Wine Down Thursday: Let it Shine!
March 5, from 6 to 7:30pm
Sampler: $20/person

With the weather finally warming, it feels like the perfect moment to turn our attention to Spain and three sensational bottles that bridge the gap between winter comfort and spring brightness. This Thursday's lineup delivers generous, ripe fruit while remaining lifted, refreshing, and precise—each wine shaped by altitude, stony soils, and thoughtful winemaking rather than sheer power.
Our focus is on producers working in mountainous zones, where diurnal swings preserve acidity and detail. These are not heavy, extracted reds, but wines with mineral edges, savory nuance, and unmistakable Spanish warmth that stay nimble in the glass. Think of them as ideal "shoulder season" reds—structured enough for cooler evenings, yet vibrant enough to welcome the longer days ahead. Together, they offer a tour of contemporary Spanish terroir: pure fruit, tension, and clarity without excess weight. Join us in willing the warmth, one glass at a time.

Featured Wines;
2024 Guímaro Tinto
Pedro Rodríguez of Adegas Guímaro is a fifth‑generation grower in Ribeira Sacra, farming vertiginous slate and granite terraces by hand and championing almost-forgotten local grapes rather than chasing trend or score. “Guímaro” means “rebel” in Gallego, and his approach lives up to the name: low‑input, organic farming, native yeasts, whole‑cluster work, and aging in neutral vessels to let Mencía and site speak clearly. The 2024 Guímaro Tinto typically shows bright red and black berries, violet, and a faint herbal snap over a slate‑driven, mineral core, with medium body, vibrant acidity, fine tannins, and a salty, mouthwatering finish that feels both rustic and precise.

2022 Navaherreros Garnacha Tinta
Vinos de Madrid’s rise from rustic table wine to sommelier obsession is largely written in Garnacha. High-elevation granitic slopes, old bush vines, and a continental climate proved ideal for redefining the grape — away from heavy extraction and over-oaking, toward nuance, transparency, and tension. Producers like Bernabeleva drove this shift through a stubborn commitment to organics, low yields, and infusion-style extraction, treating Garnacha more like Pinot than Priorat. Their 2022 Navaherreros Garnacha Tinta shows why the region is now indispensable on serious lists: lifted red fruit, wild herbs, white pepper, and crushed granite, carried on silken tannins and bright acidity. A benchmark for precision, site expression, and modern Spanish Garnacha.

2023 Ona Priorat
Priorat doesn’t forgive shortcuts. Slate soils, brutal summers, and near-vertical llicorella terraces demand total commitment — and Blai Ferré Just gives it. A native son of the region, he fell in love with winemaking as a teenager working under Álvaro Palacios, went on to study viticulture and oenology, and at 22 purchased two small parcels to launch Billo. He’s been quietly overdelivering ever since. Don’t expect scale. Blai caps production at 7,000–8,000 bottles, farming everything himself on unforgiving terrain. The 2023 Ona — a blend of Garnatxa, Syrah, and Carinyena — delivers exactly what this appellation demands: intensity, structure, and hard-won balance. In Priorat, there’s no other way.