Hey guys!
This week’s newsletter is a mix of art, curiosity, and discovery. We’re looking at three artists who bring wine culture to life, diving into a biodynamic app that claims the moon decides when your wine tastes best, and spotlighting a Rhône producer whose wines have completely won me over. Enjoy 🍷
The Art of Wine and the Artists You Should Know 🎨
From wine bar walls to bottle labels, these creatives capture wine’s lighter side.
I’ve always been a sucker for a good wine poster. Over the years, I’ve come across countless artists whose work seems to pop up everywhere; on the walls of wine bars, inside restaurants, on bottle labels, and floating around online. What I love most is how these artists capture the playful side of wine and how things don’t have to be stiff or overly serious. Here are three artists whose work you may have already encountered in the world of wine, and if not, ones you should start looking out for now.
Michel Tolmer (@micheltolmer)
If you’ve ever set foot in a natural wine bar, chances are you’ve already encountered Michel Tolmer’s work. His art is practically synonymous with the culture. From his iconic trio of characters “Mimi, Fifi, and GlouGlou” to scenes that perfectly parody the habits and quirks of everyday wine drinkers, his style is instantly recognizable. Tolmer has become something of the unofficial cartoonist of the natural wine world, and I’m a huge fan of how he blends humor with deep affection for the community.
Pictured: Michel Tolmer Art
Gianluca Cannizzo (@mypostersucks)
Gianluca is one of those artists you’ve probably come across dozens of times without realizing it. His bold, graphic style feels both timeless and contemporary, and I think his work has shaped a whole generation of wine-inspired art. You’ll find his posters, illustrations, and designs everywhere. He’s collaborated with producers across the globe, including Cascina Tavijn in Piedmont.
Pictured: Gianluca Cannizzo Art
Cerise Zelenetz (@unnecessaryobservations)
Cerise is not only an incredibly talented artist but also a dear friend. Her work has a soft, watercolor-like touch that makes it feel both intimate and approachable, and she has a knack for translating complex wine ideas into playful and memorable visuals. A perfect example is her contribution to the SWURL Guide to Commonly Used Wine Terms, where her drawings help give context to specific wine terms we hear on a day-to-day.
Pictured: Cerise Zelenetz Art
If you’re in New York City this week, Cerise has an art exhibit this Thursday, worth checking out if you’re around! Additional information here if interested.
Does the Moon Decide When Your Wine Tastes Best? 🌙
Exploring the biodynamic calendar app that suggests the best (and worst) days to drink wine.
I’ve recently been hooked on an app called When Wine. When Wine is a biodynamic calendar app that tracks lunar cycles to suggest the best (and worst) days to drink wine. At first, I was skeptical, and honestly still slightly am, but it’s been surprisingly fun to track how wines seem to show differently depending on the lunar calendar.
Pictured: When Wine App
The app is based on over 50 years of research by biodynamic pioneer Maria Thun, whose calendar is still used by many farmers and winemakers today. The idea is simple: wine, like plants, responds to lunar cycles. That means there are “good” days to drink when flavors feel bright and expressive and “bad” days, when wines might come across muted or earthy. Some professionals plan tastings around it and swear by its accuracy; others chalk it up to suggestion. Either way, it’s become a tool I check almost daily.
The Four Types of Days
Fruit Days 🍒 : The best days for wine. Fruit flavors pop, wines taste lively, vibrant, and expressive.
Flower Days 🌸 : Great for aromatic wines, especially floral whites. Aromas feel lifted and more perfumed.
Leaf Days 🌿 : Wines can show leaner, more mineral, or earthy; not ideal for opening something special.
Root Days 🌳 : Generally the worst for tasting. Wines may seem closed, austere, or lacking fruit.
In my experience, the whole Fruit vs. Flower vs. Leaf vs. Root thing isn’t hard science, but more of a fun lens to view wine through. I’ve had bottles taste flat one night and then burst alive the next, and sometimes the calendar lines up uncannily with those shifts. Other times, not at all. Still, checking the app adds a layer of curiosity to opening a bottle and reminds me that wine is a living product, evolving day-by-day and glass-by-glass.
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!
Les Clos des Grillons 🍷
Location: Gard, Rhône, France 📍
Pictured: Rhone Valley, Image by Wine Folly
In the sun-baked Southern Rhône, Nicolas Renaud tends 12 hectares of vines under the name Les Clos des Grillons. Once a university lecturer in geology, Nicolas left the classroom in 2005 for the cellar, honing his craft at the biodynamic estate Domaine de la Vieille Julienne in Châteauneuf-du-Pape before planting roots in Rochefort-du-Gard. His first commercial vintage came in 2008, and since then he has carved out a singular place in the Southern Rhône, an area better known for sheer power than for the kind of freshness and precision his wines deliver.
Pictured: Nicolas Renaud, Image by Aaron Ayscough
Renaud farms organically, with biodynamic principles, across a number of parcels rich in limestone, clay, and the shifting soils of the Gard. His reds lean into Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Carignan, and Alicante: grapes are cooled in refrigerated trucks at harvest, then fermented by cool carbonic maceration. Depending on the cuvée, élevage takes place in neutral oak, cement, fiberglass, or steel. His whites, nearly unique in the region, highlight forgotten local grapes like Picpoul Gris, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picardon, and Grenache Gris, crafted to retain a rare balance and acidity. Minimal sulfur (barely 10 mg/L) if any, is the final detail in his commitment to wines that are alive and transparent.
Pictured: Les Clos des Grillons, Image by Thirst Merchants
Those who meet Nicolas speak of his infectious curiosity, an almost comic inability to resist taking on new parcels or forgotten varieties. Each vintage brings another experiment, another piece of Rhône history dusted off and given new life. His wines carry both the ripeness of the South and the freshness of a trained hand. In a region often associated with heat and extraction, Les Clos des Grillons shows just how much nuance the Rhône still has to offer.
Pictured: Nicolas Renaud, Image by Aaron Ayscough
I first came across Nicolas’s wines earlier this year at a blind tasting hosted by Steven Graf Imports (who imports his wines) and was completely blown away. I was told that he was a student of the great Eric Pfifferling of Domaine L’Anglore and it totally made sense. Fast forward to this past August, I spotted a bottle at Kingston Wine Co. on my way upstate, grabbed it on a whim, and had the exact same experience, vivid, energetic, and unforgettable. For me, that kind of consistency is the mark of a truly great winemaker.
Pictured: Le Clos de Grillons ‘Esprit Libre’ Rosé
If you want to try some of his wines, Flatiron Wine and Spirits has a few in stock here:
Girls Who Meet Blind Wine Tasting Event 🫣🍷
On September 25th, we’ll be co-hosting a blind tasting wine event with the team from Girls Who Meet (@girlswhomeet)! Link for tickets are below if interested
That’s it for this week! From wine art, to lunar calendars, to fresh Rhône winemaking, I hope you found something new to explore.
Thank so much for reading along, and as always, drink responsibly! 🥂