San Francisco Wine Trading Wine Tasting

NV André Clouet Grand Cru Brut Rosé — $69.94

Jean-François Clouet carries on his family’s work in Bouzy, a Grand Cru village in Champagne’s Montagne de Reims. He still lives in the eighteenth-century house built by his ancestors, who once served as printers to the royal court at Versailles. The family’s vineyards occupy the middle slopes of Bouzy and neighboring Ambonnay, where chalk and clay soils support their longstanding focus on Pinot Noir.

This rosé is made entirely from Pinot Noir grown around Bouzy. Fermentation and initial aging take place in stainless steel, and a portion of still red Pinot Noir is blended into the white base wine before the second fermentation in bottle. It brings together Champagne production and the village’s historic tradition of making red wine.

2023 Philippe Tessier Cour-Cheverny Les Sables — $37.94

The Tessier family has been farming in Cheverny since 1961. Philippe took over from his father in 1981 and established organic certification in 1998; his son Simon now continues that work. The vineyards lie between the Loire and the forests of Sologne, where sand, clay, and limestone form a patchwork of growing sites.

Les Sables is made entirely from Romorantin, the grape at the heart of Cour-Cheverny. The vines are between 25 and 40 years old and grow in sand over clay. For the 2023 vintage, the grapes were harvested by hand and pressed directly, with fermentation carried out without added yeasts. The wine completed malolactic fermentation, aged in wood, and was bottled without filtration in February 2025.

2023 Granville Basalt Chardonnay — $48.94

Ayla and Jackson Holstein founded Granville in 2014 after returning to Oregon to farm Jackson’s family vineyard in the Dundee Hills. Both grew up in the region and worked harvests at home and abroad before establishing their own winery. Their work now includes partnerships with growers across the Dundee and Eola-Amity Hills, alongside their family’s estate vineyards.

Basalt Chardonnay brings together organically farmed sites rooted in the Willamette Valley’s volcanic soils. The name refers to the basalt underlying these vineyards and provides a common thread between the different parcels. The 2023 fruit was harvested in September, and the wine spent eleven months on its lees in French oak barrels, with 15% new oak. Production totaled 400 cases.

2023 Domaine Lelièvre Gris de Toul Rosé — $22.94

Brothers David and Vincent Lelièvre returned to Lorraine after spending a decade learning viticulture and winemaking in France and abroad. They took over the family estate in 2008, continuing the work of their father and uncle in Lucey, at the northern end of the Côtes de Toul appellation. Today, they work with organically grown vineyards spread across four of the appellation’s eight villages.

Gris de Toul is a regional specialty made primarily from Gamay and Pinot Noir grown on clay-limestone hillsides. The grapes are pressed directly after harvest, without an extended period of skin contact, and the juice is fermented separately from the skins. This method is central to the local tradition of vin gris, which the Lelièvre family has helped preserve through several generations.

2022 Celler Pardas Sus Scrofa — $26.94

Ramon Parera and Jordi Arnan established Celler Pardas around Can Comas, an old farm in Catalonia’s Alt Penedès. Their vineyards sit within a larger landscape of woodland and cereal crops, all considered part of the same agricultural ecosystem. Farming is certified organic, the vines are grown without irrigation, and the soils are left unplowed to limit erosion and protect life below ground.

Sus Scrofa is made entirely from Sumoll, a traditional Catalan grape the pair has helped restore to prominence. The 2022 comes from vines between 10 and 25 years old, planted in clay and chalk soils at elevations of roughly 200 to 300 meters. Half the fruit ferments as whole clusters, using indigenous yeasts in concrete tanks. The wine then spends three months aging in concrete before bottling.

2020 Verduno Barolo Massara — $49.94

Castello di Verduno sits in the northernmost village of the Barolo appellation, in a historic castle purchased by the Burlotto family in 1909. The estate brings together Gabriella Burlotto’s family holdings in Verduno and Franco Bianco’s vineyards in Barbaresco. Winemaker Mario Andrion has overseen the cellar since 2000, maintaining a traditional approach built around indigenous yeasts, long macerations, and large oak casks.

Massara is a single-vineyard Barolo made entirely from Nebbiolo. The estate’s parcel faces east-southeast, with pale, limestone-rich clay soils. The grapes are harvested and selected by hand, and the wine follows the estate’s practice of extended skin contact in wooden vats followed by aging in large Slavonian oak casks. The focus remains on the vineyard and the patient cellar work that has long defined Barolo.