If you haven't explored the New Grenache lately, you're in for a treat, and likely a surprise––this incredible grape, once known chiefly as a blending ingredient and a symbol of the warm-climate fruit bombs of the 2000s, has entered its freshness era. It turns out that Grenache has a few unique tricks up its sleeve: miraculous old vines around the world, a climate-change-resistant growing season, the ability to show complex flavors even when picked early enough to retain acidity, and shockingly lovely structure, once you take it out of generic blends and give it a solo act in the right environment. We will focus on single-varietal Grenache bottlings from around the wine world and discover why top growers are falling in love with the versatility, beautiful flavors, and aging potential of this grape.
This class will begin at 6:00pm on Tuesday, February 4 and run for approximately 90 minutes. Wines tasted in class will be available for purchase with a discount available to attendees only. Seating is limited.
Julia has been working in the wine industry since 2008, when she wandered into a small Niagara Escarpment winery for a tasting and left with a job. Her roles since then have included wine (and beer) writer and editor, vineyard worker in Southern Wisconsin, retail buyer in Chicago, harvest intern in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and communications/education manager for Willamette Valley Wine. She is now Flatiron's events manager and buyer for New World wines.
A passionate educator, Julia has been teaching classes, seminars, private events and tutoring sessions on wine for over a decade. She is a certified WSET instructor and holds a WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits as well as an Italian Wine Professional certification. Julia believes in the power of wine to facilitate important conversations about sustainability, agriculture, labor, memory and psychology, and she has never fallen out of love with wine's ability to combine topics from geography and microbiology to language, politics and history in unexpected ways.
Camus-Bruchon's 2022 Savigny-lès-Beaune "Aux Grands Liards Vieilles Vignes," shows how beautifully old vines translate classic terroir and Guillaume Camus did an exemplary job letting his vines sing in 2022. Despite the heat and stress of the vintage, he has managed to capture wines with incredible precision and balance with generous, juicy ripe fruit balanced with unstoppable freshness and lift.
To celebrate the end of 2024, we are offering an even more delicious version of one of 2023's most popular sparkling wines. We're talking about Bruno Dangin's blanc de noir called "Cuvée Blanche" — a Crémant de Bourgogne you could easily mistake for a great Grower Champagne.
Located in the small village of Boca, Le Piane is one of our favorite Alto Piemonte producers. Swiss-born Christoph Kunzli purchased the cellar and a tiny clutch of vines from octogenarian vigneron Antonio Cerri soon after arriving in the region in the late 1980s. If — like us — you find a hypothetical cross between the traditional wines of Barolo and the Savoie quite enticing, then these wines are must-trys.