June 2025
The Month of
Summer Arrives
Three wines for the longest day. A Tuscan Sangiovese from one of the appellation’s giants, a Beaujolais Cru from the natural-wine generation that redefined Gamay, and a vintage Champagne from a small-batch Aube house to mark the solstice.
Selections from a past month — availability may have changed.
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01
The Weekday Wine · Under $20
Banfi Chianti Superiore 2024
Chianti DOCG, Tuscany, Italy
Tart cherry, dried herbs, a brisk Italian acid line, and tannins that finish drier than the friendly fruit suggests. Castello Banfi is one of Tuscany’s scale players — founded 1978 by the Italian-American Mariani brothers, who bought the historic Castello and built the modern facility around it. The Chianti Superiore designation requires longer aging and slightly higher minimum alcohol than the regular DOCG; Banfi’s is Sangiovese-dominant with small percentages of supporting grapes. Under twenty dollars at most retailers, the wine that the appellation prefers to be judged by at the everyday tier.
TASTING NOTES
Tart cherry, dried herbs, brisk acidity
PAIRS WITH
Pasta with tomato, grilled summer vegetables, salumi
GRAPE
Sangiovese-dominant Chianti blend
DRINK WINDOW
2025–2029
Vintage Context
Tuscany’s 2024 was a cool, late vintage by recent standards — better acidity retention than the heat-stressed 2022. Banfi’s Chianti Superiore weathered the cooler year well; the wine is fresh, mid-weight, and ready to drink now.
Build the Board
via Murray’s Cheese
A weeknight board for Tuscan Sangiovese — aperitivo rusticity for summer reds
Pecorino Oro Antico aged · Brooklyn Cured finocchiona · chestnut honey · Cerignola olives · Tuscan crostini
02
The Saturday Pour · $20–$50
Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py 2022
Morgon, Beaujolais, France
Crushed raspberry, blue stone, a savory iron-and-violet grip on the back palate. Jean Foillard is one of the Beaujolais “Gang of Four” — the natural-wine generation Marcel Lapierre led, who chose the Jules Chauvet method against the broader appellation’s drift toward early-drinking accessibility. The Côte du Py is the most celebrated of the ten Beaujolais Crus, and the only one whose subsoil includes the famous blue manganese-rich rock locals call roche pourrie. Semi-carbonic maceration on indigenous yeasts, minimal sulfur, twelve months in old oak. Serve it chilled. Drink it outside.
TASTING NOTES
Crushed raspberry, blue stone, violet
PAIRS WITH
Roast chicken, charcuterie, summer salads
GRAPE
Gamay (100%)
DRINK WINDOW
2025–2032
Vintage Context
Beaujolais 2022 was a warm, generous vintage — the fruit profile shifted toward riper berries while keeping the variety’s lift intact. Foillard’s low-yield organic farming and old-vine Côte du Py parcels weathered the heat well; the 2022 is on the fuller side but stays vibrant and chillable.
Build the Board
via Murray’s Cheese
A weekend board for natural Beaujolais — Loire-Burgundy canon for chillable Gamay
Selles-sur-Cher AOC · Époisses de Bourgogne · Délice de Bourgogne · Jambon de Bayonne · saucisson sec
03
The Splurge · $50+
Drappier Grande Sendrée Brut 2012
Aube, Champagne, France
Toasted brioche and ripe yellow apple, with a savory chalk-and-iron grip on the long finish. Drappier is an Aube grower-house founded in 1808 and family-owned for eight generations; their work is biodynamic-leaning and the cellar at Urville sits above the historic 12th-century vault Saint Bernard built for the Cistercians. Grande Sendrée is their vintage prestige cuvée — old-vines selection, low dosage, long aging on lees in the chalk cellar. The 2012 is a vintage Champagne built for the night you mark something. Solstice qualifies.
TASTING NOTES
Toasted brioche, yellow apple, chalk-and-iron grip
PAIRS WITH
Oysters, summer celebration, aged comté
GRAPE
Pinot Noir-dominant blend with Chardonnay
DRINK WINDOW
2025–2040+
Vintage Context
Champagne 2012 was a benchmark vintage — cool growing season, late September harvest, balanced acidity and ripeness. The vintage produced wines built for long cellaring; Drappier’s Grande Sendrée 2012 has aged into its window now and will hold for fifteen more years.
Build the Board
via Murray’s Cheese
A solstice board for vintage Champagne — the French master canon for a finale
3-year Comté AOC · Roquefort PDO · Brillat-Savarin · Jambon de Bayonne · Fabrique Délices saucisson
Subscribers get a weekly pick that never hits the site — a fourth bottle, every Thursday, in The TERROIR Letter.
“The longest day of the year, in three glasses.”
— The TERROIR Editorial Desk
Producer Spotlight
Mas de Daumas Gassac
Aniane, Languedoc — the geology professor said it was Burgundy soil
In 1971, Aimé and Véronique Guibert bought a small property in Aniane in the back hills of the Hérault. Henri Enjalbert, Professor of Geology at the University of Bordeaux and an old family friend, sampled the soil and told them they were standing on glacial-limestone rendzine identical to the great vineyards of the Côte d’Or. The estate that followed became what trade press now calls “the Lafite of the Languedoc.”
The TERROIR Letter
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Monthly selections and a weekly Subscriber’s Pick — curated bottles that never appear on the site.
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