"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
— Annie Dillard
I expected to come home thinking about wine.
Instead I kept thinking about water.
During a cooking class in Florence, our Sardinian instructor answered almost every question the same way.
The water.
The flour.
The humidity.
The warmth of your hands.
We wanted answers.
He wanted us to notice.
Every answer eventually returned to the same place.
Pay attention.
At first I thought he was talking about pasta.
I don't think he was.
The Quiet Detail
Travel has a way of revealing where our attention naturally settles.
One person notices architecture. Another history. Another restaurants. Another simply counts the days until they're home.
In Spain and Portugal, I found myself noticing something I hadn't expected.
Not the famous places. The ordinary ones.
A neighborhood restaurant in Vigo. A bakery in Lisbon. An oyster bar in Aveiro. A small wine shop.
The food was not always elaborate. But it was rarely careless.
There seemed to be an older agreement beneath it all.
The ingredient mattered. The place mattered. The way something had been done mattered.
Not because anyone was trying to impress you. Because someone, long before you arrived, had decided it was worth paying attention.
Bottle of the Week
Savart "L'Accomplie" 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes Extra Brut
Fred makes almost a dozen wines from four hectares. He calls his winery a laboratory of terroirs.
Sommeliers and collectors have taken notice, not for scarcity alone, but for a fierce individuality that shows up in every glass.
Cépage: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay
Millésime: Non-Millésimé
Terroir: Montagne de Reims — Écueil and Villers-aux-Nœuds
Soil: sandy in Écueil, clay on mid-slope, pockets of chalk
Farming: Lutte Intégrée, no pesticides/herbicides, natural predators for pest control
Base: 70% base vintage, 30% vins de réserve (two prior vintages)
Vinification: neutral oak and stainless steel
Dosage: 4g/L
Dégorgement: 04/2020
Production: 10,210 bottles, 150 magnums
What to Notice
Pale gold, striking against the light.
Deeper than L'Ouverture. Richer.
Fred doesn't force consistency. He responds to what the year gives him.
Chalk first.
Then silk.
The fruit is more luscious here, more generous, but never soft in the way that word usually means.
Minerality underneath.
Acidity holding everything together.
A glass to savor, not rush.
The cooking class lasted more than two hours. It may have been the only time during the trip that all four of us were fully present together.
No one rushed.
No one disappeared into a phone.
Everyone stirred.
Rolled.
Kneaded.
Cut.
Laughed.
Waited.
Served.
Then sat down to eat the meal we had made together.
Where to Find It
Availability is limited, and it moves fast when it appears.
Expect somewhere in the $100–120 range.
If you see a bottle, don't wait on it.
Find current listings on Wine-Searcher.
A Short Detour
Tea taught me this long before Italy did.
Water matters.
Bread taught me again. So did bagels. So did pizza.
No recipe survives first contact with reality.
There is only today's water. Today's flour. Today's weather. Today's conversation.
What I’m Curious About Next
Some lessons arrive by accumulation.
Others by subtraction.
Next issue: What doesn't need to be added.
A Small Dose
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
— Marcel Proust
Until the next bottle,
Manj
P.S. What has taught you to pay closer attention?
I also share short Champagne notes on Instagram: @le_dosage