There is so much to say about this bottle, but we’ll try to keep it concise. First off, yay Meinklang! If you don’t already know, Meinklang is a bit of a gateway producer for getting into natural wines with their consistent, affordable offerings. Their multi-use biodynamic farm is located in Burgenland, to the east of Lake Neusiedl along the Hungarian border. Here they raise cattle, grains, fruits, vegetables, and herbs alongside the vines in an Edenic return to diversity. All of this resonated with outdoor brand Patagonia, who recently launched an effort to sell natural wines alongside their tinned fish and other provisions, including this special bottling of pinot blanc infused with thyme. Although their foray into the wine world was short-lived, we were happy to snag some of this limited offering. Plenty of tasting notes on the back label, but we’ll add that it performed very well alongside a dinner of salmon and asparagus with miso butter, and really sang with the last bites of a leftover rhubarb galette. Regarding the thyme addition, mostly we just have questions not answers — but hey, it works!

Kurt Angerer is a fourth-generation winemaker in the town of Lengenfeld, which sits just to the west of the town of Langenlois, site of the Loisium wine museum and de facto capital of wine in Austria. “Kies”, named for the gravelly soils of its origin, is a fleshy, concentrated version of gruner, typical in style to this part of Lower Austria. Its persistent flavors of yellow apple and asian pear mingle easily with most foods, and its scrunch of white pepper are the perfect accent. We especially enjoy this wine during spargelzeit, or white asparagus season, when we enjoy those symbolic springtime spears in any and every way. 

 

 

2020 Frontonio "Microcósmico"
variety: garnacha
appellation: Valdejalón, Spain
organic, vegan

 

 

 

2012 Conde Valdemar Reserva
varieties: tempranillo, garnacha, graciano, maturana
appellation: Rioja, Spain

 

Bodegas Valdemar has been at the foreground of Rioja for the last few decades, building a reputation by simultaneously pushing the boundaries of what's possible in Rioja and preserving the world-famous region's vast traditions. Their Reserva is made of all estate fruit from Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, painting a broad stroke picture of the tempranillo variety. The wine spent 19 months in French and American oak barrels before spending nearly a decade resting in bottle. This is Valdemar's most balanced and complex example of traditional, long-aged Rioja. It would behoove you to take the slow approach when pairing, with braised lamb as our highest recommendation. Also, burgers would be fine.