Arlequin Wine Merchant’s Three Bottle Monthly Club: December 2014 $69.00 (tax & shipping not included) Helda Rabaut Chinon 'Tel Qu'Elle,' Loire, France 2013 List Price $30/ Arlequin Regular Price $25/ Wine Club Exclusive Reorder $22 In 2005, Helda Rabaut caught the wine bug and went from nights pouring wine at the raucous Parisian wine bar Le Baron Rouge to working in the vineyards of Chinon. She left her Paris law school for winemaking studies in the Loire, spent five years working with different domaines around Chinon and today is developing her own property. As well, she’s continuing to work at Domaine Baudry, one of the benchmark Chinon producers. Though a small amount of Chenin Blanc is produced here, the majority of the wine made in Chinon is from Cabernet Franc. Helda rents two hectares of organic Cab Franc vineyards and makes the wines in a closet-sized cellar just outside the town of Chinon. ‘Tel Qu’Elle,’ her signature cuvée, is grown on sandy & gravelly soils and fermented and aged in cement tanks. You will find it a fruity, eminently drinkable red; aromatic and balanced with notes of red fruit, it’s a true “vin de soif”. First time in the US, we bought half of what was available for our members. Broc Cellars Vine Starr Zinfandel, Sonoma, California 2013 List Price $30/ Arlequin Regular Price $28/ Wine Club Exclusive Reorder $26 Shacked up in a garage amongst industrial warehouses in west Berkeley, Chris Brockway began making his unique and lovable natural wines in 2002. After graduating from CSU Fresno, Brockway started walking the Urban Winemaking path working for Rosenblum Cellars. Early on, he was determined to source grapes from marginal vineyard sites, usually outside of mainstream varietals, paying special attention to the grapes’ fruit quality. He also focused on traditional farming techniques. Brockway’s wines tend to be fresh, approachable, and, if possible, sourced from organic or biodynamic vineyards. This Zinfandel is made from grapes sourced in Buck Hill in the Russian River Valley, picked at a low brix to highlight acidity, nerve and bright red fruit. Characterised by earth and spice (think licorice and cardamom), this Vine Starr shows great balance and freshness: enjoy it as a lighter example of Californian Zinfandel. It’s a great food wine! Leth Roter Veltliner, Wagram, Austria 2013 List Price $25/ Arlequin Regular Price $22/ Wine Club Exclusive Reorder $20 Just north of the Danube river in Austria, between Vienna and Krems, is the Wagram plateau. The Wagram wine region is best known for Roter Veltliner, which despite its name is not related to Gruner Veltliner. This white variety is actually named for the reddish color of the grape when it is fully ripe. Roter Veltliner is known for making rich, deeply fruited and spicy dry wines that can be drunk fresh, but also hold great potential for aging. The soil composition in the Wagram region consists of layers of loam, sand, chalk and loess that Ice Age winds blew over the primary rock base of the Danube. These tiny particles of soil-covering bedrock allow the grapevine roots to absorb water and minerals, even from great depths. Started in the 1960s, Weingut Leth is located in the town of Fels. The family runs 40 hectares in several different vineyards, which lie directly on the terraces of the Wagram hillside. The family, now in the third generation of winemakers, is commited to expressing the unique charicteristics of each vineyard. By protecting the local flora and fauna from overuse of agro-chemicals, their vineyards maintain a natural diversity, which is beneficial to the vines. Meticulous leaf work and restricting yields both contribute to the final quality of the wines produced. This Roter Veltliner is from the Leth ‘Klassik’ series, harnessing grapes from several of their vineyards to make one cuvee. With a screw top, the wine is meant to be enjoyed young, ideally within three years. Expect a full-bodied wine with a complex harmony of sweet and tart, yellow apple, quince, baked apple and dried fruit, a wine that’s warm and lingering. It’s a perfect white for the colder days of fall.