Flatiron Wines & Spirits SF

Josep Grau spent nearly twenty years in the high-frequency world of Barcelona finance before he realized he was looking for something that numbers couldn't provide. In 2003, he walked away from the spreadsheets to find a different kind of precision in the rugged hills of Montsant. If you met him today, you might still see the former accountant in his neatly pressed shirts, but his hands are now firmly in the dirt of his organic vineyards. He didn't come to the Langhe-like hills of Catalunya to make "big" wines; he came to find the silence and transparency he felt was missing from city life.

In the tightly knit world of Cornas, the name Verset carries a weight almost heavier than the granite soils themselves. For decades, Noël Verset was the benchmark, the genius who put this rugged appellation on the map. When he retired in 2006, it felt like the end of an era, but the vines—and the lineage—did not simply disappear. This brings us to A&E Verset, a domaine run by Emmanuelle Verset, the daughter of Alain and the grand-niece of the legendary Noël. While the name draws you in, it is the wine in the glass that keeps you there, proving that this is not just a case of resting on genealogical laurels.

We previously described Peter Lauer's Barrel X as a pantry staple—something you should just have on hand for daily life. But life does not end with staples. While the Barrel X is designed for easy, uncomplicated refreshment, Lauer’s Fass series specific bottlings represent the serious, granular study of the Saar valley’s terroir.