Three reds that take turns, plus a bottle of bubbles.
First up is the 2020 Petit Verdot. It’s a grape that usually hides at a few percent inside somebody’s Cabernet. I wanted to bottle one on its own for three years, and then I heard about some grapes worth the wait. Now you can taste what it’s been doing all along.
The 2020 Quartet comes next. It’s a blend, and that same Petit Verdot goes back to work in it with the other grapes. I mixed live sound for twenty-some years before I made wine. A good blend works like a good band, where every part has a job.
Then open the 2022 Dolcetto. Years ago in Piedmont, an old man named Renato poured me one from a clay jug and told me to quit sniffing it and drink. It took me four years and thirty-nine tries to find a Washington Dolcetto that tasted like that. It’s the one you open while you’re cooking and forget to put down.
Your fourth bottle is the White Stag. It’s Riesling with bubbles, and it’s the glass I’d pour after a big dinner when somebody wants one more.
Drink the reds in that order and red wine starts to make a lot more sense.
What’s in the box
2020 Petit Verdot
2020 Quartet
2022 Dolcetto
Brut
$145 for all four bottles. $20 flat-rate shipping.