WINE OF THE MONTH
Every month we give a little spotlight time to a hidden treasure, a wine we think you should meet (and hopefully fall in love with). To encourage the introduction, we offer the wine at 25% OFF the bottle price for the given month.
This month we have two:
Clos Figueras 2022 Serras del Priorat • Priorat, Spain • Reg $43.99 | 25% OFF = $32.99
Blend: 51% Garnacha, 31% Cariñena (Carignan), 12% Syrah, 6% Cab. Aged 7 months in second year oak barrels. Nose of red fruit, garrigue, fennel, earth (from the slate in the soil). Red fruit (raspberry, strawberry, red plums) on the front palate and black fruit (blackberry) and black pepper at the end. Crushed slate on the finish. Fuller-bodied. Pair with a richer style paella with chicken and chorizo, thick bone-in pork chops with mashed potatoes, or Escalivada (a roasted vegetable dish from Catalunya).
Bodegas Raíces Ibéricas 2024 Fabla #506 • Calatayud, Spain • Reg $23.99 | 25% OFF = $17.99
Garnacha 80% x Syrah 20% from Calatayud (pictured above) – rugged, mountainous, hot as a pot in summer, long cold winters, very windy and not much rain. The stony, limestone soils are low in organic matter (that's what the Spaniards always say), meaning the only plants that happily grow are grapevines, which are dry farmed!
Red berries, plums, earth on the nose. Flavors of plums, blackberries & spice. Medium-bodied. Acidity is great. Perfect sipper if you like this style.
JENS’ TOP PICKS
Every month Portalis owner Jens Strecker picks 8-12 wines that he thinks are outstanding … for any reason he chooses. Here are his October Picks — made with fall weather and fall dinners in mind.
La Bastide Saint Dominique 2024 Cairanne • Southern Rhône, France • Reg $26.99 | Mixed Case $21.59
Blend = Grenache, Mourvédre, Syrah, Carignan (25% each) from the Cru Cairanne.
Nose is so intriguing: garigue, herbs, spices and dark raspberries, red & purple plums. Flavors have lots of plums, raspberries, licorice, fennel, pepper. Medium- to fuller-bodied. Jens: Phenomenal — this wine is so good!! The finish is just going…. Drink now. Don’t wait.
Seguin-Manuel 2022 Bourgogne Blanc • Burgundy, France • Reg $36.99 | Mixed Case $29.59
100% Chardonnay (with 1-year in French oak) from a 190-year old estate outside of Beaune with 10 generations of family ownership. Limestone soils show up on the nose — chalk, limestone, pears, apple. Fantastically aromatic wine! Super well-balanced. Super complex. Flavors = pears, apples, citrus, lime. Acidity is good but in the background. Finish has limestone soil with a tiny note of butterscotch on the finish.
Domaine Chantepierre 2024 Tavel Rosé • Southern Rhône, France • Reg $24.99 | Mixed Case $19.99
Classic, deep, orange-red blend of Grenache-Cinsault-Grenache Blanc-Clairette-Syrah from Tavel. Fuller-bodied and dry with deep berry aromas. Pomegranate, blood orange & herbal notes on the palate. Perfect fall rosé — Made for Thanksgiving dinner!
Photo: owners Anne-Luce Coulomb-Paly with her brother Christian Paly
Château Favray 2024 Pouilly-Fumé • Loire Valley, France • Reg $31.99 | Mixed Case $25.59
100% Sauvignon Blanc from Pouilly-Fumé, neighbor to Sancerre. Floral, stone fruit, minerals on the nose. Luscious, round, grapefruit, citrus, stone fruits. Super balanced. Concentrated. Then it curves around for a nice, dry, minerally finish. Beautiful wine.
Rezabal 2025 Txakoli Rosé • Basque Country, Spain • Reg $21.99 | Mixed Case $17.59
This rosé is from Pais Vasco = Basque Country, northern coast of Spain near the border to France. 100% native grape Hondarrabi Beltza. Bright pink in color but dry! Notes of fresh, wild strawberries. Silky in texture. Perfect for grilled foods across the board. Great sipper, too!
Marisco Vineyards 2023 Leefield Station Sauvignon Blanc • Marlborough, New Zealand • Reg $19.99 | Mixed Case $15.99
Leefield Station is a property in the Waihopai Valley that Marisco purchased in 2012. "The nose of our single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is fresh and vibrant, defined by zesty citrus notes, accented by subtle herbal and floral nuances. These aromatic themes continue onto the palate with refreshing and concentrated flavours of grapefruit, box hedge and smoky lime. Natural fruit sweetness balances perfectly the lingering, dry, vaguely saline finish." –winery notes.
Wautoma Springs 2022 El Prat Red Blend • Columbia Valley, Washington • Reg $23.99 | Mixed Case $19.19
Winery notes: Blend: 66% Malbec, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon (pictured) from Wautoma Springs Vineyard / Notes: blueberry compote, chocolate chips, sage. Finish: balanced acidity. Oak: neutral for 6 months. / Name: “ElPrat” means the prairie in Catalan. Our love of Spain (Catalonia in particular) and a fitting work for our part of the world resulted in a fun name for the OG red blend. Winery says to enjoy it with a killer, layered, meaty sandwich!
Weingut Bastgen 2021 Blauschiefer Riesling • Mosel, Germany • Reg $26.99 | Mixed Case $21.59
100% Riesling. Aromas of pineapple and lime with some floral notes. Beautiful acidity and minerality on the palate. Flavors of Meyer lemon, pineapple and lime. Great weight all the way to the crisp, minerally finish. Great example from the Mosel. And a good price, too, for this style wine. Could cost much more.
Catena 2023 White Clay Semillón-Chenin • Mendoza, Argentina • Reg $27.99 | Mixed Case $22.39
Blend of 60% Semillón & 40% Chenin Blanc from the appellation of Luján de Cuyo. Elevation 3117 feet with clay rich soils. Aged 7-8 months on the lees in neutral oak. Deeply aromatic, like you're walking through a Meyer lemon grove, note of peach. Flavors add in citrus and a clay-minerality. Medium-bodied. Good acidity. But soft.