Crack It Open
by Tom Wolf
Most of the bottles we import feature a cork, but every so often, we’ll find a demijohn, keg, wine box, or screw cap bottle peeking out of a corner in a cellar in France and Italy. After all, some situations call for a cork-less delivery system—backyard parties, picnics, you name it—and our producers experience those too! We don’t import the demijohns, kegs, or wine boxes, but here are a few of the screw cap classics.
2025 Vino Rosso
Italy | Piedmont
Marco Tintero cultivates a wide variety of Piemontese grapes and shows his facility with them in this rosso, which consists of a slightly different blend each year depending on what the vintage yields. The perennial backbone of this cuvée, though, comprises Barbera and Dolcetto, two regional varieties that complement each other incredibly well. Barbera provides an irresistible bite and mouthwatering acidity, while Dolcetto delivers generous fruit notes and joyfulness. Evoking brambly fruit, tobacco, and licorice, Tintero’s Rosso offers a perfect entry point to the charms of Piemonte.
2025 Rosso Piceno
Italy | Le Marche
Just on the other side of the Apennine mountain range from Tuscany, the region of Le Marche is home to Colleleva, an azienda that produces some of the country’s nicest under-$20 bottles you’ll find. The Rosso Piceno blends mostly Montepulciano with a splash of Sangiovese, and the 2025 captures this bottling at its most exuberant self—as a dreamy pizza-on-the-patio red.
2025 Vin de France Rouge “Raisins Gaulois”
France | Beaujolais
There’s an argument to be made that Lapierre’s Morgon already represents the pinnacle of convivial reds, but siblings Mathieu, Camille, and Anne seem to outdo themselves each year with Raisins Gaulois by producing an even merrier and more approachable cuvée with a screw cap. It’s the most easy-going red you’ll drink all summer.