Compline Wine Club - Local Pickup

What do you get with this monthly club? 

• Two bottles that drink deliciously right now
• Hard-to-find wines: selected by Matt Stamp and Ryan Stetins, founders of Compline
• Access: club perks in the Restaurant and in our new Wine Shop 
• Flexibility: See the wines before committing, skip a month if you want, and cancel anytime

LOCAL PICKUP AND SHIPPING AVAILABLE: This monthly club is available for local pickup at Compline Restaurant and Wine Shop. For shipping options, please click here.

HOT WEATHER: Ground shipping during periods of hot weather may cause damage to wine. During summer months, we prefer to HOLD wine club shipments until the weather cools down. If you want to receive your wines immediately, please contact us at matt@complinewine.com to discuss alternative shipping options. 

March selections:

In like a lion... shoot—we're over the rain here in downtown Napa. But it does give us the opportunity to warm up with two favorite French reds: Cornas and Saumur-Champigny!

Cornas - Vincent Paris "30 Granit" 2019
retail price: $52

Cornas is the only appellation in the entire Northern Rhône Valley in which it is forbidden to blend other grapes with Syrah, so it might be the best place to decipher the grape's character. But it's small: at about 360 acres in total, the vineyards of Cornas comprise less acreage than To-Kalon Vineyard in Oakville! They rise on steep, terraced, granite slopes above a single village of the same name. Vincent Paris is a native son. 

Vincent farms Syrah for his "Granit 30" bottling in a plot called Les Mazards, right above town. His vines are roughly 30 years of age and planted in granitic soils. Biodynamically farmed, mostly destemmed, and produced in a way that prizes freshness over rigidity—this is beautiful Syrah. It's full of savory, almost floral aromatics, deep purple color, and dark, fresh fruit. 

A time ago, descriptions of Cornas always summoned descriptors that felt like backhanded praise: rugged, sturdy, rustic, impenetrable. Thankfully, that time has passed, and the current crop of first-rate producers in this tiny Syrah appellation show why it belongs among the top tier of Northern Rhône appellations. Yes the best Cornas can age for decades, but in this case you don't have to wait that long!

Saumur-Champigny, Domaine des Closiers 2021
retail price: $38

Saumur-Champigny, a red wine appellation just west of Chinon in the Loire Valley, has one star producer that outpaces all others: Clos Rougeard. That winery has beyond-cult status, and wine geeks adore it. Arguably Clos Rougeard may have be the best Cabernet Franc producer in the world. But: the Foucault family, who tended the domaine and made its wines for eight generations, is no longer involved. Nady Foucault sold the winery to the billionaire owners of Bordeaux's Château Montrose in 2017, two years after his brother Charly passed away. 

Here we come to Domaine des Closiers, a historic property in Saumur-Champigny. Nady Foucault is back! He's consulting at this rejuvenated estate, working with 35-year-old hillside Cabernet Franc vines, and helping to position the domaine as one of the region's best. Is Domaine des Closiers the heir apparent to Clos Rougeard? That's a tall order, but Foucault's involvement has folks heaping on the praise. 

Wine Notes by Matt Stamp