March 2026
The Month of
Quiet Reds
March is the hinge month — winter’s heaviness fading, spring’s brightness not yet arrived. This month’s selections sit in that liminal space: structured but not severe, warm but not weighty. Three bottles for the in-between.
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01
The Weekday Wine · Under $20
Domaine Laroque Cité de Carcassonne Pinot Noir 2023
Languedoc, South of France
Earth and ripe fruit on the nose, with a fruity sweetness layered over dried spices. The palate is charming and juicy, medium-bodied with gentle tannins that linger alongside a hint of roasted cocoa nib. Most people don’t think of the Languedoc when they reach for Pinot Noir — and that’s exactly why this bottle is here. At under fifteen dollars, it quietly embarrasses wines twice its price.
Tasting Notes
Earth, dried spice, cocoa nib
Pairs With
Roast chicken, charcuterie board
Grape
Pinot Noir (100%)
Drink Window
2024–2027
Vintage Context
The 2023 growing season in the Languedoc brought warm days tempered by cool Mediterranean nights — ideal for preserving acidity in thin-skinned grapes like Pinot Noir. Domaine Laroque, the largest estate in the appellation with roots tracing back to Roman-era Carcassonne, farms sustainably and lets the terroir speak at a price that defies the region’s rising reputation.
Build the Board
via Murray’s Cheese
A Tuesday evening board for an easy-drinking red
Aged Comté · Marcona almonds · dark chocolate with sea salt · cornichons · sourdough crackers
02
The Saturday Pour · $20–$50
Pio Cesare Barbera d’Alba 2023
Piedmont, Italy
Full-bodied and plummy with a complex weave of blackberry, baking spice, and toasted tobacco. The acidity is vibrant — classic Barbera — keeping the wine light on its feet despite its depth. The finish lingers with notes of wood and minerals, crackling with the energy of ripe dark fruit. Pio Cesare has been making wine in Alba since 1881, five generations deep, and their Barbera grapes come from the Barolo zone. A Saturday evening decant that rewards patience.
Tasting Notes
Dark plum, blackberry, toasted tobacco
Pairs With
Braised short ribs, aged Parmigiano
Grape
Barbera (100%)
Drink Window
2025–2031
Vintage Context
Piedmont’s 2023 vintage delivered a textbook growing season — a mild spring gave way to a warm, dry summer with just enough late-August rain to refresh the vines before harvest. The result is Barbera with concentrated fruit, firm structure, and the kind of balanced acidity that Pio Cesare has been coaxing from these slopes for over a century.
Build the Board
via Murray’s Cheese
A Saturday spread for a structured Piedmont red
24-month Parmigiano Reggiano · bresaola · fig preserves · walnuts · grissini
03
The Splurge · $50+
E. Guigal Saint-Joseph Lieu-Dit Rouge 2022
Saint-Joseph, Northern Rhône, France
Violets, black fruit, and a thread of wood smoke — this is Northern Rhône Syrah at its most composed. The palate is full but never loud: silky tannins give way to layers of dark cherry, espresso, and crushed graphite, finishing with a quiet persistence that keeps pulling you back to the glass. The Guigal family has been making wine in the ancient village of Ampuis since 1946, when Etienne Guigal planted his first vines on slopes the Romans had terraced two millennia earlier. His son Marcel took over at just fifteen when Etienne lost his sight — and built the house into one of the Rhône’s defining names. This Lieu-Dit bottling, aged twenty-four months in French oak, is pure Syrah from a single named place. The kind of bottle that turns a Tuesday conversation into something worth remembering.
Tasting Notes
Violets, dark cherry, espresso, graphite
Pairs With
Lamb chops, aged Rhône-style cheeses
Grape
Syrah (100%)
Drink Window
2026–2038
Vintage Context
The 2022 vintage across the Northern Rhône was marked by a hot, dry summer that concentrated flavors without sacrificing the region’s hallmark freshness. Saint-Joseph’s granite soils and east-facing slopes kept the Syrah grounded — structured and aromatic rather than overblown. Guigal’s twenty-four months in barrel (half new French oak) added polish without masking the terroir. A vintage built for the cellar but already showing real charm.
Build the Board
via Murray’s Cheese
A splurge-worthy board for a Northern Rhône Syrah
Saint-Néctaire · saucisson sec · Castelvetrano olives · membrillo (quince paste) · dark rye crisps
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Producer Spotlight
Tenuta delle Terre Nere
Where Burgundy meets a live volcano
Marco de Grazia spent decades as one of Italy’s most influential wine importers before he ever made a bottle of his own. In the 1990s, he helped introduce single-vineyard Barolo to the world. Then, in 2000, he bought land on the northern slopes of Mount Etna and started over. At the time, eight winemakers worked the volcano. Today there are over 170. De Grazia was the one who made the world pay attention.
The estate farms vineyards across nine of Etna’s 142 recognized contrade, producing wines from Nerello Mascalese, a grape often compared to Pinot Noir for its translucent color and sensitivity to site. Less than one hectare holds pre-phylloxera vines over 140 years old. The wines are organic, deliberately restrained, and shaped by volcanic soils of pumice, basalt, and ash deposited by eruptions over millennia.
The TERROIR Letter
The Cellar, Delivered
Monthly selections and a weekly Subscriber’s Pick — curated bottles that never appear on the site.
Past Selections
February 2026
A Loire Chenin, a Sicilian Nero d’Avola, and a Napa Cab worth the price
January 2026
New Year, old vines — three bottles from heritage vineyards
December 2025
Holiday entertaining: Champagne, Barolo, and a wildcard orange wine
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