The Insider - September 2025
It’s back to school, back to work and back to basics for the Glass Half Full Club with two reds and a white, carefully chosen to fit perfectly with the slow march towards autumn – a light touch here, complexity there, and some full-bodied character in the back.
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, "Indígena" Semillon
[grape/vintage] Semillon / 2024
[region] Lisboa
This wine is like some wild wood sprite slipping through the trees, half-seen, half-imagined. It’s not polished or perfumed; it’s primal which makes sense given it came into this world tangled up between the Atlantic winds and the mossy north slopes of the Serra d Sintra. Pure and essential and a bit untamed. It’s got nose of damp earth, crushed herbs and bell pepper and a lean, textured palate, humming with energy. Fresh citrus and saline edges mingle with something deeper—like licking rain off a granite boulder or catching the scent of resin in a storm.
Pairs well with anything on the lighter side of happy – a grilled fish, roast quail, veggie stir-fry.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Ilha do Pico, "Terras de Lava" Syrah
[grape/vintage] Syrah / 2021
[region] Açores
A sneaky magician of a wine. Now you see it, now you don’t. Subtle in the glass, teasing in the nose: conjuring images of green fields on the slopes of a dormant volcano, blackberry bushes crawling up old basalt stone walls. Then the reveal, the prestige, the flourish of the black and red silk cape: medium bodied, dry and a wee-bit puckering on the lips, dissolving into a soft, persistent, mineral finish.
Pairs well with a charcuterie plate, some juicy lamb chops or a daring duck à l’orange.
Check it out in The Cellar.
Vinha de Santa Maria, Reserva Especial Tinto
(grape/vintage) Alfrocheiro, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional / 2018
[region] Dão
He climbs the trellis by moonlight, boots slick with dew, heart thrumming in sonnet form. Inside: candlelight, carved oak, the hush of tapestries. He finds her there, waiting—half-shadow, half-dream—and offers not flowers, but this:
“Thy breath is cherry, plucked at ripest blush,
Thy touch, cool stone and violet in bloom.
I taste thy lips—ripe plum, a silent hush
Of spice and cedar drifting through the room.
Thy voice is depth, well-structured, dark, and clear,
Thy soul, all grace and finely-tempered flame.
Each syllable of thee I hold most dear,
A sonnet wrapped in Dão’s hallowed name.”
Here’s a wine that courts with structure, seduces with depth, and lingers like a secret verse scrawled behind a tapestry. Best poured when the night is still, the fire low, and the window accidentally left open.
Pairs well with a roasted lamb with sweet potatoes , arroz de carreteiro, manchego cheese.
Check it out in The Cellar.
