Wine Down Thursday: Three Shades of the Season
September 17 from 6 to 7:30pm
Sampler: $20/person

As the first crisp breeze rustles the leaves and golden light stretches long across the afternoon, we're raising a glass to the season's most seductive shift, from sun-filled patios to candlelit corners, from long, lazy afternoons to something a little more soulful. This Thursday, we're pouring three wines that capture autumn not just in flavor, but in feeling.

First, a California white blend that refuses to play by the rules, unexpected, layered, and utterly its own creature. Next, a savory rosé from the slate-laced slopes of the Mosel, proving pink wine can have real backbone. And finally, a beautifully aged Beaujolais from Chiroubles, silky and contemplative, like autumn itself in a glass.

Three wines, one unforgettable descent into fall.

Featured Wines:
2023 Haarmeyer Victor Weisser Gemischter Satz
This is a singular, terroir-driven field blend from Lodi's Mokelumne Glen Vineyard, co-fermented from 52 German and Austrian varieties—both white and red. Pale gold with a faint rose hue, it opens with honeyed florals, stonefruit, dried citrus, and subtle nutty nuance. On the palate, it's bone-dry and focused, beginning silky and mildly viscous before turning meaty and toothsome, and finishing with a whisper of bitter lemon peel akin to an Italian aperitivo. Native-yeast fermented, basket-pressed, and raised five months in neutral oak, it expresses place over variety—an authentic American take on Vienna's Gemischter Satz tradition.

2025 Stein Rosé Trocken
The 2025 Stein Rosé Trocken is a contrarian Mosel gem from rebel winemaker Ulli Stein, blending Spätburgunder with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from steep slate terraces. Pale pink and shimmering, it offers icy watermelon, wild strawberry, lemon zest, and stony minerality, with a whisper of floral lift. Bone-dry and laser-focused, its rigorous Mosel acidity keeps the palate electric, while direct pressing and partial saignée yield a lean, linear architecture. Unfined and raised in stainless steel, it’s weightless yet intense, a refreshing, contemplative rosé that defies regional convention and shines as a perennial staff favorite.

2020 Pauline Passot Chiroubles Grille Midi
The 2020 Pauline Passot Chiroubles Grille-Midi is a single-vineyard Gamay from one of Beaujolais’ most storied crus, straddling Fleurie and Chiroubles on south-facing granite slopes. Aged in neutral demi-muids with minimal intervention, it shows evolved aromatics of kirsch, dried rose, violets, crushed stone, and a whisper of game and woodsmoke. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and silk-textured, with bright red-cherry and pomegranate fruit, fine-grained tannins, and a saline, mineral-driven finish. Now entering its secondary phase, the 2020 displays the grace and complexity that well-made Chiroubles gains with time: elegant, perfumed, and utterly drinkable.