A Second Chance at our fastest sellout of the year

'SENSATION'-AL COTES-DU-RHONE VILLAGES UNDER $15

Hi Friends,

This offer was my worst judgement of the year so far. What do I mean? Well, when I offered you this wine back in January, the 300 bottles I had ordered sold out in just under an hour, and I said sorry to more people than I would have cared to. 

Thankfully, Audrey Latard was happy to honor my request for another round of this same wine, and I now expect it in our warehouse later this month, and available for pickup just before Labor Day. If you missed it last time, here's a second chance. And if you bought some before, loved it, and want a re-load, go ahead and get greedy!

Here's the story:

In the center of the charming hilltop village of Faucon, a rural outpost in the Baronnies Provencales, one can find the wood-fired bakery called the Boulangerie des Tilleuls (pictured in the header). It is necessary to park at the bottom of the village and use the pedestrian-only walkway to arrive at the door. As you ascend the ancient stone stairs, the smell of fresh bread begins to envelope you, but quickly you realize there is more.

Boulangerie des Tilleuls makes wonderful bread, of course. But the hidden secret here is that every midday there is a plat du jour available too. One only needs to beat the crowd, take a seat, choose a beverage, and wait for the food to arrive. I've had simple and wonderful things like a quiche aux poireaux or a pissaladière (a sort of Provencale pizza), but also more robust fare like a pot-au-feu, or tartiflette, depending on the time of year. Any way you shake it down, it is one of the best lunches around, super fast and courteous, and bien sur, oh-so darned delicious.

It was at this bakery, over one of those lunches, that I first tasted a wine from the cellar of Audrey Latard, a vigneronne in the village of Vinsobres, just 15 minutes away. Her Côtes-du-Rhône Villages perfectly washed down a coq au vin on a cold February day, and following that lunch I got on the phone, told her where I was, and asked her for a spur of the moment appointment. 

She agreed, I got lost finding her, but ultimately we hit it off. That was almost six years ago.

Audrey is young, talented, and ambitious. She works alone, a female winemaker, business owner, and vineyardist (and as of last year, a new mom). There's nothing fancy at Domaine du Tave--a 1000sf winery, no barrels, all fiberglass and steel tanks, and a tasting bar the size of a small bookshelf. All her remarkable energy is dedicated to her 4 hectares of vines.

She began her project in 2008 with a loan, and a gutload of determination. The southern Rhône is a dominant landscape of viticulture. There are vines everywhere. There are wineries everywhere. There is a full-time, power-hungry industry that covers nearly 100,000 acres and creates one of France's immense "wine lakes". One in three people living in the Drôme-Provencale work somehow connected to the wine industry.

So if you're a young winemaker like Audrey...

• How on earth do you figure out a way to stand out with your own very minuscule operation?
• How do you get past simplistic commentary like, "Oooh, you have such a cute little place?"
• How do you turn a 25,000 bottle production into a living?

Muscle, honesty, and dedication to a rural life, I think. That's how.

There's no way to sugarcoat it. Audrey Latard could be lost at sea, the powerful waves of richer, trendier competing wineries crashing over her at every moment. Yet she carries on. She makes the wines she likes to drink. She farms her vines to low yields. She works hard and she connects with customers one at a time, just like she did at the Boulangerie des Tilleuls, on a cold winter day a long time ago.

Domaine du Tave Côtes-du-Rhône Villages ' Cuvée Sensation' 2017, $21

on pre-arrival, Just $16/bottle

5% off six-packs, and 10% off solid cases

Audrey makes 3 red wines, but I like this one the best. Her old-vine Mourvedre vines make up about 30% of the blend, and form the backbone of the wine. The rest is mostly Grenache with a 10% or so splash of Syrah that acts as a crack of the pepper mill into the final blend.

Some of you will recognize the label and hit 'GO' right away. Previous vintages of this wine--2011, 2014, and 2015--were great successes. I think this '17 is one of kind though. It was a vintage that had it all. Look for a wine with a nice purple color, red and black fruit salad aromatics, and a nice, rich, warming mouthfeel. Drinkable now too, with a production in tank, and no oak to cover up the saturated and concentrated fruit.

We are Audrey's ONLY US IMPORTER and we got first crack at this wine. Order at will. There's no harm in having a case of really good everyday (and at that price, why not every day?) Rhône red around the house. You could open and serve this with anything.

To order, please simply reply to this email with your request--no limit. Or, click here or the link above to read more on Audrey and place an order on-line. As mentioned above, I expect the wine to be ready for pickup prior to Labor Day, and shipping later on in September. 

Ready, Set, GO!

Cheers,

Dan