The Fancy Pants Wine Club

The Fancy Pants Wine Club

How do you politely tell someone to spend more money than you would like on this? They are worth it! trust us…  This is the most interesting of our clubs, you get old producers, new producers. This is capital W Wine. It will delight and challenge you, these wines will want to converse.

Expect reds, white, sparkling, and the occasional orange, as long as they are FASCINATING!

The Fancy Pants Club Vol. 8

While both 00 Wines VGW Chardonnay 2023 and Antoine Chevalier Tecta
Silva Blanc de Blancs 2020 are single-varietal Chardonnay expressions
defined by a low-intervention philosophy and a striking acidic drive, they
achieve their structure and tension through radically different winemaking
approaches and regional terroirs.

Both winemakers reject conventional, heavy-handed cellar manipulation to
craft site-transparent Chardonnay focused on high natural acidity, mineral
energy, and deep lees integration. Rather than relying on simple primary
fruit, both producers build complex, savory mid-palate weight—00 Wines via
French oak and leesy contact, and Chevalier via 36 months of autolytic aging
on fine lees in tank and barrel.

The 00 Wines VGW is an exercise in phenolic tension and reduction—using
deliberate, pre-fermentation juice oxidation to build a still Chardonnay with
intense structural grip, flinty complexity, and coastal salinity. By contrast, the
Antoine Chevalier Tecta Silva is an exercise in chalky purity and effervescent
precision—capturing the pure, crumbling limestone soils of an underrated
Champagne sub-region (Coteaux du Vitryat).

00 Wines VGW Chardonnay 2023 $ 80.00

Chris Hermann is a unique figure in the wine world. He is equally at ease in
the boardroom advising major wineries and vineyards and, in the cellar,
crafting ultra-premium wines. He co-founded 00 Wines in 2015 alongside his
wife, Kathryn, and his late father, Dr. Richard Hermann, in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley, creating a project that fuses family heritage, ecological
insight, and winemaking ambition. At 00 Wines, Chris applies the same
precision and vision: sourcing from elite vineyards in the Willamette Valley,
drawing on Old World techniques, including the Burgundy-inspired “black
Chardonnay” method.

The Black Chardonnay protocol features a hard press that allows early juice.
oxidation before spontaneous native yeast fermentation in French oak.

An intensely flinty, zesty, smoky, and fragrant white. On the palate, it’s salty,
immensely concentrated, and fresh, with heaps of crushed stone, flint, and
citrus rind flavors. Medium-bodied and electric, while packing a punch.
Textured, creamy, with subtle undertones of white peach and crushed chalk
add architectural balance. It leaves a lingering trace of mouthwatering ocean
salinity.

Antoine Chevalier Tecta Silva Blanc de Blancs 2020 $ 76.00

This Blanc de Blancs highlights a single-vineyard Chardonnay expression
from the Côteaux du Vitryat. Antoine Chevalier manages the organic plot on
crumbling chalk soils to lock in natural acidity and mineral tension. Hand-
harvested fruit undergoes spontaneous native-yeast fermentation in neutral
barrels and tanks before being bottled unfiltered. Aged thirty-six months on
fine lees, this is a precise snapshot of grower Champagne.

On the nose, it offers enticing aromas of green apple, lemon zest, and a
subtle hint of brioche. The palate is crisp and refreshing, with a zesty acidity
that carries flavors of tart pear and citrus peel. A fine, persistent mousse and
a chalky mineral undertone contribute to a clean, elegant finish.

I love this champagne as it has an almond paste, almond cake note that I
can’t get over.

Stay fancy…