Hey guys!
This week we’ve got a little bit of everything: a Taiwanese bakery that secretly doubles as one of the city’s best wine spots, a quick rundown on old vines, and a Jura producer whose bottles helped shape the way we see wine today. Enjoy🍷
Why Win Son Bakery Should Be on Every Wine Lover’s Radar 🍷🍰
Come for the pastries, stay for the wine list (and the occasional perfect pairing).
Last week, I stumbled into one of my favorite wine and dessert pairings in recent memory, and it came from a place you might not expect. Win Son Bakery is already a New York City staple, known for its Taiwanese pastries, its famous scallion pancake bacon, egg, and cheese, and a whole lot more. With locations in both Bushwick and the East Village, it’s as much a neighborhood hangout as it is a destination.
Pictured: Win Son Bakery Brooklyn and Manhattan, Image by Win Son
But what many people don’t realize is that, beyond the killer food, Win Son Bakery also has one of the best priced wine programs in the city. You’ll find bottles that are usually tough to track down, and the markups are shockingly low, sometimes barely above retail. I honestly don’t know how they make it work, but I’m not complaining. If you’re curious about how wine fits into the Win Son story, founder Trigg Brown spoke about it in a great interview with Swurl Media that’s worth a read:
On my latest visit to the Manhattan location, they were offering something special: a one day dessert and wine pairing. The dish was essentially a blueberry shortcake topped with in-house vanilla ice cream, paired with a Rhône Valley Syrah. The producer details are a little unclear, some sources list it as Frédéric Pierro, others as Dard & Ribo, but honestly, it didn’t matter. The pairing was immaculate. The richness of the shortcake and ice cream paired perfectly with the Syrah’s deep blue fruit and peppery notes.
Pictured: Dessert and Wine Pairing at Win Son Bakery
If you’re in New York and haven’t been to Win Son Bakery lately, consider this a sign. Whether it’s to dive into their legendary pastries, explore their incredible wine fridge, or, if you’re lucky, catch a surprise pairing like this one, it’s a place worth making time for.
What Exactly are Old Vines? 👴🍇
From bonsai-like vines in Catalonia to bottles marked “vieilles vignes”, here’s why vine age matters.
While I was harvesting in Catalonia last month, the vineyard that stuck with me most wasn’t the biggest or the highest-yielding, but a nearly 100-year-old plot of Sumoll. Beyond the picture perfect setting of the vineyard, every vine itself was striking: gnarled, twisted, and shaped like bonsai trees holding just a few clusters of grapes. The winemakers I was with couldn’t stop raving about them, and after hours of picking, I found myself asking: why are old vines so celebrated? What makes them so coveted beyond their appearance?
Pictured: 100-year-old Sumoll Vineyard
I learned that as vines age, their yields naturally decline. They produce fewer grapes, but the fruit that remains is often more concentrated, leading to wines with depth and intensity that younger vines can’t really achieve. Additionally, their roots stretch much deeper into the ground compared to new plantings. This allows old vines to draw water and nutrients from deep below the surface, making them more resilient to shifts in weather and more consistent from year to year.
Pictured: Old Vines / Viñas Viejas
There’s also something to be said for maturity. Young vines can struggle to ripen properly, which can leave wines tasting harsh or green. Older vines, by contrast, tend to achieve ripeness more evenly, giving wines a natural balance. They’re also more self-regulating: once established, they require less intervention and treatments to stay healthy.
Pictured: Sumoll Grape Cluster
If you ever get the chance to harvest vines like this, it’s an experience unlike any other. It feels almost like working in a zen garden that also happens to be a living piece of history. And the next time you see old vines, vieilles vignes in French, or viñas viejas in Spanish on a wine label, you’ll know what it means, and it’s always worth giving those bottles a try.
Producer Highlight ⭐
One of our favorite parts of wine is the discovery: we’re constantly being put on to new regions, producers, and cuvées from our friends. We’ll never be able to try EVERY wine, but we want to take a moment to mention some producers that excite us!
Michel Gahier 🍷
Location: Montigny-lès-Arsures, Jura, France 📍
Pictured: Jura Region, Image by Wikipedia
Michel Gahier is a deeply rooted figure in the Jura, with his family’s presence in the region tracing back to 1525. Based in Montigny-lès-Arsures, nicknamed “The Capital of Trousseau”, Gahier tends to 6.5 hectares of vines in what is arguably the most storied village for the grape. He learned from his close friend and neighbor Jacques Puffeney, whose legendary status in Arbois provided both inspiration and a wealth of knowledge. Through this mentorship, Gahier refined his approach to farming and winemaking, crafting bottles that vividly express the particular terroir of his home village.
Pictured: Michel Gahier, Image by Elevage
Today, Gahier vinifies parcel by parcel, ensuring that each cuvée reflects a single site. His approach combines tradition and precision, reds are destemmed, yields are kept low, and long macerations allow the wines to build depth. Whites are made both ouillé (topped up barrels) and sous voile (aged under a veil of yeast), with his Vin Jaune standing as a benchmark for the region, aged in century-old barrels inherited from Puffeney’s cellar.
Pictured: Michel Gahier Wines, Image by P&V Merchants
What emerges from Gahier’s care are wines of remarkable authenticity and character. His Trousseau, layered and dynamic, remain benchmarks of the grape within the Arbois appellation, showing just why the village holds its proud nickname. Organic viticulture, thoughtful élevage, and a refusal to filter at bottling ensure the wines maintain purity and resonance. Gahier’s work speaks clearly of Jura’s heritage while carrying the fresh energy of a grower who understands both his land and its traditions.
Pictured: Gahier Chardonnay at Auberge de Bellevie
On a personal note, the wines of Michel Gahier hold a special place for us. In wine, people often talk about “the bottle that changed it all”, the one that reshaped how you thought about what great wine could be. For us, that bottle was a Chardonnay from Gahier. It was zippy, fresh, citrus-driven, and unlike anything we’d ever tasted. To this day, whenever we spot one of his bottles on a shelf, we try to pick it up, a reminder of the moment our perspective on wine truly expanded. We talked about this with Yes Society in a recent interview:
Flatiron Wine and Spirits have some in stock if you’re interested in trying:
Wine Club Updates🍷📦
First wine club shipment goes out this weekend! Thank you so much for your patience if you signed up, we’re really excited to finally get these bottles into your hands. Sign-ups for October are still open, so if you’d like to join, you can use the link here:
That’s it for today! Hope you make it to Win Son Bakery soon, try some old vine wine, or stumble upon a Chardonnay from Michel Gahier.
Thank so much for reading along, and as always, drink responsibly! 🥂