Walter's World, Edition No. 16 (November 2025)

This month we’re headed to the northern half of Italy and exploring four different regions with some really fun wines. These selections are all about pure satisfaction and I’d recommend drinking them all with food, but don’t stress about what to have them with. They’re all really versatile so just have fun with it! 
This is the month of eating after all…

Cheers,
Chris + the Walter’s Team 

I | Elena Walch
2024 | Alto Adige, Italy | Pinot Bianco

The Pinot family of grapes is complicated. Pinot Noir is one of the oldest members of vitis vinifera, the European species that comprises the majority of fine wine, and as a result has mutated over the millennia. One such lovely transformation is Pinot Bianco, also known as Pinot Blanc, and is one of the most underrated berries in the bunch. It’s too often made into an innocuous white wine, primarily because most don’t know or want to keep the yields down which is when the magic starts to happen. The best iterations will rival top Chardonnay, and for a long time before genetic testing a lot of winegrowers who thought they were growing Chardonnay in fact had Pinot Bianco instead because they look and act so similar in the vineyard.
When it’s good, Pinot Bianco has this alluring character of yellow plums and crystalline minerality which evolve with bottle age to become something that is a bit hard to describe, but is definitely unlike any other wine out there. This month’s example is fresh from the winery to dance on your palate, but don’t be afraid to put in the cellar for a few years too.
Elena Walch’s career started as an architect and evolved to wine growing after marrying into a fourth generation winemaking family from the insanely beautiful Dolomites. These limestone peaks are tucked into the Italian Alps where the cows roam, where the pasta grannies make hearty cream based deliciousness, and the adrenaline junkies jump off the mountain in squirrel suits to glide back down. The wines reflect their environment and is one of the reasons I love them so much. Don’t drink it too cold and pop it to sip on with some seared scallops or tagliatelle with sausage & cabbage.

I | Prá Monte Grande Soave Classico
2023 | Veneto, Italy | Garganega

Ever had Soave before? Besides sounding cool it’s a tasty beverage made from a native grape from the Veneto in northeast Italy called Garganega. An interesting element in the making of this wine is that about a month before harvest they will cut the vine’s canes to halt the vegetative cycle of the clusters. This leads to dehydration which concentrates the sugars, acids, and phenolics (flavors) intensifying the final wine without making it sweet (most of the time).
Prá is one of the best producers in the region that has been farming organically since the 1980s. This wine comes from their primo plot called Monte Grande planted in the ‘70s on volcanic soils and is the source for their top white wines. This bottling blends the Garganega with the local version of Trebbiano which is loosely related to Verdicchio. Its role is to bring freshness to the highly concentrated vine dried Garganega, and also has a lovely toasted almond character too.

III | G.D. Vajra Kyè
2022 | Langhe, Piemonte, Italy | Freisa

The Vajras have been growing grapes in the Langhe hills since the late 1800s and selling the fruit to local producers until Aldo took over in the 1960’s with the intent of starting a winery. He hit the ground running and received the region’s first organic certification in 1971 which at the time was quite progressive and the exact opposite of what most agriculture was practicing with chemical farming being all the rage. While disease is easily tamped down with the latter, it strips the vineyard's environment of all biodiversity and in turn the health of the soils really suffer. This is precisely what modern viticulture has been addressing to correct decades of commercial farming that was aiming for quantity over quality. He also made it his mission to revitalize the native variety of Freisa which is most likely one of the parents of the famed Nebbiolo. Freisa translates to “strawberry” and this wine is full of it along with alpine herbs and undertones of conditioned leather & spice. Only a handful of examples come to the US and this is at the top of the list along with Burlotto’s wines that we get a miniscule amount of every year. It can play a similar role in food pairing working amazingly well with braised dishes, flatbreads, and roasted veggies. 

IV | Castello dei Rampolla Chianti Classico
2019 | Tuscany, Italy | Sangiovese

The world is filled with mediocre Chianti flowing from kitschy straw wrapped bottles that work just fine with your mountain of ziti or slab of chicken parm, but serious Chianti can change your life. What makes it special is that it has a really large, easy to hit target when it comes to pairing with food so when you hit it out of the park with the right glass with the right dish it leaves you with the most amazing sense of satisfaction at the end of the meal. That’s the kind of reward we’re all looking for when we go through the effort to elevate the dining experience. Sangiovese is the grape and Tuscany is the place. Highly influenced by the Mediterranean, this bucolic landscape is perfect for viticulture with its warm & dry growing season.  Every town you visit is something out of a movie, sitting on top of the hill from its initial construction during medieval times to provide advantage from invaders, with the vineyards on the surrounding slopes. Castello dei Rampolla was the first in the region to embrace Cabernet Sauvignon in the ‘70s and while they have separate bottlings dedicated to it, there’s always a splash blended into the Chiantis too that helps to bring in a bit more tannin structure. The winemaking style here is a hybrid between traditional and modern so the wines always have this polished aura about them, but never too flashy. They make a Merlot bottling also that is just drop dead gorgeous with age so if you still have reservations about the grape thanks to Paul Giamatti, I implore you to give this a shot. 

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This month also saw our inaugural release of the Walter's Bubble Club! Thank you for those who joined us for this kick off release!

We believe Champagne and the like should be sipped on the regular, not just for special occasions, as it’s such a versatile style. You could literally pair an entire tasting menu with sparkling wine, no problem. Beyond the obvious matches like oysters or caviar, you can find a Champagne that is killer with a rib eye or hot dogs or fried chicken. Anything crunchy & salty is going to rock. Every Christmas morning, we start the day with popcorn smothered in Parmigiano Reggiano & butter with a special bottle - most definitely the breakfast of champions.

Cheers to Champagne!
Chris + the Walter's team

I | Jean-Paul Brun Crémant de Bourgogne
2020 | Beaujolais, France | Chardonnay

Jean-Paul is the teddy bear of Beaujolais, an absolute gem of a human, and a damn good winemaker. His passion for the region is contagious and he just keeps pushing the boundaries of what people expect from the wines. Beyond Gamay for his reds from multiple areas within the appellation, crus included, he also makes a super fun off-dry pet-nat (we have this in the shop too), still Chardonnay, and this Crémant also all from Chardonnay. Crémant must be made in the traditional method with the secondary fermentation happening in the bottle it will be sold in. It also has to spend more time on the lees than most other regions, so it’s as close to Champagne as you’ll get for a fraction of the price. 

II | Yann Alexandre Brut Noir
NV | Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France | Pinot Noir, Meunier, Chardonnay

This producer is new to me and new to the US market. My friend Kevin who imports this wine was in town recently and poured me the lineup and this one really stood out. Yann and his wife Severine run the whole estate and put a huge focus on regenerative farming, treating their vineyards like gardens to ensure they have more than just vines growing. They use native yeast and minimal, but closely monitored, inputs to ensure the place shines through in the finished wines.
This cuvee is made from the classic three varieties of Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay grown in the northern sub-region of Montagne de Reims. About 60% of the wine is from the 2019 vintage which was fermented in stainless steel to retain its verve and then blended with 40% reserve wine (previous vintages) before undergoing the secondary fermentation. I love producers that use high percentages of reserve wines as this always lends so much complexity, and this wine is further enhanced by the fact that they age on the lees for 5 years before release. It really is a stunner.