Garden Party Flight
Every season Lesa and I put together a wine flight that captures exactly how we want to drink right now. This spring, we didn't have to think very hard.
The Garden Party Flight is four wines chosen for one mood: the feeling of being outside on a warm evening with no agenda and something cold and interesting in your glass. Light, bright, and full of life — each one chosen to match the season rather than fight it. The flight is available for $38 or try each selection by the glass or bottle.
Here's what we are pouring.
Sancerre's Savvier Sister
Steve Millet Menetou-Salon — Loire Valley, France 2023
If you love Sancerre — and I do — you are going to love what Menetou-Salon does for your wallet. Same Kimmeridgian limestone soils. Same elegant Sauvignon Blanc character. But where Sancerre can feel sharp and chiseled, Menetou-Salon is softer and more generous — lemon citrus, delicate floral notes, a mineral finish that lingers just long enough to make you want another sip. This is the bottle I pour for guests who think they already know what they want and then discover something better.
Our Official Wine for Spring
Vinos Finos de California 'Sabroso' Grenache-Blend — California 2023
I have been talking about this wine to anyone who will listen since the moment I tasted it. Ted Glennon — the winemaker behind Vinos Finos de California — has a rare gift for making wines that feel effortless without being simple. The Sabroso is a Grenache-based blend from the cool coastal mountains of Monterey, and it drinks like spring should feel: fresh, a little wild, impossible to put down. Bright red cherries, wild strawberries, a burst of acidity on the finish that brings you right back to the glass. It is our official wine of the season and it pairs beautifully with our Strawberry Crunch Salad. The label features a strawberry wearing sunglasses and holding a boom box. Honestly, same.
The Roots of the Rhône
Enrique Mendoza 'La Tremenda' Monastrell — Alicante, Spain 2023
This is the wine that surprises everyone. Monastrell is the Spanish name for Mourvèdre — the grape that gives the Southern Rhône its backbone — but Enrique Mendoza's version from high-altitude Alicante tastes like nothing you would expect. No rustic weight, no heaviness. Just precision and freshness and something that keeps you genuinely curious from the first sip to the last. I love putting this on a flight because it changes people's minds. That is the best thing a wine can do.
The Velvet Hammer
Chateau Paveil de Luze Margaux — Bordeaux, France 2018
Margaux has the silkiest tannins in Bordeaux — it is just a fact. The gravel-rich soils produce wines that are more supple and ethereal than anywhere else in the region, and Château Paveil de Luze captures that elegance without the eye-watering price tag of its classified neighbors. Violets and rose petals on the nose, a finish that goes on and on. We call it the Velvet Hammer because it is gentle right up until it isn't. This is the bottle that turns a Tuesday into an occasion.