Thursday, 4/6 tasting
6-8 PM $12

Not long ago, a beloved French customer was inquiring about a wine and asked me what it tasted like. Foolishly, I chirped, “it’s soif-y!” and he looked at me, slightly askance, then laughed and agreed that the neologism, as awkward as it is, nevertheless works. The French phrase, “vin de soif,” typically refers to lighter bodied reds, sometimes profitably served cool, low in tannin and high in mouthwatering acidity, or crisp, crunchy dry white wines—wines that rehydrate our physiological, animal thirst, and moisten our mouths and parched throats. And yet there is a deeper, spiritual dimension of thirst that a good vin de soif also pleases, soothing not just the thirst in you, but also the beast. When you’ve been schlepping around Los Angeles on a hot day in a crappy old burnt orange Dodge Swinger, bench seats, slant six, or perhaps merely performing some mundane, routine task of the sort that saps your soul, there are wines that can wet your whistle and lighten your load. I do not know where a vin de soif will take me, but sometimes, it’s anywhere other than here, if only for a few minutes.

Stephane Serol “Turbullent” sparkling rosé NV
Domaine de l’Ecu “Classic” Muscadet 2015
Philippe Gourdon “Chenin Noir” pineau d’aunis 2014
Brendan Tracey “Wah-Wah” Vin de France 2015