The Connoisseur - August 2025
Hello to summer. Hello to hot afternoons at the beach. Hello to ice cubes and summer dresses. Hello to flip flops, tennis whites and fat bumblebees. Most of all, hello to crisp, cool rosé, refreshing white wine and bbq-friendly red wine.
As always, wine descriptions below, and if you run out, you can order more from The Cellar.
Don’t forget, you can look up past boxes in The Archive.
Infinitude, Viognier/Chardonnay
[grape/vintage] Viognier, Chardonnay / 2024
[region] Lisboa
This is like a well-rehearsed performance of Bach’s Gigue from the French Suite—lively, articulate, and full of interplay. The Viognier is the right hand, dancing through the sixteenth-notes to decorate the nose with bright florals and tropical flair. The Chardonnay lays down the counterline—structured, citrus-toned, and rhythmically assured. The result is dry, well-balanced, alive but not in a hurry. The finish resolves in perfect cadence—satisfying, elegant, and worthy of an appreciative nod from the harpsichord bench.
Goes really well with a fresh golden bream wrapped in lemon slices and roast over coals, pan-seared chicken cutlets or a lemon cheesecake.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Casa Américo, Branco de Uvas Tintas
[grape/vintage] Alfrocheiro, Tinta Roriz e Touriga Nacional / 2022
[region] Dão
A masquerade. A make-believe. A ruse. A fruity white wine from select batches of Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro and Tinta Roriz grapes. The winemaker is having us on, teasing us with a liquid almost as clear as water yet when opened fills our nose with canteloupe and strawberry, and delights our palate with texture and balance and a deep long finish. Only 4,000 bottles of this limited edition ‘blanc de noir’ were produced. Get it while you can!
Pairs well with a fatty fish, clams swimming in butter white wine broth, or a hearty veggie soup.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Ilha do Pico, "Terras de Lave" Rosé
[grape/vintage] Merlot, Syrah / 2022
[region] Açores
Ok, we admit, wine tasting can be a bit of a magician’s trick. You ask someone if they taste apricot and that’s what they taste. But seriously, this rosé from Ilha do Pico really really does taste of the sea and the volcano and of strawberries and raspberries and wet stones. It’s layered and blended and full and round like sucking on a pebble. Drink slightly chilled, with or without food.
Pairs well with itself as an aperitif, a warm goat cheese salad, fresh Setúbal oysters with a single dash of hot sauce, pork sausage grilled on the barbecue.
Check it out in The Cellar.
