2018 Gai'a, Monograph, Assyrtiko, Peloponnese, Greece

100% Assyrtiko

Gai’a (“Yay-ya”) is one of the pioneers of the modern Greek wine industry focusing on two indigenous grape varieties Assyrtiko and Agiorgitiko. Assyrtiko is Greece’s most prized white variety, usually from the island of Santorini, with its volcanic soils, high winds, and mineral-driven styles. These grapes, however, are grown on the mainland in Nemea on calcareous soil, and are a lighter, fresher, and fruitier style. It is pale straw, dry, unoaked with zesty notes of lemon peel, green apple, wet stone, and salinity. It’s medium-bodied, smooth, and balanced on the palate. The finish is all about lemon and minerality with a smooth texture.

2022 Nicolas Girard, Quincy, France

100% Sauvignon Blanc

Quincy is a rather unknown region in the Upper Loire Valley, specializing in racy Sauvignon Blancs, usually at an excellent value, compared to neighboring Sancerre. Nicolas Girard is one of the region's rising stars after taking over his family farm in 2007. His 2022 Quincy is a medium straw, bright, and terroir-focused with notes of fresh-squeezed lemon, grapefruit pith, and underripe pineapple with herbaceous and bountiful minerality. It’s dry, fresh, and tangy with medium body, medium+ acidity, and exposing layers of complexity as it opens in the glass. It is gorgeous! Try it with Veal Scallopini with Piccata Sauce (recipe).

2022 Bodegas Albamar, Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain

100% Albariño

Bodegas Albamar is a family winery, making Albariño in the O Salnés sub-region of Rías Baixas for generations. In 2006 the Alba family started bottling and commercializing their wines. Xurxo Alba harnesses Galicia’s unique terroir by using only indigenous yeast (rare for the region) and encourages a long, slow fermentation. He blocks malolactic fermentation, to allow all the saline freshness and bright minerality to show through. The eponymous 2022 is from many different plots, mostly on granite soils. It is dry, pale straw, with notes of ripe peach, pineapple, lemon, green apple, and loads of salinity. It’s beautifully balanced and textured on the palate—with the structure to develop in the bottle.

2018 Château Vieux Chevrol, Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux, France

80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon

Located just above the more famous region of Pomerol in the Chevrol "lieu-dit", the Champseix family has made wine at this chateau for multiple generations and continues to do so in a “natural” manner—making this off the beaten path Bordeaux appellation, indistinguishable from other more famous AOCs in the area. The wine is medium+ garnet with tones of ruby. The nose has a medium+ intensity with springtime aromas of fresh ripe berries–raspberries, strawberries, currants, dusty earth and clay, and subtler notes of green peppercorns and pine needles. On the palate the wine is bone dry. It is full bodied with medium+ tannins and a chalky texture, medium+ acidity that balances and elongates the finish. The tannins, fruit and earthiness all come together perfectly in this wine to create a harmony of the elements that make the Bordeaux region so famous for their blends.

2020 Raul Perez, Ultreia, Saint Jacques, Bierzo, Spain

100% Mencia

Raúl Pérez is universally considered to be one of the world’s most visionary winemakers. Since he produced his first vintage for his family’s winery in 1994 at the age of 22, he has been at the forefront of the conversation about what has been called “The New Spain.” He grew up in Bierzo and is masterful with Mencia and is putting the region on the map! The wine has a medium+ concentration of ruby and is slightly hazy indicating it is unfiltered and unfined. It has a moderate intensity of aromas and beautifully integrated notes of dried strawberries, juicy cranberries, and blackberries with cloves, cinnamon, truffles, and cedar. It's savory and juicy with rich and fresh earth nuances that make you feel as if you were sitting on a patio in the summertime. It is dry, medium-bodied, with medium and soft tannins, and lifted acidity.

2020 Thymiopoulos Vineyards, Naoussa, Greece

100% Xinomavro

Thymiopoulos family has been grape-growing naturally and biodynamically for generations in the village of Trilofos in Macedonia Greece. While studying enology in 2005, Apostolos Thymiopoulos was the first to make estate wine from the family’s vineyards. Since then, he has devoted himself exclusively to Xinomavro, the emblematic variety of the Naoussa region. He produces ten different expressions to reveal every aspect of its potential. The grapes for this wine come from vineyard parcels 200-500 meters asl and are 27 years old. The wine is a medium concentration of ruby and aromatic with notes of ripe dark figs, raspberries, dark cherries, cranberries, wild herbs, fresh mushrooms, and hints of Turkish spice. It's bone dry and medium-bodied with medium+ tannins that will soften with decanting, and elevated acidity that keeps the wine lifted and expressive!

PLEASE NOTE

• Purchasers must be 21 years of age or older and be present with an ID upon delivery.

• Price includes 5.50% Maine State sales tax and Maine’s fifteen-cents redemption deposit per bottle.

• If your billing address is different from your delivery address, please include your delivery address in the comments section at checkout.

• *Delivery is by Wine Wise—not third-party carriers. Our delivery area is Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland Foreside, Falmouth, Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Saco, Scarborough, South Portland, and Westbrook. We have a larger delivery area for Wine Club deliveries.