5/2/26 - 

Today we are introducing a new estate to the shop, Casa Los Frailes, from Valencia, Spain. We also have a small allocation straight from the cellars of Lopez de Heredia in Rioja. To cap off today’s offer, we’ve sprinkled a few more new arrivals and returning favorites into the collection. Here, you’ll find more Rioja, Portuguese wines, chillable reds and more. We’re extremely excited to be welcoming our new direct-import, Casa Los Frailes, to our shelves, and it feels great to offer their wines alongside some of Spain and Portugal’s very best.

-----------------------

Casa Los Frailes

Over the last few years, we have tasted several times with the folks from Casa Los Frailes, an estate located in Valencia, Spain. Their wines, focused on the unique soils of their area and the local Monastrell grape (aka Mourvèdre), always impressed us for their purity of fruit, their elegance and balance (from a region that can sometimes produce very powerful wines), and their incredible value. Organic certified since 2000 (one of the early estates in Spain to be certified), and Biodynamic certified as of 2016, their philosophy in the vineyards and cellar is aligned with our ethos here at Chambers Street, so we're excited to introduce Casa Los Frailes to our readers. Their wines have been on the shelves for about a month now at CSW, and many of our local customers are big fans, especially of the value-driven Vino de la Finca wines. You'd be hard pressed to find a better wine at $15! 

Soil study at Casa Los Frailes: Blue is Dolomite soils, Orange is Rubificate, Yellow is yellow Limestone, Green is white Limestome, and red is Alluvial

Their terroir specific wines however, are the more compelling example of their work, and the result of extensive studies of their soils. Their estate has pure Dolomite soils, iron rich limestone that has literally been turned red ("rubified") from the iron over millennia, yellow limestone, alluvial soils...the list goes on! Their single varietal Monastrell bottlings: "Dolomitas" and "Caliza," are fascinating expressions, vinified the same way and revealing the undeniable influence of terroir on the wines. Their Garnacha Tintorera "Rubificado" and the "Moma," highlighting the Marcellan grape (a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnacha) are also well worth a try and ready for the dinner table or any upcoming BBQs.
 
Casa Los Frailes ("Cals Frares” in old Valencian local language) takes its name from the Jesuit Friars (Frailes in Spanish), who lived on the estate in the 17th and 18th Century.
Steeped in history, from these friars through the 13 generations of the Velázquez family that ran the estate since 1771, we're excited to be part of their future and to have these fantastic Spanish wines on the shelf!

-Eben Lillie

----------------------

Lopez de Heredia
 
Few wines garner as much respect from the wine community as the wines of Lopez de Heredia. There is plenty of controversy and disagreement regarding the great First and Second Growth Bordeauxs, Grand Cru Burgundies, Barolo, etc. In the case of the Lopez de Heredia wines, there isn’t much debate surrounding their top quality. Instead, the debate around these wines is typically regarding which cuvee is someone’s favorite. I, for instance, used to insist that the Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco was my favorite, but a recent taste of a 2007 Tondonia Reserva may have changed things. Every aspect of production, from the farming of prized vineyards of Tondonia, Zaconia, etc., to the custom cooperage, as well as the extended aging process, has been mastered by this family for 130 years. In light of bringing in our latest addition to the Spanish section, the wines from Casa Los Frailes, it’s a great pleasure to celebrate the occasion with the addition of these iconic bottlings.
 
Please note, as these wines come from directly from the estate through their NY importer and due to price disparities because of the grey market, these wines are offered at low markup and are non-discountable.

---------------------

Alongside these wines, we felt it would be appropriate to highlight some new arrivals to our Spanish and Portuguese selections. A good start would be the 2023 SantYuste from Esmeralda Garcia in the D.O Rueda. 100% Verdejo blended from four different high altitude (800-900 meter) sites with 130-200 year old vines. I’ve come to really love these old-vine Verdejos over the years. There is a richness that rings out with a powerful minerality, and Esmeralda’s approach (fermentation and lees aging in steel and clay) keeps the acidity and textural elements in harmony. I’d like to one day put this wine side by side with a Lopez de Heredia white and pontificate some more.

We have too many delicious wines from Portugal hitting our shelves to pass up the opportunity to include them in today’s email. Starting out, we have two wines from COZs, a collaboration between Tiago Telles (of Gilda and RAIZ) and António Marques-da-Cruz (Quinta da Serradinha) which really blew me away. Having had the chance to meet and taste at our store with Tiago, I could tell he was seriously passionate, as well as a wealth of knowledge on viticulture. It really shows in his and António’s wines. The two focus on indigenous grape varieties in a handful of vineyards in the Sierra de Montejunto, a mountain range just north of Lisbon. The single-vineyard VP Vital (VP for the Vinha da Pena vineyard, on clay-limestone soil) is a serious value for what is true showstopper of a skin-contact wine; note that this 2022 has seen some additional age in bottle, which it’s already benefited from nicely. 

António and Tiago

With summer fast-approaching, it’s time to stock up on all things chilled, and with so many good options, we may need a bigger fridge! We’ve always believed in the greatness of wines under $20, and though it never gets any easier finding them, they catch me off guard and put a smile on my face to this day. Quinta do Ermízio’s 2025 Vinho Verde recently did just that for me. A picture-perfect Vinho Verde: crispy apple and citrus fruit, a nose that jumps out of the glass, and high-pitched, refreshing acidity. Then we have the return of Luis Pato’s Vinhas Velhas Branco Beiras, and from a particularly good vintage: 2024 was consistently cool from Spring all the way to harvest, though the rain would let up by August and September and the temperatures would rise just enough to ensure very precise ripening. This wine has a proven track record of rewarding some cellaring, so I plan on keeping a few stashed away, but it’s in a great place now. 

-Nick Douglass

>>>VIEW THE WINES<<<