Flatiron Wines & Spirits SF

In the historic town of Nizza Monferrato, Antica Casa Vinicola Scarpa has long stood as a bastion of unyielding tradition. While many producers in the region spent the 1990s and 2000s chasing darker colors and softer tannins through the use of new French barriques and other techniques, Scarpa refused to change. Walking into their cellar feels like stepping back in time; it is a place where large, neutral oak casks dominate and where patience is the primary tool of the winemaker. This steadfast dedication has preserved the style of Piedmontese wine that we admire most: nervy, elegant, and built for the long haul.

Sometimes we forget that before the judgement of Paris, before the cult Cabernets of Napa, and before the modern California wine boom, there was Hanzell. Founded in 1953 by Ambassador James Zellerbach after a transformative stint in Europe, this estate was built with a singular, audacious goal: to produce Burgundian-style wines on the slopes of Sonoma that could rival the finest Grand Crus of the Côte d'Or. Walking through the vineyard today, you are walking through living history, past the oldest continuously producing Chardonnay vines in the Western Hemisphere.

If you drive a few minutes west of Givry into the rolling hills of the Côte Chalonnaise, you’ll find yourself in the tiny, sleepy village of Jambles. This is the home of Domaine Danjean-Berthoux, a family estate now in its fourth generation that quietly produces some of the most over-performing white Burgundy in our cellars. While their neighbors in the Côte de Beaune are grappling with global fame and the soaring prices that come with it, Pascal Danjean and his son Charles-Antoine are still working their steep, limestone slopes with the focused, unhurried intensity of true artisans.