Wine Club Time!

An Exploration of Small, Family Producers

Hello & happy fall??? The weather certainly feels like it’s taking a turn for the better! And I have some very exciting fall news!! 

I am about to kick off my popular wine club at its new location – Wine & Company (a terrific bottle shop and wine bar owned by my good friend Josh Walker) at 441 Meeting Street, corner of Meeting and Spring, in downtown Charleston, SC. The first GTT wine club will be in October (with pick-up beginning on October 1).

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!! For the month of October the seasonal mix features a minerally white (Godello) from northwest Spain, a skin contact white (aka orange wine) from Sicily, and a red blend from Portugal (from one of my fave natural wine lines – La Boutanche). All of these wines are super interesting AND delicious! Wine club is a great way to learn about new grape varieties and styles that you might not reach for yourself! 

I would certainly appreciate the support, and sign up is easy and secure by clicking here! Wine club also makes a great gift, and you can sign up for just a few months by selecting a set number of “periods” in the subscription app. I do kindly ask you to consider a three month minimum to help me cover the cost of the packaging (see packaging details below).

GTT Wine Club Brass Tacks:

• I am using a more sustainable packaging option (rather than paper bags), but I do need your help to make this work.. I am using these cute 3 bottle cardboard boxes that are REUSABLE :) I am making  this investment so that we can have much less waste and also to keep things nice and neat at Wine & Company since these are perfectly stackable! I will have enough boxes so that as long as you bring your box back every month we can keep the rotation going! If boxes are not being returned, I might have to start charging an extra $3, and I really don’t want to do that :( Plus, I am trying my best to save the earth! 

• On the note of picking up, and one VERY fun part of this move – I will start having pick-up parties at Wine & Company on the first Monday of each month – from 6 to 8 pm so I get some time with y’all!  The first pick-up party will be Monday, October 2.

• Also, on the note of picking up, there’s plenty of paid parking adjacent to the Wine & Company building as there’s the big lot that belonged to the old Piggly Wiggly! There are also some free spots in the garage under the building (on Spring Street side). There are some marked “Wine Shop Parking” and some others marked for new residents, which you can also use! (The app for paid parking is Reef, and it’s easiest to download and create your account in advance. Once your account is created it’s super easy to use again and again!)

• Wine & Company is open 12 to 10 pm every day but closed on Sunday. They have tastings every Tuesday evening, and that’s another fun time to pick up if you can’t make the party!  

Here’s a peak at October’s Seasonal Mix tasting notes to whet your appetite!

Valdesil Godello
Grape: Godello 
Region: Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain 
Story: The current proprietors of Valdesil winery have a direct lineage to one of the saviors of the little known Godello variety.  Jose Ramon Gayoso, planted the first small parcels or “Pezas” to his beloved Godello in 1885. Their ancestor Jose Ramon Gayoso, planted the first small parcels or “Pezas” to his beloved Godello in 1885.  In the ensuing years, Gayoso continued to plant pezas in and around the village of Portela all on slate based, hillside soils. As the generations passed, however, he and other family members sold many of these plots. In 2001, the current generation of the family began a process of buying back the small pezas that were originally planted by Jose Ramon Gayoso and as of today they have regained them all!
Pairing: This corner of northwest Spain is famed for mineral driven whites (like this Godello and also Albarino), and it is also famed for seafood!! So I can imagine no better pairing than some of our own terrific  local seafood! Perhaps some filets of pan roasted grouper or triggerfish and a lovely fall salad. Most of y’all know I am a huge fan of food writer Hettie McKinnon and her wide array of delicious composed salads. I took inspo from her and made my own the other night: roasted carrots with chickpeas and farro. I dressed it with a simple lemon vinaigrette and garnished with parsley and feta, and the salad holds up well for days!! And it just has that fall vibe :) 

Fuso Cala Bianco 
Grape: Catarratto 
Region: Palermo, Sicily, Italy 
Story: FUSO is the project between acclaimed importer Porto Vino and some of their small, Italian producers. It is the goal of PortoVino to bring in authentic, local wines from each of the 20 regions of Italy – wines from real growers rather than from tank farms. They asked some top-notch producers to offer what they usually sell just to locals (“vino sfuso” in Italian), and they got some cool stuff! Cala Bianco is made by famed Sicilian winemaker Dario Serrintino of Mortellito. This is his take on a skin contact white aka orange (but I would call it a “baby orange” as it only spends 2 days on the skins – so it’s a good intro to the style!). He works with a specific  clone of Catarratto that’s called Catarratto Extra Lucido - Extra Shiny Catarratto - which gives wines with more texture, depth, and color that the common Catarratto usually found throughout Sicilia. 
Pairing: I have to get something off my chest…I had never made crab cakes until this past month!?! So crazy but true! Now, I have made some delicious shrimp cakes but just never got around to crab. Well, finally it has happened, and I am hooked. I used the Serious Eats Maryland crab cake recipe, which is super simple, and I think that’s why I liked it so much. You really just get the pure crab deliciousness! Although, I also have to admit that I did need to add some extra panko for proper binding purposes – sacriligious I know ;) I would serve those crab cakes with a simple green salad and this killer wine, and I would be in pure heaven ← Curb Your Enthusiasm reference if you are a fan! 

La Boutanche O Clarete 
Grapes: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, touch of Malvasia
Region: Douro, Portugal
Story: This is a collaboration between the terrific natural wine importer Selection Massale and an array of European winemakers. Selection Massale started La Boutanche in an effort to bring affordably priced natural wine to the market. Winemaker for Mateus Nicolau de Almeida comes from a clan of winegrowers, making wines from several regions of Portugal under a few different labels but always committed to organic viticulture, even embracing biodynamic practices in many of the vineyards. The name Claret, and its many spelling variations, refers to a light red or even deep rosé style of wine that was popularized centuries ago in England, sourced from the vineyards of Bordeaux which at the time was under the same crown. While Bordeaux holds, quite literally, a monopoly on the name Claret, the style was actually fairly widespread with many historical examples from around Europe. This is Mateus’s ode to the style – a red blend with a touch of Malvasia! 
Pairing: This is a perfect segue-into-fall red for me. It has just enough structure but also still works with a slight chill! It would be a perfect grilling out wine, and that’s very tempting  since it’s now finally cool enough to actually enjoy standing by a grill! I certainly would not be sad to have a burger with it or if you need a break from cooking…how about brisket from Ted’s Butcherblock or John Lewis!