Walter's World, Edition No. 18 (January 2026)

This month we’re back to one of our favorite themes:
comparatives — same grapes, different expressions, lots to talk about.

Did you know that Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc had a wild night together and Cabernet Sauvignon was the result of this love-fest? Pretty cool, huh?

That’s why all these varieties share some similarities in the glass, most notably (nerdy term incoming) compounds called pyrazines. These little buggers are what give Sauvignon its herby character, and the tobacco or bell pepper notes to both Cabernets.It’s a note not always loved, but fear not — it can be ripened out completely if that’s not your jam. Just stick to warmer growing regions or later pickers to get back to that silky, ripe fruit without the distraction of savory things. Don’t let one example deter you from liking these varieties, as they can be clearly impacted by pyrazines… or not at all. Same with oak. Some of us like it and some don’t. That’s okay. These varieties shine with it or without it!

We hope you have fun tasting these side by side and finding your own favorites.

Cheers,
the Walter's team

PS – All these bottles are available in our shop - let us know if you’d like to snag any of our club selections!

 

I | Jonathan-Didier Pabiot Léon
2022 | Pouilly-Fumé, Loire Valley, France | Sauvignon Blanc

Jonathan-Didier grew up in a winemaking family, but wanted to spread his wings and explore before making wine in his home appellation of Pouilly-Fumé, nestled in the eastern end of the Loire Valley, a stone’s throw from the infamous Sancerre. He headed south to the Languedoc and scored a gig with Léon Barral, one of the most well-known vignerons in the region, specifically in a Carignan-focused appellation called Faugères. It was there that he was exposed to organic and biodynamic viticulture, concepts that were alien back in his hometown.

While the climate in Faugères is more forgiving to practice such things, Jonathan-Didier was determined to try in his own vineyards when he returned back home. His father was less convinced and granted him just 1.5 hectares — a small percentage of the estate vineyards — to run his little experiment on. After six months, Papa saw his son’s vines flourishing despite a challenging year weather-wise, and was convinced to convert the remaining estate over to biodynamics immediately, eventually becoming the first Demeter-certified estate in the region. They have since planted to super-high densities, over 10,000 vines per hectare, which creates competition between vines for resources, forcing the roots to go deep and extract a stronger sense of place while also reducing moisture pressure, which is a common hazard here.

This cuvée is named after the latest generation, Jonathan-Didier’s son Léon, and the winemaking is pretty straightforward to highlight all the work they do in the vineyard. Native yeast fermentation in stainless steel is all that is needed. It walks the line nicely between being that classic citrus-driven Sauvignon Blanc while having the ripeness amped up a bit to include tart tropical fruits without becoming cloying or flabby. You can crush this on its own or with some crab cakes, halibut with braised leeks, or (insert yummy seafood here).

 

II | Gramercy Cellars Lower East
2020 | Columbia Valley, WA | Cabernet Sauvignon

We don’t feature Washington wines enough in the club, and I think it’s easy to look past all the cool things that are going on in the wine industry here because we see it every day. This wine is a great example of one of the pioneers that helped evolve what Washington wine has become today. Started by sommelier Greg Harrington and his wife Pam, who had worked at some of New York’s greatest restaurants, it was one of the first wineries of its kind here in the Evergreen State.

It stemmed from Greg’s obsession with Syrah from the Northern Rhône, and while starting a winery there seemed a bit daunting, his opportunity was sparked by a visit to Washington where he saw the potential to make something that shared the same spirit as Côte Rôtie or Cornas. Thus, the seed was planted for what was to become Gramercy Cellars, named after their ties to NYC. They put everything into the winery and made waves quickly with the help of the talented Brandon Moss, who is, to me, one of the most gifted winemakers in Washington.

While the initial vision focused on Syrah, they couldn’t ignore the success that Cabernet Sauvignon was having throughout the state, which today accounts for more than 50% of plantings. We found this little beauty with some bottle age on it and it’s just entering its perfect drinking window, offering more than just ripe fruit with tobacco, mushroom, and resinous herbs. These wines really shine with food, so cook yourself some nice dairy beef or a loin of venison with huckleberry sauce. What could be more PNW than that?

 

III | Domaine Ciringa Fosilni Breg
2022 | Stajerska, Slovenia | Sauvignon Blanc

This wine hails from northern Slovenia, just on the border of southern Austria’s Styria winegrowing region. It’s an area of the world that we at the shop have been enamored with for quite some time, especially for Sauvignon Blanc. The variety has become a specialty of the foothills of the Alps and offers a unique expression compared to more familiar regions like Marlborough, Sancerre, or California.

Ciringa is a winery created in 2009 and is entirely dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc, started by the Tement family, who have been farming these lands on both sides of the border since the 1950s. The name comes from the “ried,” or site, of Ciringa — a high-elevation hillside that must be worked by hand as it’s planted on a slope too steep for tractors to navigate. The soils are not dissimilar to Chablis and Champagne, which helps bring focus and acidity to the wines.

As a result, the Tements choose to let the skins macerate with the juice for 1–3 days, imparting another layer of complexity with secondary flavors and a little bit of tannin. Then the wines go to large casks crafted from local wood, where they ferment at a glacial pace for the next year. They have been working with the same cooper for many years, and that history affords them the ability to really dial in the oak so that it’s playing a role without you even noticing it.

The texture of this wine is so alluring, and the energy in it is palpable.

 

IV | Casanova di Neri Pietradonice
2019 | Tuscany, Italy | Cabernet Sauvignon

This is what some folks would refer to as a “Super Tuscan,” essentially a wine produced in Sangiovese-based appellations that isn’t Sangiovese. If you’ve ever been to Tuscany, you know that its Mediterranean climate is just perfect for agriculture, so back in the 1970s there were some producers who didn’t want to be bound by the tradition of having to produce only Sangiovese, so they planted other things like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and the like.

The law forbade them from calling it Chianti or Brunello di Montalcino, so they had to declassify it to the lowly Vino di Tavola, or “table wine.” But when the wines started gaining high scores and praise from critics — not to mention eventually more money per bottle than the “prestigious” appellations — a solution had to be hatched. The result was a new category called IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica), which indicates non-traditional wines from the region but of higher quality than Vino di Tavola. This helps retain the tradition of the classic regions while providing some flexibility for producers to experiment with other things.

So here we have a Brunello di Montalcino producer making a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon that is absolutely divine. These wines prove that a place may be suited to more than one thing. It’s opulent, rich, and extracted on the palate in the best of ways — never becoming too dominating or intense to enjoy more than one glass. There is new oak on this wine too, but with talented winemaking and time in bottle (being from the 2019 vintage), it has fully integrated into the wine, providing a framework for the ripe fruit to rest in. This could definitely benefit from more age in the cellar, but there’s no shame in drinking it now.

BUBBLE CLUB

I | Jérémie Huchet La Bretesche
2022 | Muscadet, Loire Valley, France | Melon B

This wine is one of our all-time faves and our regulars love it too. We poured it by the glass last year until it was out of stock, and now it’s back! Muscadet is a region in the western Loire Valley where the Loire River empties into the Atlantic, and it really feels the impacts of the ocean, providing high-strung wines with an inherent briny character.

To build structure in the wines, it became common practice to age them on gross lees (dead yeast and grape solids leftover from fermentation), which resulted in wines that were perfect for quaffing porchside on a hot day or slurping down with their classic pairing of oysters. These days, however, between climate change and better know-how in the vineyards and winery, Muscadet has become a serious wine that has expanded its place at the table to be much more versatile. Sparkling wines are included in this progression, and Huchet makes some of the best examples.

This particular beauty is from the cru of La Bretesche, a plot of land on mica and gneiss that has been planted to vines since the 1300s. It’s fermented the traditional way, with the secondary fermentation conducted in the bottle it’s to be sold in (just like Champagne), and then aged for three years before release. Pretty wild to think about how much time and effort goes into sparkling wine. I like drinking this with hard, sharp cheeses or roasted pork, but really, bubbles go with most things.

 

II | Huré Frères Invitation
NV | Champagne, France | Pinot Noir, Meunier, Chardonnay

This estate is relatively youthful for the region, started just in the 1950s, and is run by two brothers from the second generation. They’re based in the town of Ludes, located in the northern part of Champagne called the Montagne de Reims, just outside the historic and beautiful city of Reims. This is a really convenient part of Champagne to visit if you’re ever in Paris, as Reims has a direct high-speed train that takes less than two hours each way. Reims is full of amazing restaurants, a gorgeous cathedral, and one of my favorite wine bars — The Glue Pot.

This cuvée is their intro to the lineup and focuses on reserve wines to establish a house style, featuring anywhere between 30–40% wines from previous years that are stored in both oak and stainless steel. This helps build complexity and consistency, creating wines that are ready to drink on release but taste like they’ve been in the cellar for a long spell. These are gastronomic wines — the kind of Champagne that can stand up to a steak or a braise — and they defy the notion that bubbles are just for celebrations and toasts.