Newsletter
May 17, 2021 – June 19, 2021
Bright Pink
Never before has the sunny and bright weather felt so good. Throw in some rain for improved agriculture and we will all be happy to eat the early buds at the farmer’s markets. Try these rosés with spicy fresh greens, tinned sardines, and salty young cheeses for maximum enjoyment.
Gris Marin
2020 Sable de Camargue (Gris Marin)
Sale Price $9.99 – $101.90 case of twelve
Sale Price $29.99 per 3L – $113.97 case of four
In either format, Gris Marin is a charming way to enjoy a crisp, dry rosé from the sandy soils of the Rhône delta. Take it to the beach house for aperitifs and sunsets.
Petit Balt
2020 Pays d’Oc ‘Cinsault’ (Le Petit Balthazar)
Sale Price $8.99 – $91.70 case of twelve
These folks excel at producing wonderful value Languedoc wines. Le Petit Balthazar’s Cinsault rosé is light, crisp, and delightfully dry. Lovely with a ceviche.
Beach Blanket Bandol
2020 Bandol Rosé (Dupuy de Lôme)
Sale Price $21.99 – $224.30 case of twelve
Along with Tavel, Bandol rosés are the heavy hitters among Southern French rosés. The Mourvèdre grape is responsible for Bandol’s spicy, dense palate. Dupuy de Lôme’s 2020 is packed with enough flavor and ripe tannins to go with a full throttle fish stew with lots of aioli.
Sainte Croix
2020 Côtes de Provence (Sainte Croix)
Sale Price $13.99 – $142.70 case of twelve
Sainte Croix is one of the best values in very dry Provençal rosés. The 2020 blends Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault to make a crisp, delicate wine with gentle peach and melon fruit. A perfect rosé to complement poached skate wing with brown butter, parsley, and capers.
Le Fraghe
2020 Bardolino Chiaretto ‘Ròdon’ (Le Fraghe)
Sale Price $13.99 – $142.70 case of twelve
Le Fraghe’s delicious wines are also incredible values. The Chiaretto is a perfect balance of floral, fruity aromas and crisp dryness. Serve this organic beauty with a light pasta dish or a spring vegetable risotto.
850th Anniversary
2020 Cistercien Rosé (Gobelsburg)
Sale Price $15.99 – $163.10 case of twelve
Gobelsburg celebrates its 850th anniversary with its first release from the 2020 vintage. Their Cistercien rosé is a blend of Zweigelt and St. Laurent. These grapes come from their coolest temperature vineyards and retain superb aromatics and pinpoint balance. Another delightful pink wine that calls for the freshest asparagus while it lasts.
Listed prices are honored through June 19th, 2021. We will not honor mistyped prices. Vol. 45, No. 6
Organic d’Oc
2019 Pays d’Oc Rouge (Maris)
Sale Price $11.99 – $122.30 case of twelve
Château Maris, located in Minervois in the Languedoc, is so committed to sustainability that the winery is built out of hemp (specifically, blocks of organic hemp straw, which help to sequester carbon and are fully biodegradable). That commitment extends to viticulture and winemaking as well, with organic and biodynamic certifications from Ecocert, Biodyvin, and Demeter. Though the blend changes every year (the 2019 is made up of mostly Syrah with a little Grenache), the Pays d’Oc Rouge is always fermented in concrete and unaged. This is a fresh and approachable Southern French red, and would be a fine choice for bringing along to summer cookouts.
Mâcon-Charnay
2018 Mâcon-Charnay ‘Franclieu’ (Jean Manciat)
Sale Price $17.99 – $183.50 case of twelve
Jean Manciat was one of the first Mâcon producers we visited over 20 years ago. His Franclieu cuvée uses fruit from his oldest vines and is fermented and aged in stainless steel vats. The 2018 smells like fresh hay and roasted nuts; on the palate it is ripe and round, and the finish is bone dry with a mellow earthiness. This is an extraordinary value in unoaked Chardonnay.
Willi Haag
2019 Brauneberg Juffer Riesling Kabinett (Willi Haag)
Sale Price $19.99 – $203.90 case of twelve
If you are a Mosel aficionado grab some 2019s before they sell out. This is a beautiful vintage for all levels of Riesling ripeness. While Willi Haag’s Kabinett won’t be mistaken for a Spätlese, it still has more weight and palate presence than is to be expected. This rich, golden wine comes from a great vineyard, the Brauneberg Juffer. The crisp apple fruit, cool slate minerality, and zesty acidity makes this a fine match with spicy curries.
South Atlantic Albariño
2020 Albariño (Garzón)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
Next up on the fine wine world stage is Uruguay. Like Argentina with Malbec, Uruguay has a national red grape in Tannat, but who knew that they would also embrace the Iberian white grape Albariño. Garzón’s vineyards are located close to the cooling influence of the South Atlantic Ocean. This fresh, peachy white is perfect for ceviche and simply prepared seafood.
Good Old Grillo
2020 Grillo ‘Timpa’ (Feudo Montoni)
Sale Price $17.99 – $183.50 case of twelve
Sicily’s wine industry continues to amaze and evolve. Feudo Montoni is fast becoming one of our favorite Italian wineries. Timpa, their Grillo vineyard, is located in the middle of the island and is a hilly slope at 700 meters. These vines have been cultivated from centuries-old rootstock and regrafted when necessary. This plus organic farming allows this wine to truly express its place of origin. It smells like a fresh chaff of wheat infused with apricot, and the palate is lively with herbs and citrus. Have this delicious dry white with fresh fish and a spicy couscous.
Aosta
2019 Rouge de Vallée (La Kiuva)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
Nestled at high altitude and bordered by France and Switzerland, the province of Aosta produces Italy’s smallest amount of wine, but what it does produce is choice. La Kiuva is a cooperative winery in the village of Pied de Ville. They cultivate 15 hectares of alpine vineyards divided among fifty members. These are steep, small, and difficult to work plots. The 2019 Rouge de Vallée is 70% Nebbiolo, which in Aosta is called Picotendro. The rest is a bunch of obscure grapes: Gros Vien, Fumin, Neyrat and Cornalin. The delicious result of all this labor is a red with a wild strawberry aroma and an invigorating freshness. A fabulous wine with mountain cheeses and charcuterie.
Tubas of Anjou
2019 L’Enjouée (Domaine Ogereau)
Sale Price $17.99 – $183.50 case of twelve
Apparently the Ogereau family has a couple of tuba players. This wine is their four grape ensemble. Cabernet Franc plays the lead while Gamay, Grolleau, and Pineau d’Aunis provide back up. This fresh, juicy 2019, with its lively raspberry fruit and piquant spice, is a great red to serve chilled with seared salmon and a radish salad.
Lil’ Alessandro
2019 Vino Rosso ‘Alessandrino’ (Valli Unite)
Sale Price $12.99 – $132.505 case of twelve
While known outside of Piedmont for their wines, the organic co-op Valli Unite is more of a working farm than a winery, with only a quarter of their land dedicated to vines. Out of its 30 members, a few focus on the winemaking, one of whom is Alessandro (charmingly pictured on the label). He has made this Barbera-dominant blend with no filtration and with only a touch of sulfur for stability during shipment. For those who love a faint barnyard funk in the nose, this wine is for you. It’s a juicy, unoaked red with crunchy red berries and a savory undercurrent of game bringing to mind picnics with salumi and cheese. Its versatility makes it at home as much with pasta & pizza as with a seared duck breast or lamb tagine. Though certainly not representative of the wide range of ‘natural’ or low-intervention wines, this is a friendly and affordable introduction to them.
Pic Saint Loup
2019 Pic Saint Loup ‘Tour de Pierres’ (Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup)
Sale Price $21.99 – $224.30 case of twelve
Pic Saint Loup is one of the great Crus of the Languedoc. Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup makes a superb, biodynamic blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. The 2019 Tour de Pierres is stuffed with scents of the garrigue and dark, spicy fruit. A fine red for grilled lamb.
Specialty Foods
Desert Island Cheeses
As optimism grows for a “normal” summer, we can’t help but
reflect on the cheeses that have been by our sides throughout good times and bad. These are reliably delicious and sure crowd pleasers. Whether a limited-edition reserve release, a new discovery, or a long-time favorite, these are the cheeses we’ve decided we just can’t live without. And if we ever have to go through a quarantine again, we’ll be sure to stock up.
Prairie Breeze Reserve $19.99 per lb
(Reg. Price $21.99)
Milton Creamery’s Prairie Breeze Cheddar from Iowa has been a staple at the Wine Cask for years. It’s always been a staff and customer favorite. So of course we were intrigued and excited when we heard they were releasing a reserve batch to celebrate their 15th anniversary this May. It’s aged for 3 years (twice as long as the regular Prairie Breeze), making it an intense sensory experience. The texture confounds, being simultaneously crumbly, sharp, and extra creamy. The flavors are rich, bright, and fruity, and linger on the palate longer than seems possible.
Hornbacher $26.99 per lb
(Reg. Price $27.99)
Until very recently, if you said you liked Gruyère or Comté but wanted a recommendation for something new, we’d have directed you towards Schnebelhorn or Chällerhocker without hesitation. Well, no offense to those amazing cheeses (which will always have a place in our fridge), but they now have some serious competition in the form of Hornbacher. This raw milk Alpine cheese is made by master Swiss Cheesemaker Michael Spycher, the same cheesemaker whose Gruyère took the top prize at last year’s World Cheese Awards. Hornbacher combines the best attributes of each of the other Alpine cheeses we carry, making it near perfect. It’s that good!
L’Amuse Gouda $25.99 per lb
(Reg. Price $26.99)
The signature Gouda from Dutch affineur Fromagerie L’Amuse is aged for 18 to 24 months at a temperature that is slightly higher than typical. This potentially risky maneuver is rewarded with an incredibly rich and nuanced flavor profile. When people come looking for an aged Gouda with that signature butterscotch flavor and those irresistible and crunchy tyrosine crystals, this is always the top choice.
Colston Bassett Stilton $23.99 per lb
(Regular Price $24.99)
Finally, we have the peerless Stilton from Colston Bassett Dairy. Made with pasteurized milk (as mandated by the PDO), the curds for each 18 pound wheel are ladled by hand into the molds before being aged for about 6 weeks. At this point the cheese is pierced with needles to introduce oxygen, which is necessary for the blue mold to develop. Another 6-10 weeks of aging in controlled conditions allows for maximum flavor development. This benchmark blue is dense, creamy, earthy, salty, and piquant.
Wines of the Month — May 17, 2021 through June 19, 2021
2020 Orvieto Classico ‘Vignarco’ (Palazzone)
Sale Price $9.99 – $107.89 case of twelve
This lovely dry Umbrian white is a springtime bargain for asparagus, greens, and fresh cheeses.
2020 Picpoul de Pinet (Saint-Peyre)
Sale Price $8.99 – $97.09 case of twelve
The 2020 Picpoul from Saint-Peyre is a polished and full-bodied Southern French white, with an exquisite balance of Mediterranean fruit and a crisp, dry finish.
2018 Fronton (Château Coutinel)
Sale Price $8.99 – $97.09 case of twelve
Fronton is an appellation near Toulouse in the southwest of France, where Negrette is the local red grape. Coutinel combines Negrette (70%) with Gamay and Syrah to create an earthy, dry red that will match with stews involving sausages, beans and copious amounts of garlic.
2019 Nero d’Avola (La Calla)
Sale Price $8.99 – $97.09 case of twelve
La Calla’s Nero d’Avola delivers a dark and dense Sicilian red that works well with spicy pasta and eggplant dishes.