Walter's World, Edition No. 20 (March 2026)

Cheers,
the Walter's team

I | La Ghibellina Mainìn
2023 | Gavi, Piemonte, Italy | Cortese

Marina Ghibellina’s family has been in the Gavi region for generations, but she established her own label in 2000 alongside her husband, Alberto. Gavi is located in southeastern Piemonte, close to the border of Liguria and not far from the Ligurian Sea. It’s sandwiched between the Po Valley of Piemonte and the Ligurian Apennines, a coastal range that protects these inland growing regions and provides soil types that imbue an unmistakable fresh minerality to the wines.

The Cortese grape is a neutral variety, not unlike Chardonnay, which can be both a blessing and a curse. The advantage of a neutral variety is that it will really take on the place in which it grew, as there aren’t any major impact compounds inherent to the variety—think the grassiness of Sauvignon Blanc or the florality of Viognier—that will cloud the sense of origin. The flip side to this is that it also takes on any heavy-handed winemaking, such as new oak or lots of lees stirring.

Thankfully, the winegrowers of Gavi saw an opportunity to stand out during the opulent Chardonnay phase of the 1990s and took the opposite approach, focusing on their little plot of chalky soils near the sea. These wines are more similar to Chablis, which is probably why I love them so much! Roast yourself a dry-brined chicken and make a little pan sauce to enjoy with Marina’s stunner of a wine.

II | Prunelle de Navacelle Lantignié
2022 | Beaujolais, France | Gamay

Prunelle de Navacelle grew up in Beaujolais in a winemaking family that has been on the same plot of land since the 1400s! However, her path to creating her own label wasn’t direct, as when she was of age to head off to college, the wine industry in Beaujolais was struggling and her parents encouraged her to explore other options. She settled on hospitality and worked for 10 years abroad in some of Europe’s most exciting cities, like London and Berlin.

But the more time she spent away from the bucolic rolling hills of Beaujolais, the more she missed being close to the land and the creativity that growing and making wine afforded. She decided to move back and start her own winery rather than work with her brother at the family estate—Château du Basty.

Tending just 3 hectares of vines, she has converted them all to biodynamics with the help of her good friend Julien Sunier. One plot is in the cru of Régnié and the other in Lantignié, which is due west and up for consideration for elevation to cru status. In choosing between the two wines for the club, I actually preferred the Lantignié, even though the books say the Régnié should be better. Both come from old plots, anywhere between 80–90 years old. The perfume of this wine is unreal, and I can’t wait to taste her future releases as she has more time to work the land.

 

III | Montenidoli Fiore
2023 | San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy | Vernaccia

Elisabetta Fagiuoli is a force in the Tuscan wine scene who has stood toe to toe with virtually all of the influential male winemakers of the region. Some became friends, others underestimated her, but she always found a way to learn from others despite the outcome.

She arrived in the 1960s to rehabilitate what is now the Montenidoli estate, and her friend Sergio joined her soon after. Sergio was a psychologist and an educator who specialized in helping young people find their way. Think of him as Professor X and Elisabetta as Jean Grey… nerd jokes aside, they have taken this endeavor just as seriously as the winemaking and have used the agricultural practices of the estate as a tool to help these kids. They established a foundation that continues today, and some of the estate’s proceeds go toward funding it. Pretty cool!

As far as the wine goes, this is a super classic expression of Vernaccia, full of green almonds, salted lemons, and fresh herbs. Fermented in stainless steel, it is electric on release but puts on weight as it ages in the bottle. This vintage is just starting to come around, but you could also tuck this away for a couple of years and your patience will be rewarded. I’d slurp this down with trout steamed en papillote with lemon, herbs, and thin slices of potato. Yum yum.

IV | Little Crow Beyond the Rushes
2023 | Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon | Pinot Noir

Jessica Miller thinks of herself more as a winegrower than a winemaker. She describes the winemaking process as “that time of year that I get out of the vineyard and into the winery.” She traveled the world working at famous estates—not in the winery, but mostly in the vineyard—becoming a specialist in pruning vines. Pruning is one of the most important steps of the vegetative cycle, as it determines so much for the following vintage and the health of the vine over its lifespan. It balances vine growth and fruit production, which influences yields, grape quality, and ease of dealing with disease should wet conditions arise.

Jessica believes, as many other progressive winemakers do, that the majority of work to make a quality wine must be done in the vineyard. Once the fruit finds its way into the winery, the winemaker’s responsibility is to ensure that it goes through a clean and stable fermentation and is handled to highlight its best qualities.

When you pop the cork, you can taste and feel the work that went into this wine in the vineyard. It’s dense and powerful without being heavy. Perfumed too, almost like hibiscus agua fresca, with a foundation of roasted beets and red apple skins. Beef or beet tartare would be my go-to dish with this.

Bubble Club

I | J. Vignier Ora Alba Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut
NV | Côte des Blancs, Champagne, France | Chardonnay

We’ve been fans of Nathalie Vignier’s wines since we opened the shop and have poured her Côte de Sézanne by the glass for a spell. Like Prunelle, her family has also been in the business for centuries, and she too went out to explore other professions for a time before returning to the family estate. She earned her degree in business and combined that with agriculture to become an expert in assessing damage to vines due to frost and hail for insurance companies.

When she returned home, she wanted to grow and make the wine, which complemented her brother’s desire to run the business side of things. Their estate is located in the Côte des Blancs, the southernmost major region of Champagne known for its Chardonnay. This Ora Alba cuvée is a blend of sites in three Grand Cru villages—Oiry, Cramant, and Chouilly. Champagne differs from Burgundy in that whole villages are classified as Grand or Premier Cru, not just single vineyard sites. This is in part due to the fact that traditional method bubbles are wines of complicated process, and while fruit quality is very important, there are a myriad of factors that determine quality, so broader classifications can be made.

The initial fermentation is in stainless steel to retain the verve of Chardonnay grown in chalky soils. Then the various plots are blended and put into bottle for the second fermentation, after which the wine rests for 6 years on the lees in cold cellars. Pretty crazy to think how much time and effort it takes to make a single bottle of Champagne, eh? That we have the ability to enjoy such things on a Tuesday if we wanted is pretty awesome and makes life a little easier to deal with in these crazy times.

II | Alta Alella AUS Rosé
2022 | Alella, Cataluyna, Spain | Mataró

Imagine having a picnic on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean, the basket full of jamón ibérico, ensaladilla rusa, and wedges of Manchego, with the spires of the Sagrada Família in the distance. That’s where this wine is grown and what I’d eat with it. Located just north of Barcelona, Alta Alella is a woman-run winery in the Cordillera de Marina Natural Park within the Serra de Mar subregion of Cava in Catalunya. The vineyard itself is a natural amphitheater overlooking the sea, where the Mediterranean breezes help keep things fresh despite the sunny climate.

While Alta Alella makes some stunning vintage Cava, this selection comes from their ancestral method project called Celler de les Aus, or “Cellar of the Birds,” where each wine is named after birds found in the vineyards. It’s a fitting name given their long-standing commitment to thoughtful farming. The family has focused on wines that are great because they are farmed well first, and they’ve been certified organic since purchasing the vineyards in 1991.

Josep Maria and Cristina spent their lives sharing the wine and Cava culture of the region, and their daughters Mireia and Georgina grew up surrounded by vineyards, grapes, harvests, and bottles. Today, Mireia leads the winemaking, with Josep still lending a guiding hand, making this another example of the next generation carrying things forward.

The result is a wine that feels both rooted in tradition and refreshingly modern — bright red raspberry, juicy in a crushable way – perfect for that imaginary Mediterranean picnic… or your next sunny afternoon closer to home.