Walter's World, Edition No. 21 (April 2026)
I | Tement Kalk & Kreide
2024 | Südsteiermark, Austria | Sauvignon Blanc
Austria is one of my favorite winemaking countries because of its pursuit of quality, no matter the intent of the wine. Even the lowest tiers overdeliver, and I wouldn't hesitate to drink the liter bottles that are stacked in grocery stores and sell for less than 3 lattes.
This is in large part due to a scandal from the ’80s where a small cache of producers were doctoring their wines to increase their mouthfeel and sweetness, which was the en vogue style at the time. To the Austrian government’s credit, they recalled and tested every single bottle in the domestic and international markets and followed that by writing some of the strictest wine laws of the time, resulting in an insanely high average quality level.
While the majority of the country has focused on the autochthonous Grüner Veltliner, the southern region of Styria has adopted the Bordelaise variety Sauvignon Blanc. Tucked into the foothills of the Alps, this gorgeous landscape is making some of the most exciting iterations of the variety anywhere in the world. Bordeaux’s maritime climate makes a high-toned style rooted in green apples, freshly cut grass, and usually enriched with some new oak. Here in Styria, the fruit is more generous, verging on tart tropical, but maintains the same freshness of acidity and always has a clear impression of salty minerality. Tement is located right on the border with Slovenia and farms in both countries. In fact, if you’ve been a member for a minute, you’ll have tasted their Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc a few months back under the Ciringa label.
II | Domaine Benastra La Petite Soeur
2021 | Roussillon, France | Lledoner Pelut, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Carignan
This wine continues our efforts of championing Grenache and all of its biotypes. Lledoner Pelut is a mutation of the variety that translates to “the hairy Grenache” because of the undersides of the leaves being covered in trichomes, which help the variety maintain moisture in drier climates. It tends to hold on to its acid for longer and gets phenolically (flavor) ripe at lower sugar levels than Grenache Noir too.
What all this nerd-speak translates to is that it’s easier to make a well-balanced example of the variety with this biotype. Grenache Noir takes an incredible amount of talent, both in the vineyard and winery, to reach its full potential, and Lledoner Pelut just makes that goal a little easier to achieve.
This wine is grown in the region of Côtes Catalanes in southeast France, just outside Perpignan on the Mediterranean, a short drive from the Spanish border. The winemaker has worked all over the world, but his roots are in the Loire Valley working with Cabernet Franc and the like. What drew him to this corner of France was the old vineyards growing at high elevations, producing unique expressions of Rhône and Spanish varieties. He ferments this cuvée whole cluster to build on the perfume of Lledoner and Cinsault, further capturing aromatics by aging the wine only in concrete and stainless steel to minimize oxygen exposure. Make sure to decant this one! It’s a beauty.
III | Limited Addition
2024 | Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Oregon | Aligoté
We’re huge fans of Bree and Chad Stock. They make a few different wines that we have in the shop at all times. The Concinnitas label, a collaboration project with some West Seattle folks, is one such wine that has been in the club before, and now we are featuring their passion project, Limited Addition.
The wines for this project tend to focus on experimental varieties not known in the Willamette Valley. Things like Meunier, Mencía, Trousseau, and in this case Aligoté, a variety from Burgundy that historically was so freaking acidic that it would rip the enamel off your teeth, requiring it to be mixed with Chambord to make an aperitif called a “Kir.” These days, both in Burgundy and abroad, farming has figured out how to tame this beast to drink more like an electrically charged version of Chardonnay.
Here’s another little lesson in how grapes mutate. Here we have the Doré biotype of Aligoté, which turns a golden yellow as it ripens and possesses a richer texture full of stone fruits, as opposed to the more common Vert (green) version, which is more apple- and lemon-driven. My go-to for these kinds of wines is a dry-brined roast chicken, some grilled veg, followed by a doodle cuddle and a good book.
IV | Frédéric Lornet Cuvée des Chamoz
2023 | Côtes du Jura, France | Ploussard
This wine is such a trip. You open it and it looks super pale in the glass, which makes you think that it’s going to be an easy-drinking, porch-pounder style. Then you taste it and it starts expanding on the palate seemingly without bounds, turning into this silken-textured flavor bomb that makes you go “huh… that’s weird", in the best of ways, of course.
Frédéric is the third generation of the Lornet family making wine in a 13th-century Cistercian abbey located in the heart of the Jura. This little corner of France is more famous for its cheese, the unequivocal Comté, than its wines... unless you swim with the super nerds who’ve been hip to unique regional expressions like Vin Jaune, which spends 6.5 years in barrel under a veil of flor. More on that some other time.
Ploussard, or as it is sometimes spelled, Poulsard, is native to the Jura and grows alongside Trousseau and Pinot Noir when it comes to reds. While Trousseau has traveled around the world, Ploussard has remained synonymous with the Jura, and varietal examples are hard to find, especially at everyday drinking price points. If this bottling tickles your fancy and you want to experience another, fancier version, check out the Cellier Saint Benoit that we have on the shelf.
BUBBLE CLUB
I | Clandestin Boréal
2022 | Côte des Bars, Champagne | 100% Pinot Noir
This isn’t your typical Champagne story, but rather a feat of pure love and dedication. Most labels are run by folks whose families have been in the region for decades, if not centuries, or are owned by huge companies like LVMH and the like. Benoit Doussot is originally from Burgundy and went to school for enology in Beaune, after which he landed a job with Jean-Philippe Fichet in Meursault, whose wines are absolutely excellent. Fichet not only employed Benoit but became his mentor, and it’s easy to see the influence in his wines even though the styles are different.
Benoit started his Champagne house in 2015 while working with Fichet by seeking out growers that were farming how he would and were on sites that interested him geologically. He wanted to explore the potential of the southern subregion of Champagne specifically, known as the Aube or Côte des Bars. He chose the name Clandestin as he was sourcing from lesser-known sites that he felt were diamonds in the rough.
Benoit’s next mentorship began a year after starting his own house, as he worked alongside the well-known grower/producer Vouette & Sorbée to learn the nuances of crafting sparkling styles. He took these lessons to his own label and chose to bottle different cuvées based not only on soil type but also on exposure. This Boréal bottling comes from north-facing sites and is made entirely from Pinot Noir grown on clay-laden limestone.
What makes this wine so interesting is that normally in Champagne you’d want to gather as much ripeness as possible due to its northerly latitude and marginal climate by focusing on south-facing sites in the Northern Hemisphere. What Benoit is doing here is not normal, but it works, and it shows how much effort goes into the farming of his wines. He’s not even relying on dosage to add texture or richness, as this is a Brut Nature. Wild!
II | La Maison Tea Royal [non-alcoholic]
NV | Südsteiermark, Austria | Ceylon tea
Jess and I have been trying to build a small but interesting non-alcoholic collection at the shop, but boy, it’s been challenging. Most of the options are slathered in sugar or taste manipulated. This one blew us away, and everyone we’ve poured it for has loved it. It’s made in southern Austria, right on the border of Slovenia, and its base is Ceylon tea infused with hibiscus, lavender, and lime blossom. It is sweetened, but only gently, with honey, which gives it a great texture, and the sweet element is balanced out with the tannins from grape pomace. I have no shame in sharing that I drank a whole bottle by myself the other evening!