October Wine (and pairings)
A peak 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. There’s lots to read – from my origin story (click here to read) to 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 addition 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 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 October 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 October’s seasonal mix offerings:
Domaine de la Combe Nocturne Melon
Grape: Melon de Bourgogne
Region: Muscadet, Loire Valley Valley, France
Story: Pierre-Henri Gadais is a fifth generation winemaker who inherited Domaine de la Combe from his father. The winery is located in the “lieux dit” (aka named site) La Prétière in Saint-Fiacre (a subregion of the larger Muscadet region). At the center of this region is a type of valley known as a ‘combe’, thus the name of the winery.
Pairing: Every time I write about Muscadet I feel the need to do 2 things…first, remind everyone that Muscadet is a region (not a grape) and has nothing in common with the local Muscadine grape (here in the southeastern U.S.) or Muscat (both of which can be used to make sweet wine). Instead this is a bone dry, mineral driven white, which brings me to my second point – it’s AMAZING with oysters! So by all means if you are feeling like getting your first oyster fix of the season then please chill down this wine ASAP. Or if you want an easier seafood option that would pair great with this wine then how about pan roasted local fish with a pear salad (yep, there’s a pun in there!). I was just catching up on my favorite Substack newsletters, and the Department of Salad gave ideas for two different delicious options. One with pears, almonds, parmesan, celery and dates! The other with pears, parsley, pecorino, and pistachios. Both sound amazing to me and would be so great with this mineral driven white.
Clos Roussely Rosé
Grape: 90% Pineau d’Aunis & 10% Gamay
Region: Touraine, Loire Valley, France
Story: Clos Roussely was an outbuilding of the castle in the village of Angé-sur-Cher in the heart of the Loire Valley between the 18th and 20th centuries. In 1917, Anatole, the great-grandfather of the current vigneron (aka grape-grower/winemaker), bought Clos Roussely and converted it into a winemaking facility. Later his son Marcel expanded the estate into a négociant wine company (basically becoming a wine middleman). Upon inheriting the estate in 2001, the current generation, Vincent Roussely, decided to resume full control of the vineyards and winemaking facilities, and he converted to organic viticulture.
Pairing: No need to be shy if you have not heard of the Pineau d’Aunis grape. It is certainly one of the lesser known grapes of the Loire Valley. To me it is like Gamay meets Pinot Noir; hence it makes a lovely red fruited rosé. And with the current weather this could certainly be a perfect rosé for maybe our last month of beach/pool days? But hey it’s Charleston, you never know! But speaking of beachy/Mediterranean weather, I have to let you know about my latest cookbook purchase – Le Sud by Rebekah Peppler. She is an American food writer who lives in Paris but just came out with this book that’s an ode to the south of France. It’s a dream to read and has so many dishes that would go wonderfully with this rosé including all sorts of yummy snacks like spreads made from olives, chickpeas, and eggplant (those are all separate recipes in case you are puzzled!). I ordered mine from the new-ish book store/wine bar “Philosophers and Fools”, which I highly suggest you check out for all your book needs :)
Fongoli Umbria Rosso
Grapes: 60% Montepulciano & 40% Sangiovese
Region: Umbria, Italy
Story: Angelo Fongoli is the fourth generation to be making wine at the Fongoli family estate. Since the early 2010s, Angelo has taken the estate back to a more diverse farming culture with a focus on biodynamic farming techniques and native grapes.. This is inspiring in a region that had one big star (Paolo Bea) for a long time but also had quite a bit of just average wine. And best of all, Fongoli is going for what you might call an old school style. I featured their skin contact white in my all white/rosé club last month, and I was super psyched to snag this red for my October 3 mix club. I would definitely chill this red even though it’s got some structure. It’s still got that freshness that just makes me want a chill on it (plus our temps are still not really chill LOL).
Pairing: In case you were wondering…I spend a lot of time reading food articles, newsletters, etc. Thus, I definitely notice when something is trending. Over the past couple of weeks I have seen a lot of recipes for Caesar Salads – and mostly non-traditional. One that made my mouth water was from the New York Times and featured brussel sprouts in a Caesar dressing that uses tahini for the umami! So for this wine I propose a hanger steak and your own favorite Caesar salad :) Or try that one :) P.S. I think it would actually be really great to add chickpeas as a crouton replacement!
In closing, I would like to give a shoutout to a fellow Substack writer Kara Dailey who lives in the corner of North Carolina that was devastated by Hurricane Helene. Her newsletter is always moving, but in light of this tragedy it is literally tear-jerking. Please check out her newsletter for great ways to donate. Here’s an excerpt from Kara’s most recent newsletter:
“Thirteen days in, with the horrifying sight of Hurricane Milton heading towards Florida, perhaps the world is growing a little bored of our ordeal, but most of the people on the ground haven’t yet stopped for one minute to take it in. The reality comes to me slowly, in moments when I pass a line of naked trees bent at ninety degrees along the French Broad River, plastic piping tangled where changing leaves should be.
The climate crisis was here before, but for the first time, I’m seeing with my own eyes just how explicit its violence can be. With it, a new understanding of how communities before mine have trudged through these kinds of events, the faraway chatter of social media humming but not quite registering, like voices coming to you from the waking world while you work to clear roads in a dream.”