Give the bottle
a story worth reading.

It’s 1978. You’re Elio Grasso, a young banker with a bright career ahead of you.

Then you get the call. Nonno has passed away.

The family estate will close if you do nothing.

50 years later, Elio Grasso stands as one of the most celebrated and influential winemakers in all of Italy. It could have been so much different.

Each year, we go big on Grasso’s iconic Barolos from Ginestra and Gavarini vineyards. Big-time Barolo. And each year, a special selection goes into “Runcot”, their legendary Riserva.

But in 2023, there was no Runcot bottling. So where did that epic Nebbiolo end up?

We don’t need to spell it out for you.

And all that silky strawberry jam, cinnamon and mint, sensuous mouthfeel and lively finish can be had for… Thirty Bucks?

No. We’re going to have to go back and change that. This is just too much wine for the money.

…I’m told we’re not going to go back and change that. Okay then.

The Gavarini vineyard is Grasso’s crown jewel. A beautiful natural amphitheater that has dazzled humans for millennia. The wines from here are refined, and improve with cellaring.

The wine smells unbearably good: red cherry, dried rose petal, violets, a whisper of tar and black pepper and something almost mint-like underneath.

This is a baby Barolo that is generous, ready-to-enjoy and will still make your guests think you splashed out the special-occasion bottle.

Just open it, pour it, and walk away like an action hero.

Extremely limited. One shipment only.

$29.99

Steve Kistler spent nearly four decades building the greatest California Chardonnay brand in history.

Then he walked away — all the way to the remote Sonoma Coast.

What he created there is the greatest second act in California wine.

At Occidental, the first real challenge to Burgundy’s Grand Cru quality was mounted.

Kistler’s relentless improvements combined with the fog-shrouded coastal headlands resulted in a wine that redefined what was possible.

The waitlist filled up. Years deep.

And when you taste the wine — at a three-star restaurant or at the house of a collector friend - you kinda wish you had got on that list before the word got out.

Well, we wind back that clock with today’s email.

Arguably the best Pinot that Sonoma has to offer. Started with source material from Vosne-Romanée. Farmed together with his daughters.

And best of all? The taste and smell of this wine is like a postcard from the Coast — wild strawberries, salt air, laurel and perfect minerality with some exotic accents of blood orange and light-roast espresso.

It’s a BANGER. A masterpiece, if you will.

You can get on the list and wait your turn…

At Sonoma’s Best the allocation is open right now.

$74.99 and worth every dang penny.

Some people have a sixth sense. David Hirsch might have had seven or eight. This working-class kid from the Bronx zeroed in on America’s greatest Pinot land almost fifty years ago.

Everyone else is playing catch-up.

This is a special wine, so come along with us. The year is 1994.

Williams Selyem, Littorai, Kistler and Failla - all at the same tasting group, years before the fame — tasted Hirsch Vineyard Pinot. All four immediately signed up.

The names that have lined up at Hirsch’s doorstep with a hope and a prayer are the most represented California wines on Michelin lists around the world.

This is bucket-list Sonoma wine. Right next to the destiny-altering fault line for which it’s named, Hirsch’s San Andreas has the signature of a land in frequent upheaval.

As complex, if not more, than the vineyards of Vosne-Romanée. If you want a wine that will impress every time for as many years as you decide to keep it — San Andreas.

This one is known as Hirsch Hirsch - the center cut, the peak representation amongst a collection of legendary interpretations.

We’re offering 2024 with urgency — a tiny vintage that leaps out of the glass with downright holographic levels of crystalline fruit aromas and floral perfume.

The fruit, the finish, the FEEL of this wine is all so damn immaculate. Coastal strawberries, orange zest, bing cherries, graphite, clove and a hint of light roast espresso.

It would make a mixologist weep at the sheer beauty of the composition.

If this were Burgundy, it would be $500 a bottle. Not joking.

There are white wines we enjoy.

And then there are white wines that grab you by the collar and say, YOU WILL DRINK ME!

The 2025 Prà Otto Soave is the second kind.

You pick it up meaning to have one glass. It’s gorgeous. Pure, clean as the mountain air. Like biting into a perfectly ripe apple, with a hint of almond and lemon zest. All of a sudden, the glass is empty.

The bottle stares at you, daring you. You thought this was a simple Soave. Think again.

Can you marshal the self-discipline necessary to let that glass remain empty?

With its promise of mouthwatering freshness, golden rays of sunshine-dappled fruit, the hills are alive with the sound of music–type vibes?

Of course you can’t. There’s not a person alive who could resist.

That’s why we absolutely had to tell you about this wine. We are compelling every person to try this organic beauty. Graziano Prà is the quality king of Soave and one of the world’s greatest winemakers.

This is sommelier catnip. It never gets tiring. You and every person you share it with will be celebrating “OTTO!”

Oh yeah, who’s Otto? Why, it’s Graziano’s dog of course.

“Always keep some available” - Graziano Prà

The man knows what he’s talking about.

$31.99