For decades, sparkling wine from Catalonia has meant Cava. But recently, a select group of quality-minded producers—including the visionary Recaredo—has moved beyond the generic Cava label, creating the new designation Corpinnat. This small group prioritizes sustainability, hand-crafted quality, and indigenous grape varieties, setting far stricter standards than traditional Cava regulations.

Sancerre (check out our Ultimate Guide to Sancerre) season has begun, and we’ve got the perfect wine to kick it off:  Lucien Crochet’s 2023 Sancerre Blanc “Croix de Roy”.

Crochet has long been one of the best in the entire Loire, and a cornerstone of the Neal Rosenthal portfolio for over 40 years. They have some of the best plots in the village of Bué, where the domaine is based, as well as Vinon and Crézancy (yes, like Burgundy or Champagne, Sancerre has its own set of villages with distinct personalities). 

Von Winning emphasizes gentle, thoughtful winemaking, relying on spontaneous fermentations and aging in large old barrels rather than stainless steel. They produce wines of intense precision, texture, and subtle complexity. Their approach underscores that Riesling from the Pfalz can offer the best of both worlds: richness balanced by elegance.

Galloni calls Roagna’s Langhe Rosso “fabulous”, but longtime readers of this newsletter will already know that this stunning Piedmont gem is all that and more.

We’ve just received our allocation of Roagna’s Langhe Rosso, a wine which is part Barolo, part Barbaresco, and entirely fabulous, oozing with Piedmont elegance and intensity.

In Avize, there’s an unusual producer quietly shaping the future of Champagne. Sanger isn't a typical domaine: it’s the teaching winery of Avize Viti Campus, the region’s premier winemaking school. This isn’t just a place where Champagne is made—it’s a place where Champagne is learned, explored, and perfected, vintage after vintage.

For us, the Touraine – a subregion of the Loire Valley (See our complete guide to the Loire Valley) – has always been very “useful”. Need a cheap Sauvignon Blanc? The Touraine usually has an answer for you. 

A new producer has set out to prove that the Touraine is far more than merely useful. His name is Valentin Desloges.

If you’ve yet to discover Vincent Paris—or if you simply haven’t checked in lately—this wine is a perfect introduction to his evolving vision. Paris doesn't merely carry forward his uncle's legacy; he's writing the next chapter for Cornas, demonstrating why this once-rustic region has become essential drinking.

Txakoli’s moment has fully arrived. Drinkers around the world have discovered its unique charms: crisp acidity, vibrant citrus, subtle salinity derived from vineyards perched directly above the Atlantic Ocean, and a distinctive, gentle fizz created by the traditional Basque high pour into the glass. Today, the wines of producers like Gaintza represent more than just a local secret—they’ve become essential to the vocabulary of contemporary wine drinkers everywhere.

If you love focused, terroir-driven white Burgundy, you shouldn't hesitate – Pico’s wines – and Bois d’Yver in particular – exemplify why Chablis stands among the world's great wine regions. 

At this point, we’ve written about Arianna Occhipinti so many times that coming up with something new feels like a challenge. We’ve talked about her commitment to organic farming, her influence on Sicily’s natural wine movement, and how her wines—today we have SP68 Rosso, SP68 Bianco, and Il Frappato—offer some of the purest expressions of the Vittoria region.

We just wrote about Mario Fontana’s winery in November. But now that Gambero Rosso has named him “winemaker of the year”, we think it’s important to write an article about his winery every time we get a new release of his wines. Last time, we had only his top-end Barolo. This time we have a few more accessible options to throw into the mix.

The wonderfully briney, complex whites of Muscadet remain some of the most underappreciated wines in the world. We’re not complaining, though — this lack of hype keeps first-rate examples insanely affordable even when they come from the best names in the region.