May 2026 Wine Club
ONE YEAR IN, AND THE WINE BAR IS BLOOMING
We made it a full circle around the sun at 210 College Street, and I'm not going to pretend it hasn’t felt like a lifetime and a snap at the same time. A year ago we built out the wine bar and opened in a new space. Honestly I wasn't sure what it was going to become and turns out, it became ours. Yours, mine, the regulars who know where to sit, the first-timers who didn't know they were wine people until they were. Thank you to everyone who had shared a glass, a laugh, and at least one handful of olives with us over the last 365 cold, sunny, brutal, and beautiful days.
May is a special month. For many it’s simply spring, but when you live in a college town there is a little twist of wild abandon that becomes infectious. Tank tops on 50° days gives shoulder season a whole new meaning, at least the sun is starting to make an appearance. Windows open, lilacs in full bloom, that particular Vermont light that makes everything look a little more alive. It felt right to mark the occasion with wines that match the energy — wines from three unique vineyards in Italy that exude sunshine and are in full support of day drinking.
1) LA QUERCE SECONDA BARABBA, TOSCANA IGT, ITALY
WINE: RED // GRAPES: SANGIOVESE, MERLOT, MALVASIA NERA, COLORINO // CLUB: VIN DE SOIF & CORK DORK
About the Producer: La Querce Seconda sits at the furthest north edge of the Chianti Classico zone, just nine kilometers south of Florence. Niccolò Bernabei and Linda Sandkvist have run this organic family estate since 1995 on 45 hectares of forest, olive groves, and naturally farmed vines on clay and sandy soils. No added yeasts, extremely low sulfur, large old oak. Niccolò's mother was the first to plant this property with vineyards and was the first female winemaker in the Chianti Classico DOCG, which is a detail worth noting. Always.
About the Wine: Barabba was the nickname of Niccolò's father Paolo — "a young prankster" — and the wine earns it. The core is 80% Sangiovese from the sandy-clay hillsides of Montespertoli, with Merlot from a 30-year-old cobblestone riverbed in San Casciano, and a touch of Malvasia Nera and Colorino from old vines in Romola. Each component is fermented and aged separately in tank for two years before blending, no oak, no nonsense. In the glass it's fresh and playful, with wild cherry, crushed herbs, a little earthy spice.
2) BUGANZA 'UVA E MANI' NINETTA BIANCO 2024, PIEMONTE, ITALY
WINE: WHITE // GRAPES: ARNEIS, NEBBIOLO // CLUB: VIN DE SOIF & CORK DORK
About the Producer: Buganza is a small family winery tucked into the rolling hills of Piobesi d'Alba, making wines since 1978. Emanuele Buganza, now at the helm, runs certified organic, biodynamically-farmed vineyards and keeps sulfite use to a bare minimum — "besides sun, the earth, and the grapes," he says, he tries not to add much else. The 'Uva e Mani' (Grapes and Hands) range is a love letter to the Buganza family itself, each wine named for someone who shaped the estate.
About the Wine: “Ninetta” was Emanuele's grandmother, who was known for carrying on long conversations with friends no one else could see. Kind of like talking to your dog after a long winter. From 30-year-old vines in Castagnole Lanze and Guarene, Chardonnay, Arneis, and Nebbiolo are harvested together and co-fermented naturally — each variety doing its own job, Arneis adding roundness through a short skin maceration, Nebbiolo bringing freshness and tension, Chardonnay giving the whole thing its taught backbone. It rested on lees through the winter, partial malolactic in spring, bottled unfiltered. The result is bright and floral with a creamy texture, a saline edge, and a personality that plays like sorority sisters in spring.
“Besides sun, the earth, and the grapes… I keep craftsmanship minimal, yet very careful, in order to work without technology other than manual work, grapes, and time.”
3) LA KIUVA ROSÉ DE VALLÉE, VINO DA TAVOLA ROSATO, VALLE D'AOSTA, ITALY
WINE: ROSÉ // GRAPES: NEBBIOLO, GROS VIEN, NEYRET // CLUB: CORK DORK ONLY
About the Producer: La Kiuva is a cooperative winery operating out of Arnad in the Valle d'Aosta, Italy's smallest and most northerly region nestled right up against the Alps. This is a place where viticulture has been practiced for centuries under genuinely challenging mountain conditions, and La Kiuva has been preserving those traditions while keeping things honest but fun.
About the Wine: Made using the ancient saignée technique — pulling juice from a tank just as fermentation begins — this rosé gets its beautiful pink hue and its mineral freshness from a short 12-hour maceration before fermenting off the skins at cool temperature. Six months in stainless steel, two in bottle. The result is delicate and precise: fresh raspberries, wild berries, that lovely "pelure d'oignon" or sunshine through “onion skin” depth of color. It's a wine that smells like May feels, exciting and bursting with life.
Not a Cork Dork yet? Upgrade your membership for ~$20/month and this bottle is yours going forward.
“This cooperative winery, born in the late 1970s, unites 50 growers who work some of the steepest vineyards in Europe—too steep for tractors, but perfect for big mountain flavor.”
