🍳FRESHIES COMIN' IN HOT! 🍳

What’s up winos,

It’s Megan, writing to you from ~the past~. If all goes well, as you’re reading this I’ll be almost done walking the Camino Inglés, i.e. the shortest Camino de Santiago you can do and still get the certificate. Work smarter not harder. At the time of writing I haven’t even tried on my backpack yet. Should be a good trip. I’m definitely not going to die. Probably. Funny to think I was gonna sack it all off a few years ago and walk the PCT, you know, that five-month solo trek from Mexico to Canada. These days I’m doubting my chances at surviving a week-long stroll through a pretty well populated area of Spain with cafés every half a mile. Am I getting older? Or just smarter? Or both?

Enough about me. Mostly coz I’m getting anxious just talking about the trip. Let’s move onto more neutral ground. Got two banging producers to tell you about.

First up is Domaine La Rogerie, aka. François and Justine, aka two winemakers from different regions who came together to dominate both. It’s like Romeo and Juliet, if they’d had a happy ending and everyone just got along instead of blowing each other away with handguns (or swords in the original play, probably. Idk, I didn’t read it). François was born and raised in Avize, Champagne, and took over the domaine from his father, while Justine’s family run Albert Boxler in Alsace. I guess no-one told them the key to a healthy relationship is compromise, coz instead of picking one or the other, they chose to work in both. Couple goals!

We’ve got two of their wines to show off – their Villages-Riesling, all minerality, stone fruit and florals, and their Le Bouc, a Pinot Blanc, a balanced, creamy, green-apple-laden bomb of goodness. These are gonna fly, so be one of the lucky ones. At Natty Boy Wines, good things don’t come to those who wait, they come to those who hit the ‘add to cart’ button immediately.

Then there’s Cantina Giardino, an epic collab between six friends with the joint aim of preserving old vineyards and grape varieties native to Irpinia, a mountain town smack-dab in the middle of Campania. They rescue vines on the verge of being abandoned by their owners and turn them into banging wines. We’ve got three of their wines for you, get ready to buy. The Re cuvée is Aglianico, bursting with black olives, brine and herbs; Le Fole is a moody, dark expression of Aglianico, and Na is mostly Falanghina – mineral, stone-fruited and salty. Are u thirsty yet?

That’s all from me. Hopefully as you’re reading this I’m kicking back with some gambas pil pil and a glass of Spanish white. Or maybe I already got lost and had to call an ambulance to come pick me up. Place your bets now.

Love ya,

Megan

xoxo