There’s a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk. — MFK Fisher

Introducing The MFK Fisher, a $165 Wine-Aid package that includes a diverse mix of five bottles of red and and one white wine made with strict organic and biodynamic cultivation techniques, spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeasts, and very little to no sulfites used in the process. The price includes tax and delivery, as well as a 10% discount. We will also honor the 10% discount on any bottles you might wish to add to the Wine-Aid package. 

Born in Albion, Michigan, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a pioneer of food writing. It often served as a framing device in her works, which combined a signature mix of culinary, historical and sociological trivia leavened with remembrances, sometimes surprising, always perceptive, of her life and loves. You’ll find the wines in this package are as soulful and natural as MFK Fisher’s prose. 

Included in The MFK Fisher Wine-Aid box is one bottle of each:

1) Château du Hureau “Fours à Chaux” (Saumur-Champigny 2014) RED Regular Price: $35

Philippe Vatan and his daughter Agathe use organic and biodynamic farming techniques and low yields to coax richness and terroir out of their vineyards. The name “Fours à Chaux” translates to “lime oven” as the soil of the vineyard warms up easily and manages to produce the ripest of fruit in every vintage. The age of the vines varies between 20 and 50 years. 100% Cabernet Franc, the wine ages for anywhere between 11 to 18 months in foudre.

2) Maldivinas “La Movida Granito” (Viño de la Tierra de Castilla y León 2013) RED Regular Price: $33

Old-vine Spanish mountain Garnacha,  “La Movida Granito” is a tribute to the decomposing granite soil from an organically cultivated, 4.5 acre vineyard of 90 year old vines at roughly 2,600 feet elevation. The wine is fermented by native yeasts in one concrete tank, with a percentage of whole clusters to highlight the characteristics of the fruit, and then aged in neutral oak barrels before bottling. Aromatically complex with layers of floral, berry, and spice.

3) Domaine Ostertag “Les Jardins” Pinot Noir (Alsace 2016) RED Regular Price: $32

100% Pinot Noir collected from three parcels located in Epfig. The vines are planted in two soil types: sandstone as well as clay and sandstone. André Ostertag is one of a handful of Alsatian growers realizing the potential for Pinot Noir in the region and this is a wine with a vibe all its own. Dry and sunny summers give the wine a fruit density while Alsace’s cooler, continental climate is revealed by a juicy acidity. Bright cherry fruit and herbal, woodsy earth tones shine through a silky coat. It is simultaneously unique and varietally correct. 

4) Domaine de la Méchinière “Cot” (Touraine 2017) RED Regular Price: $24

Valérie Forgues purchased Domaine de la Méchinière in the late 90’s. All 39 acres are cultivated organically and she maintains the purity and freshness of her wines through strict hygienic practices and temperature control. The grape variety Côt is also known as Malbec, a staple variety in Touraine. Valérie’s vines average 50 years old and grow on clay-limestone soils in the heart of the Cher valley. Fleshy and bright, her Côt is filled with juicy blackberry and cherry fruit. 

5) Almaroja “Cielos y Besos” (Arribes 2016) RED Regular Price: $20

Winemaker and Englishwoman Charlotte Allen holds 15 acres in western Spain on the border with Portugal. “Cielos y Besos” is mostly organically-farmed old vine Juan García, a variety native to the Arribes del Duero and the most widely planted red grape in the area. The wines of this variety are characterized by wild berry fruit, fine tannins and good acidity. The remainder is an eclectic mix of tempranillo, rufete, bastardillo chico, bastardillo serrano and garnacha (to name but a few) with a few kilos of white grapes thrown in for good measure.

6) Can Sumoi “Xarel-lo” (Penedès 2018) WHITE Regular Price: $27

Can Sumoi is a new project from Pepe Raventós and Francesc Escala to create vibrant wines from the mountains of the Baix Penedès in the Catalunya region of northeastern Spain. This is a wine of elegance, crunchy apples, herbs, and minerals greet your nose prior to a sip of rich fruit built on a solid structural foundation. Produced from 100% Xarel·lo, a grape indigenous to Penedès that most sparkling wine drinkers will recognize as the principal variety that makes up Cava. After fermentation the wine sees a twice-weekly batonnage for three months before bottling without additives or filtering.

Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary. — Ernest Hemingway

Introducing The Hemingway, a $150 Wine-Aid package that includes a diverse mix of six bottles of red wine from some of Europe’s most significant producers, all ready to drink. The price includes tax and delivery, as well as a 10% discount. We will also honor the 10% discount on any bottles you might wish to add to the Wine-Aid package. 

Life was “A Movable Feast” for Ernest Hemingway, and if you know anything about him, you know that he drank. A lot. Or at least he wrote about drinking a lot. He used drinking as a tool in his work to express mood and explore the cultures of the many places he traveled and resided. Certainly, a good wine that speaks of place is central to that place’s culture. 

You’ll find the wines in this package could have easily made it into the pages of an Ernest Hemingway story, were he around today to drink them. While you sip you might even imagine his terse writing style expounding on the hilltop villages of Umbria, the slopes of the Côte-d’Or, or the brushy scrubland and marine aqua blue Mediterranean Sea of northern Corsica. 

Included in The Hemingway Wine-Aid box is one bottle of each:

1) Domaine Léon Barral (Faugères, 2014) Regular Price $32

Didier farms about 75 acres of vines using biodynamic practices. All wines are hand-harvested, hand-sorted, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and have no sulfur added. This Faugères bottling is a blend of 50% Carignan, 30% Grenache, and 20% Cinsault from vines aged 40 to 70 years old. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 2 years in cement and stainless steel cuves. The aromatics are joyous with black cherries, cocoa, herbs and flowers. A sip is filled with fruit yet nimble on the palate, elegant even, with a finish of sun-baked stone.

2) Domaine Jean-Claude Regnaudot “Clos des Loyères” (Maranges, Premier Cru, 2014) Regular Price $29

Didier Regnaudot’s very old Pinot Noir vines grow out of the steep hillsides on the southernmost edge of the Côte de Beaune. “Clos des Loyères” comes from a 0.6 acre Premier Cru vineyard parcel planted with vines over 40 years old. The soil consists of Jurassic substrate, mainly black/grey marl. Grapes are hand harvested and sorted in the vineyard. The wine is aged in oak barrels (40% new oak, 60% one or two years old) for one year before being blended into stainless steel tanks and aged for another 3 months. Dark and firm, aromas of cherries, cocoa, and cinnamon precede a mouthful of ripe fruit followed by a long and wiry finish. 

3) Domaine Giacometti “Cuvée Sarah” (Patrimonio Rouge 2016) Regular Price $29

Winemaking is possibly at its most extreme in the dry, scrub-covered landscape of Corsica’s Désert des Agriates. It is there, in the appellation of Patrimonio, that the isolated estate of Domaine Giacometti coaxes wonderfully balanced wines from this rugged swath of land on the northern end of the island. Named after winemaker Christians Giacometti’s daughter Sarah who now helps run the winery the wine is comprised of 100% Niellucciu (genetically identical to Sangioveses) harvested from 45 year old vines and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless tank. The wine is aged for 12 months on fine lees in 500 liter barrels from two to seven years old. Aromatically complex with ripe fruits, sweet spices, and undergrowth, a sip is full-bodied, elegant, and supported by ripe, pleasant tannins.

4) Thierry Germain Cuvée “Thierry Germain” (Saumur Champigny 2016) Regular Price $24

Raised in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, at the family winery of Château Yon-Figeac, Thierry Germain set out on his own at the tender age of 23 to make his name in the more challenging climate of northern France. Although receiving accolades nearly from the start, his winemaking style has gone through several stages over the years, ultimately eschewing all new oak and blowsy fruit for precision and sense of place, and eventually becoming known as one of the top producers in the entire Loire valley. 100% Cabernet Franc from the small enclave of Saumur Champigny on the left bank of the loire. Sappy blackberries and rain, this is a wine made for happy funtime patio drinking. Try it with a grilled burger.

5) Scacciadiavoli Rosso (Umbria IGT 2014) Regular Price $22

The Scacciadiavoli estate is a true family operation. The property spans about 320 acres. 90 of those are dedicated to vines. The soils are sandy schist and marly clay soil of medium depth, highly suited for quality viticulture. Their Umbria Rosso is principally Sangiovese with a small percentage of Merlot. Aromas of ripe fruit lead into a drink that is delicate and fresh. It is matured for several months in steel tanks to preserve its fruity aromas. This is a pizza wine. A movie night wine. A quarantine eating too much cheese wine.

6) Bertrand-Bergé “Origines” (Fitou 2014) Regular Price $21

Fitou Montagneux is a patch of mountainous schist fifteen miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea in southern France. Jérôme and Sabine Bertrand have been steadily improving the reputation of this appellation (one of France’s first) through the excellence of their own wines. The Bertrand’s offer the affordable cuvée “Origines” as a starting point to enjoying the terroir of Fitou. A blend of 60% Carignan and 40% Grenache aged for 18 months in concrete, “Origines” delivers juicy ripe black fruits accented by clean earth.