Try These Wines!
Natural wines recommendations perfect for spring.
Happy March, wine-lovers! Here are my wine recs for the month that will usher in spring. These wines are all perfect for those shoulder season months when the warm weather eludes us with chilly mornings then sneaks up on us unexpectedly with floral spring days!
Domaine Jean Aubron Cuvee Elegance
As the name suggests, this white wine from the Loire Valley in France is elegant. It’s crisp, dry, light, acidic, and refreshing— perfect for one of those warm(ish) early spring days. Tasting notes of apples, pears, citrus, flowers, and sea salt minerality bounce around on the palate. Cuvee Elegance goes great with an aperetivo hour, oysters, or even a light pasta dinner.
Jean Aubron is a fourth-generation winemaker who clearly knows his stuff! HIs intentional, low-intervention winemaking methods make this wine an excellent example of a Muscadet Sevre et Maine. Cuvee Elegance is a steal of a deal: it’s a high value French wine for around fifteen dollars in the U.S.
Little Fred X. by Zsolt Sütó
Don’t be fooled by the adorable half bottle, Little Fred X is a seriously good wine. Lightly effervescent and boasting tasting notes that are raspberry, strawberry, jammy, earthy, leather, and a hint of yeasty funk, Little Fred X is bright and refreshing despite its deep dark red color. Winemaker Zsolt Sütó from Strekov, Slovakia is crafting beautifully honest wines— wines that are the perfect example of low-intervention. Sütó adds nothing to his wines, doesn’t fine or filter them, and allows native yeasts to spontaneously ferment the wines.
Little Fred X is considered a prime example of a daily drinker, a blend of native Slovakian grapes, bright and fresh. It’s also a non-vintage, meaning a blend of multiple harvest years. This wine is simple yet complex, dark yet bright. Share this one with friends over dinner! It’s too interesting not to see their faces light up with intrigue. (Fed X comes in bigger sized bottles as well.)
Théophile Milan "Reynard Rebels"
If you’ve been reading my monthly wine recs for a while, you know I love a chillable red wine. They defy the norm, break boundaries, remind you that life isn’t black and white. A red wine that can served chilled? Bring it on. Plus, the light reds are usually bright, acidic, and low in tannins— perfect for warmer weather. Reynard Rebels is the best example of a chillable red I’ve come across in a while. It’s lively, bright, high in acidity… refreshing!
Notes of cherry juice, raspberries, and apples combine with a floral, mineral note and end on a limeade pop. Reynard Rebels is a blend of Merlot & Carignan from the South of France; winemaker Henri Milan crafts his wines with a respect for nature, allowing spontaneous fermentation, practicing biodynamic farming, and letting nature do her thing. This lovely light red is unfiltered, which I love. Pair it with a charcuterie spread, poultry, or a post-dinner chat on the porch with friends.
If you’re craving something, light, low ABV, and refreshing, a piquette is a great choice. Made from a second fermentation of used grapes, piquettes have around half the alcohol of wine. They are light, bright, refreshing, and often bubbly. Gabernik 23’s Rosé Piquette is a great example: it tastes like watermelon, pomegranate, strawberries, with a floral finish.
Gabernik 23 is a small winery in Štajerska, Slovenia, ran by a second-generation winemaker, Janko Bogatic. He creates wines with low-intervention and lots of attention, aiming to show the world that despite the grape variety, you can make a quality wine. Trendiness is not necessary to make a great wine! This Rosé Piquette is a blend of Pinot Noir, Riesling, Blaufränkisch; it is unfiltered and interesting, offering an excellent low-alcohol taste of the Slovenian terroir. It pairs great with dinner or appetizers: the acidity and fizziness cut through rich food and refresh the palate.
I hope you enjoy these natural wine recs! Let me know if you try any of them—drop me a note below. Cheers!