Ramon Serrano, pioneers in organic and biodynamic agriculture in Navarra, together with Patxi Moriones, a winemaker with deep roots and thorough knowledge of the region of Navarra and Rioja.
Pairing: When I first tasted this wine I immediately thought of grilling out burgers! Of course that’s nothing new as I feel like I talk about burgers a lot here haha. But this is truly a burger wine! I would put a slight chill on it and satisfy your own burger craving. Alternatively, barbecue would be wonderful as well, and as luck would have it I just posted my barbecue sauce recipe to my newsletter! Click here for that post!