Wines We Loved in July, at Thirst Wine Merchants
Founded in 2006 by Michael Yarmark and Emilia Valencia, Thirst — a beloved neighborhood wine shop tucked into the bottom floor of a Fort Greene brownstone, and currently run by Nick Politan — will turn 18 this December. And the place is a local institution for a reason. With a truly niche selection on offer, you’ll find wines here that you won’t find at other shops; discover winemakers you’ve never heard of; taste bottles from regions you hardly realized were capable of producing wines. Sure, it may not carry an Astor Wines-sized inventory, but Thirst is the epitome of quality over quantity.
And beyond the wine, itself, this is the sort of place you’d stop by just to hang with the staff — whether or not you make a purchase. Where nine out of ten times, you’ll learn something new. It’s a hub for *regulars* — and that’s a special thing to find in a wine shop which is a testament to the staff that work there.
Stop by for formal tastings every Friday — but most days, if you pop in after 5:00pm any day of the week, there will likely be something open and ready to taste. And in the meanwhile, here’s a look at the best things we drank this July, available at Thirst.
Domaine de Majas
Roussillon, France
Alain Carrère founded Domaine de Majas with his wife Agnès in 1992 in Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, Roussillon, France. After initially struggling to sell their wine locally and facing financial difficulties, Alain signed a contract with a major supermarket chain to be the entirety of their wine production, which resulted in producing wines that had to taste a specific way and continued financial challenges as the bulk pricing wasn’t enough to pay their bills. A turning point for the estate came when Alain met Tom Lubbe of Domaine Matassa, who helped convert the estate to organic viticulture and focus on expressing the unique terroirs.
"L'Amorouse Rosé" 2023
Style: Rosé
Grapes: Merlot & Syrah
Importer: Louis Dressner
Price: $18.99
Located in the commune of Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, this domaine has been in operation since 1992. And this particular bottle – 50/50 Merlot & Syrah from vines cultivated in the Roussillon's Calce – is reminiscent of grapefruit peel, rosehips, and herbs de provence. With plenty of tannic astringency, it’s far from a bland or unmemorable rosé.
Rémi Poujol
Languedoc, France
Rémi and his two horses farm around 12 hectares of land in the Languedoc region of France. Farming organically since 2002 and without the addition of sulfur since 2007, Rémi is one of the most respected winemakers in the area, and his wines are always ones we love to try.
"Le Temps Fait Tout Rosé" 2021
Style: Rosé
Grapes: Carignan, Grenache & Viognier
Importer: Percy Selections
Price: $24.99
This is a killer wine for the *rosé girls* — with nice acidity and a raspberry balsamic kick. Made with biodynamically cultivated Carignan, Grenache & Viognier from Languedoc, these grapes are hand-harvested and slowly directly pressed (also zero/zero).
Colleformica
Lazio, Italy
The Bombetti family has farmed 3 hectares in Velletri for over 100 years, with Sergio and his son Paolo now leading the way. Established in 2018 (grapes were previously sold and wine was only for family & friends), Colleformica produces wines from Malvasia, Trebbiano, and Sangiovese vines, grown organically on volcanic soils at 300 meters altitude.
"Formica Pazza Rosé" 2022
Style: Sparkling Rosé
Grape: Sangiovese, Malvasia di Candia, and Trebbiano
Importer: Amuninni
Price: $24.99
At $25, this sparkling rosé punches above its weight. Made with Sangiovese, Malvasia di Candia, and Trebbiano, this juice undergoes a short co-maceration followed by spontaneous fermentation in fiberglass tanks. The stuff is rife with red fruit notes with a fresh-bread-finish – an optimal wine for daylight hours.
Marto
Rheinhessen, Germany
Martin “Marto” Wörner began his winemaking career at 23, right after completing his postgraduate stage with Tom Lubbe (Matassa). He returned home due to his father's poor health and started by transforming the family's 300 sq ft cellar, which had once served as a beer tavern for merchants passing through the Franco-German border and was adjacent to former stables for horse-drawn carriages. Although his winemaking style initially leaned more towards the wild side of natural wine, he has since gone on to explore more classical winemaking.
"Manna" 2022
Style: Light red
Grape: Blauer Portugieser & Scheurebe
Importer: Percy Selections
Price: $26.99
From organically cultivated vines in the Rheinhessen, this co-ferment of Blauer Portugieser and Scheurebe is an easy, crunchy, rhubarb-esque summer red. The grapes undergo a short co-maceration prior to pressing, after which they’re aged for 6-9 months (zero/zero, baby).
“The SWURL Guide to Commonly Used Wine Terms”
Domaine Des Marnes Blanches, Coup de Jus
Jura, France
“Natives of the Jura, but from farming rather than winemaking backgrounds, Géraud and Pauline Fromont began this Domaine when they were in their mid-20s, and are ambitious, talented young winemakers. They share all vineyard, cellar, and sales duties, and are rising stars in the region.
The Marnes Blanches vineyards are divided between three towns: Cesancey, Vincelles, and Ste-Agnès. The Fromonts acquired their Cesancey vineyards first, and those feature the “white marl” soil that gives the Domaine its name, with topsoil of limestone. The vineyards in Ste-Agnès and Vincelles are primarily red marl, with fossilized limestone. With vines up to 100 years old and interesting local strains such as Melon-Queue-Rouge and Savagnin Muscaté, the Fromonts have excellent material to work with in the cellar. They began farming organically immediately upon beginning the Domaine in 2006 and are now Ecocert certified, with plowing between rows.” - Selection Massale
"Bulle Ton Body" NV
Style: Sparkling
Grape: Chardonnay
Importer: Selection Massale
Price: $34.99
A traditional method Jurassic sparkler! Made with 100% Chardonnay from a mix of parcels, these grapes are hand-harvested, and directly pressed to stainless steel tanks where the juice spontaneously ferments. These producers – veteran stars of the Jura – have been making a variety of cuvees ranging from ouillé whites, to sous-voile whites, to Crémants, single variety reds, and a delicious vin de paille, since 2006. And this bottle is ideal evidence of their expertise.
Domaine de Chèrouche
Valais, Switzerland
Marc and Andrea Balzan met during the 2007 harvest in Lavaux and began planning their own winery, Domaine de Chèrouche, which they established in 2010. Located in Valais, they farm isolated vineyards by hand, avoiding the chemical sprays used by some local wineries. By 2017, they managed 8 plots in Ayent, growing local and international grape varieties on very steep (30% gradient slopes), schist and quartz soils. In their small, spotless cellar, they meticulously produce wines with a strong alpine identity, characterized by elegance and juiciness.
"Pontzan" 2022
Style: Red
Grape: Gamay
Importer: Soil Expedition
Price: $45.99
Glorious alpine Gamay! This zero/zero bottle, which comes from Valais, Switzerland, is a perfectly balanced, elegant spicy red designed to sell the non-believers on the merits of Swiss wine. And while the Domaine de Cherouche team typically work with local varieties like Arvine, Amigne, Paien, and Chasselas, they’re quite gifted when it comes to cultivating more global classics (Chardonnay, Gamay and Pinot Noir).
Benoît Courault
Loire, France
Benoit Courault is a young and established vigneron in Faye d’Anjou, a village south of Angers along the Layon river. Although not the son of a winemaker, he decided to study wine and worked with the famous vigneron Eric Pfifferling from Domaine L’Anglore in Tavel from 2003 to 2006. Returning to the Loire, Benoit established his estate in 2006 with 5 hectares of vineyards, focusing on organic farming, natural vinification, and minimal intervention to produce authentic, high-quality wines.
"Empreinte" 2022
Style: White
Grape: Chenin Blanc
Importer: Avant Garde Wine & Spirits
Price: $46.99
Just the third vintage of this bottling from Benoît, this 100% Chenin Blanc comes from vineyards organically worked in Bonnezeaux. The grapes are hand-harvested, gently pressed and spontaneously fermented, then aged in a combination of neutral barrel and tonneaux — and the result is a high-tension, balanced Chenin Blanc designed to pair brilliantly with a stinky cheese.
Domaine de la Borde
Jura, France
"Pinotstradamus" 2022
Style: Red
Grape: Pinot Noir
Importer: Weygandt-Metzler
Price: $54.99
From the most famous hill in the Jura's Pupillin, this is Julien Mareschal's "Pinostradamus" – 100% Pinot Noir from the Côte de Feule. The Grapes are hand-harvested and whole-bunch macerated for 14 days without pumpovers or punchdowns, then spontaneously fermented in stainless steel. It’ll give you all the acid kick you expect from Jura wine, but with all the elegance and joie de vivre of a well-made Pinot Noir.
Ormiale
St. Émilion, France
Ormiale is a project Fabrice Domercq started with the famous British designer Jasper Morrison in 2007 in the Entre-deux-Mers region of Bordeaux. Ormiale took their small 0.69-hectare plot organic in 2009 and now cultivates 2 hectares of Demeter-certified vines in the Côtes de Castillon and Côtes de Francs. They work with very low yields, between 20-29 hl/ha (compared to the 59 hl/ha authorized maximum in this region). All grapes are destemmed by hand and manually loaded into conical French oak vats, where fermentation takes place without additives. The wines are almost always made without any addition of sulfur.
In July 2021, the winery moved into a new cellar – an old limestone quarry in downtown Saint-Emilion. “We feel blessed to have found that opportunity: permanent temperature all year long, darkness, silence, mineral all around… we couldn’t have found something better to continue to experiment with the juices. Already after two vintages made there (2021 and 2022), we are astonished by the possibilities for winemaking that such an ideal location is allowing us. It’s an extraordinary tool to do better,” Fabrice enthuses about the stable conditions and low temperatures, so crucial for making high-quality natural wine without any added SO2. “I had an intuition that this place could be fantastic BUT never as much as it appears now.” - Jenny & François Selections
“James” 2022
*Eliza’s top July pick
Style: Sparkling Rosé
Grape: Malbec & Merlot
Importer: Jenny & François Selections
Price: $69.99
For the Champagne loyalists, this Malbec/Merlot pet nat from St. Émilion gives off an equally celebratory energy. Grapes are hand-harvested and bled a la saignée method after a short maceration, followed by spontaneous fermentation – and the palate gives the perfect blend of permanent marker, rocky minerality, and punchy, bright fruit.