Weekly Wine Bullets (May 2)

Jimmy Butler, wine from the Dolomites, and more

Happy Friday friends. Hope you drink some good bottles this weekend. Enjoy this week’s Wine Bullets 🫡

Article I’m reading

• Jimmy Butler’s wine collection - This interview gave me a newfound appreciation for Jimmy, his approach to wine, and how he uses it to share and connect with others. I can relate to that first experience with a great bottle — the one that makes it click for the first time. Granted Mark Whalberg wasn't the one pouring it for me.

Cork Beats (wine and music pairings)

• Teardrop by Massive Attack, paired with this 1998 cab sauv/merlot blend from the Italian Dolomites. This wine is moody - dark fruits and an earthy depth, a perfect pairing for the layered and brooding beat of Teardrop. They both have a sort of quiet intensity, and both song and wine have aged beautifully. While I was already planning to pair these two, I couldn't believe it when I saw the release date on this album was also 1998. Meant to be.

Vintage I’m most excited about

• Last week, I got to pour (and taste) the 2019 Altesino Montosoli Brunello for a client. Altesino is an iconic producer of Tuscan Brunello, and Montosoli, a famous hill in Montalcino, is their best vineyard site. There has been a lot of hype around the 2019 Brunello vintage, and this one has me pretty excited for these. Brunello has to be aged 5 years before it can legally be sold (6 years for the Riserva’s), so some of these are just now hitting the market.
  
  Here are a few more of my favorite Brunello producers. Time to go shopping.
  
  Lisini

  Podere le Ripi

  il Palazzone

  Le Ragnaie

  Le Chiuse

Event I’m excited for

• This is a bit of a shameless plug, but if you're in Charlotte and want to taste some great wines with cool people, there are still a few open spots for my Wine and Food pairing lab on May 9th. Full details here.

Label art I’m enjoying

• I appreciate wine labels that commission new art with each new vintage. A friend introduced me to this wine Appius recently, also from the Dolomites. An age-worthy white blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc. If fuller bodied, complex, oak-fermented whites are your thing, this might be up your alley. It's a bit more modern in style from what I usually drink, but I can enjoy this in the right setting. Check out all the labels from prior vintages here.