WINES OF THE MONTH
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ABOUT THE WINE:
Crisp and fruity, this wine begs to be poured next to the seafood hauled from the sea just a stone’s throw from its vineyards. Green apples, lime and minerals. The perfect wine for seaside sipping.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Terenzuola is a winery based in Fosdinovo (MS) and its 22 hectares of vineyards are spread over different territories of rare beauty, between Liguria and Tuscany.
From the Colli di Luni to the lands of Candia in the shadow of the marble quarries between Massa and Carrara, up to the heroic terraces of the Cinque Terre.
ABOUT THE WINE:
The color is medium deep ruby red. The nose is dominated by notes of red and black fruits (black cherry).The palate is structured, with a nice substance and fresh acidity.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
J.Mourat is located at the western end of the Loire region, where the soils are predominantly volcanic and the climate moderated by maritime breezes. The 67 hectare vineyard of J. Mourat is located to the south of the Loire Valley within close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean so a maritime climate prevails. The vines are planned on a hillside overlooking the Lay valley. This is an ancient land that was settled by the Romans who, thankfully, brought vines from Rome and planted them in Mareuil sur Lay.
The Mourat name has always been associated with wine: from wine makers and salt makers on the Ile de Ré until the end of the 19th century, then as wine merchants on the Sables d’Olonne for three generations. Mareuil-sur-Lay is situated on an ancient fault-line at the point where three ecosystems meet: the Lucon lowland, the Marais Poitevin and the Bocage Vendéen. The land is composed of schistes and rhyolites, influenced by the Maritime climate. The Vendée benefits from a cosmopolitan vineyard which traditionally combines a mixture of vine varieties from the Loire Valley and the South-West of France. It wasn’t until 1974 that Jean Mourat created the vineyard which would become the Chateau Marie du Fou. In 1998 Jéremie joined him to pursue the adventure by creating two new vineyards: Le Clos Saint André, which was established in 2006; followed by Le Moulin Blanc, in 2011. The past 10 years have also seen all the vineyards converted, or in the process of being converted, to organic production.
ABOUT THE WINE:
This Prosecco is what they call in Italy "Col fondo" which is created by making a base wine and then provoking a second fermentation in the same bottle and then sealing the bottle. The wine is never disgorged of its lees and no dosage is ever added. This method is also known as the ancestral method. In the last few years, the col fondo movement of cloudy Prosecco has caught on. Shake the bottle and it becomes cloudy with lees sediment. This 'A Fondo" is 100% Glera grape, no SO2 added, bottle-fermented Prosecco. Only the best grapes go in here, and the resulting wine is stellar. Smells of green apple, white peach, litchi, peppermint, forsythia, honeysuckle. Super easy to drink with savory taste of minerals, persistent.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Cinzia Canzian, after an experience of almost two decades working for her husband’s winery and the Prosecco consortium, started Le Vigne di Alice in 2004, inspired by memories of her grandmother Alice’s osteria or tavern, where conviviality and wines like A Fondo and Tajad flowed. Her vision was – and is – to bottle artisanal, grower Prosecco that speaks of the grapes and soil, from vineyards at the base of the Dolomites near her home, but also to make sparkling wines that are bone-dry Brut, or even Brut Nature (i.e., no dosage). We call it Prosecco for non-Prosecco lovers (a category that includes us). Alice’s Brut Nature style was the first in the Prosecco area to really get the attention of sommeliers and wine lovers looking for something to pair instead of Champagne, and it is still considered one of the best. We see Alice as a winery that stuck to its guns to make Prosecco in a natural and Brut style, calling into question what ‘traditional’ Prosecco from the 50’s and 60’s really meant, when it would have been easy to have just gone with the Extra-Dry sweet-money flow. For that we are grateful, and it’s the reason we’ve been drinking, selling, and celebrating with these wines for years.
ABOUT THE WINE:
Lambrusco and conviviality go hand in hand, and Denny Bini’s red fizz has been a favorite of ours for so many get-togethers that we often informally call it festa, or party. This is a classic Emilian Lambrusco, with a more depth to the fruit, since Denny works so carefully in the vineyard: sweet-sour berries, with that classic Emilian bitter note on the finish. Everyday drinking sparkling red Lambrusco, that’ become affectionally and unofficially known as the ‘Festa’ or ‘Party’ label, owing to the big ol’ table of various types of people enjoying a raucous meal, and to the fact that it’s delicious, a touch bitter, and goes down easy if you don’t overthink it (kinda like most family gatherings). The label is an imagined festa of historical and mythical figures from Italian history. From right to left: Totò, Alberto Sordi, Silvana Mangano, Magiofagiuoli, Fantozzi, Nonna Pasta, and an unidentified baby. )
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
After too many years of industrially-produced mediocrity, Emilia is now home to a small but growing cell of artisanal producers who are farming carefully and returning to the metodo ancestrale (also know as Pet-Nat) of their great-grandfathers. Denny Bini is one of the humble heroes of this renaissance-revolution. Over the years, he has slowly been changing his career from historic cellar master of well-known Lambrusco estate to someone with his own vineyards and cellar of mostly metodo ancestrale wines.
ABOUT THE WINE:
This is very nervy wine with some serious brightness and laser-focused flavors of wet river rock and lemon zest. This is a lower-alcohol, mineral-driven Chardonnay that drinks much more like a French Chablis than it's California Chardonnay counterparts. This wine truly expresses the terroir of the Alder Springs vineyard and is drinking beautifully right now.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Wilde Farm was a place long before it was a wine. Built in 1907 on the estate of Samuel Wilde, a successful coffee and spice trader, Wilde Farm began as a horse farm, with a generous kitchen garden of vegetables and herbs. Much like its eponymous wine, the house was expertly crafted of honest materials and made to age gracefully. About twenty years ago, Wilde Farm proprietors, Loren and Amy Grossman, took over custody of Wilde Farm. There they raised three beautiful boys, in the only home they have ever known. Wilde Farm makes wines from old vines and exceptional vineyards under the direction of celebrated winemaker Pax Mahle. Alder Springs Vineyard is located in a remote corner of Mendocino County that offers a cool climate and fractured sand stone soils that naturally limit yields to produce concentrated, vibrant fruit.
ABOUT THE WINE:
Lucciola, meaning Firefly in Italian, is a fun new white blend we put together to tickle the senses and brighten your evening. It's also one of the first words Robert learned in Italian when he was a kid. When Robert was young he spent the summer in the mountains of Emilia Romagna staying with close family friends. There, every evening, they'd eat dinner on the patio in the warm night air and play cards late into the night. While the sun slowly faded away as they ate, Robert could see hundreds of mesmerizing, tiny, yellow lights, slowly flashing and lighting up the hillside behind the house. This is the feeling we're trying to convey with our new blend.
With a touch of effervescence on the palate, and a bright crisp nose, we're hoping this might become your new go-to wine for hot days and tacos. The blend is made up of Tocai Friulano, Dry Muscat Canelli, and even Rose of Sangiovese. We're loving how it turned out and we know you will too.
Tasting Notes: Rich, ripe stone fruit mixes with citrus blossom. Crisp on the palate with a refreshing zing coming from the gentle effervescence. A fun and refreshing wine. Smells like summer, tastes like Spring.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
St. Romedius Wine was founded by my wife, Mlli, and I in Napa, CA where we are raising our three young sons, two dogs, and 6 chickens. Our family is a unique mix of two very interesting cultures, Hungarian and Punjabi. This means there are more than three languages spoken in the house and the food is never boring.
Milli and I, though both having grown up in the same East Bay city of Danville, met in 2007 while studying abroad in Florence, Italy and fell in love bonding over travel, food, and wine while exploring our way through Europe. Since before we met, Milli had been an avid cook, with a very sharp pallet and a strong interest in languages, new foods, wine, and travel. Though I grew up in a Hungarian family, exposed to wine from an early age, it wasn’t until after I experienced the pleasures of the Italian lifestyle while living in Florence, that I dedicated myself to making winemaking my career path.
Fast forward through many harvests, countless internships, a degree from UC Davis Viticulture and Enology, an Indian Wedding, a Hungarian wedding, a legal wedding (almost forgot that part), a variety of wine production positions throughout Napa Valley, and we arrive in 2015. While I was working as the assistant winemaker at Far Niente and Dolce wineries, we wanted to create something through which we could share our love of delicious wine, food, and culture. Luckily that same year a friend introduced me to the owners of the Buckeye Ranch Vineyard in Lafayette who were looking for someone to make wine out of their beautiful vineyard. Thus St. Romedius Wine was born and ever since we've been trying to make wines that are true to our beliefs and values as well as fun and delicious.
Our goal is to make one of a kind wines that taste delicious while being true to our beliefs of intervening as little as possible in the natural progression of grape to wine. We are constantly striving towards sourcing fruit that is farmed using sustainable or organic practices. In the cellar we take a minimal intervention approach, only doing things that benefit the health of the wine and not to manipulate the flavors towards a style that our vineyards are not naturally inclined to produce. We aim to make fun and unique wines at prices that make you comfortable popping that cork any day of the week and for any occasion. Some wines we make may only be made once while others are recurring every vintage. We try to provide you with wines that we are proud to produce and wines you will be proud to uncork for friends and family.
ABOUT THE WINE:
Gruner Veltliner is the most widely planted grape variety in Austria. This light bodied Gruner has citrus + stone fruit notes, with a beautiful minerality and a crisp, impeccable finish. This pairs really well with white meats, especially lemon-garlic chicken.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
For the last 228 years, Salomon Undhof has produced white wines from the best terraced sites along the Danube River in Austria. Crystal clear wines with fine minerality. They combine elegance and finesse with expression and longevity. Salomon Undhof is one of the oldest privately owned wineries of Austria. Here the first Estate bottling in Austria took place in 1932. These wines already were exported to the USA in the late 1930’s. The style of Salomon Undhof wines is an alliance between character, balance and harmony. Wines meant to be drunk young are fresh and subtle; wines for keeping acquire with age a luscious complexity. The wines of Salomon Undhof are found on the finest tables all over the world. The winery is situated in the the eastern part of the “cultural world heritage site Wachau” with the appelation Kremstal DAC.
ABOUT THE WINE:
The "Principiante" of Santa Colomba is a sparkling wine obtained with the method of refermentation in bottle from Garganega grapes. Produced in 3,000 bottles a year, it is straw yellow in color, slightly opalescent with fine perlage. The nose is expressed with hints of white plum, grapefruit and pineapple and notes of broom. On the palate it is very fresh, sapid and well balanced. Garganega is a variety of white Italian wine grape widely grown in the Veneto region of North East Italy, particularly in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It is Italy's 6th most widely planted white grape.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Gianfranco Mistrorigo and Marco Dani are heart and soul of Santa Colomba, a Domaine perched on the hills overlooking the small town of Lonigo, half-way between Vicenza and Verona in the heart of the Veneto region.
The Palladian Villa at the center of 60 acres of land, surrounded by old vineyards, was once the home of the Giovannelli, a noble Venetian family. Later, it was sold to a congregation of priests and turned into a convent.
One day Gianfranco and Marco, two friends with a passion for wine, paired with years of studies and working experience in winemaking, discovered this hidden treasure of half-abandoned vines, and offered to manage them. The convent agreed and thus was born Santa Colomba.
The two friends immediately set out to convert the entire production of wine to more sustainable methods of farming and cellar practices, in the firm belief that “working in a natural way in this extraordinary environment is a commitment we have made from the start, and a great responsibility we feel we have towards nature.”
18 acres of Cabernet, Merlot, Malvasia, Garganega, Chardonnay and Sauvignon are all farmed organically, with some parcels already certified and others in the process of obtaining certification. Work in the cellar is all about letting the wine express the fruit to its full potential: indigenous yeasts, natural fermentation and neutral aging in stainless steel tanks, with the use of small, spent French oak barrels for some of the wines. Only very minimal sulfite dosages are added at bottling. The results of such meticulous work are very clean and stable wines that are a clear reflection of the fruit and the terroir. Wines that are as easy to drink, as they are elegant in their aromas.
ABOUT THE WINE:
70% Cabernet, 30% Merlot. Grapes are harvested by hand and placed in small wooden boxes. After having been destemmed and pressed, the fermentation process, using only indigenous yeasts, is carried out in steel tanks for 12-15 days. After two successive transfers, Il Moro is aged in small, 225 liter French-oak barrels.
Notes of dark berries, leather, flowers. Medium finish and solid tannin, pleasantly acidic, fresh wine with great minerality. We like to enjoy this with delicious curry.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Gianfranco Mistrorigo and Marco Dani are heart and soul of Santa Colomba, a Domaine perched on the hills overlooking the small town of Lonigo, half-way between Vicenza and Verona in the heart of the Veneto region.
The Palladian Villa at the center of 60 acres of land, surrounded by old vineyards, was once the home of the Giovannelli, a noble Venetian family. Later, it was sold to a congregation of priests and turned into a convent.
One day Gianfranco and Marco, two friends with a passion for wine, paired with years of studies and working experience in winemaking, discovered this hidden treasure of half-abandoned vines, and offered to manage them. The convent agreed and thus was born Santa Colomba.
The two friends immediately set out to convert the entire production of wine to more sustainable methods of farming and cellar practices, in the firm belief that “working in a natural way in this extraordinary environment is a commitment we have made from the start, and a great responsibility we feel we have towards nature.”
18 acres of Cabernet, Merlot, Malvasia, Garganega, Chardonnay and Sauvignon are all farmed organically, with some parcels already certified and others in the process of obtaining certification. Work in the cellar is all about letting the wine express the fruit to its full potential: indigenous yeasts, natural fermentation and neutral aging in stainless steel tanks, with the use of small, spent French oak barrels for some of the wines. Only very minimal sulfite dosages are added at bottling. The results of such meticulous work are very clean and stable wines that are a clear reflection of the fruit and the terroir. Wines that are as easy to drink, as they are elegant in their aromas.
ABOUT THE WINE:
The wine is made from 60% macabeo, 25% xarel-lo, and 15% parellada from organically-farmed estate vines planted from 1945 to 2017. On the nose it is fresh, clean and pleasant, with good aromatic intensity, primary aromas of fruit and flower. In the mouth, pleasant sweetness well conjugated with acidity. We cannot get enough of this sparkling wine!
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Avinyó Cava is a premier hand-made, artisanal sparkling wine house which stands in stark contrast to the status quo of the industrial Cava machine. It begins with their location in the Catalan countryside in the remote village of Avinyonet del Penedès, where the Esteve family traces their history to 1597 with the building of their Masia (Catalan farmhouse) named “Can Fontanals”, the traditional family home. Their spirit of innovation and respect for traditions, driven by an undercurrent of constant self-improvement and a relentless drive for quality, are the defining characteristics that set Avinyó Cava apart from others.
“Del most flor, amb la dedicació i el rigor de l’obra artesanal ben feta.” This Catalan saying graces the label of every Avinyó bottle and translates as “starting with the best part of the harvest, and exerting the dedication and rigor of a well-crafted work.”
ABOUT THE WINE:
From the Siletto Family Vineyard in Tres Pinos, California these Pommard clone grapes were farmed using organic practices. After being picked and destemmed these fermented on skins for 21 days before being pressed into 20% new French oak puncheon, 80% 1-year-old French oak barrels. Rich with elegant tannins this pinot is developed while maintaining beautiful acidity.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Quinn Hobbs was an entrepreneur in a high stress career. The stress caught up to him one day and he ended up in the emergency room on his 33rd birthday, away from his wife and newborn daughter. He left knowing that he wasn’t doing what he felt passionate about and that he needed to make a change.
Quinn found his calling in winemaking - he began his journey by volunteering at his first harvest and then a few other wineries stateside. It was when he met and worked with Matt at Side Project Wines, a minimal-intervention, small-batch winery in Western Australia that he was introduced to the world of natural wines.
Quinn took what he learned from Matt about natural winemaking and brought it back stateside with him, making high quality wine that people without loads of cash could afford.
Hollow Wines was soon born - Quinn believes in true terroir and letting the grapes and earth express themselves, just as he expressed himself through this journey.
His wines are minimal intervention, wild fermented, vegan, and handcrafted. He sources fruit from organic and dry-farmed vineyards, ensuring you get the best natural wines made with the planet in mind.
He is now pursuing his PhD in global leadership and change so that he can help other wineries and winemakers produce low-carbon wine that’s better for the planet and better for the people.
ABOUT THE WINE:
Arneis is a white Italian wine grape variety originating from Piedmont, Italy. It is most commonly found in the hills of the Roero, northwest of Alba, where it is part of the white Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Roero. Roero has some characteristics of a sauvignon blanc. This Malabaila Le Tre has a distinct mineral quality and to bring out this characteristic the winemakers used cement and steel tanks for the elevage (ie. progression of wine between fermentation and bottling). Dry and floral, it envelops the mouth leaving hints of white peaches. Excellent as an aperitif, but its structure well supports white meats.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
The bottle has a family coat of arms which has been around since 1362. You're not reading that wrong, this has been a family affair for centuries! Today the cantina in Canale, France is managed by Lucrezia Carrega Malabaila (the 65th generation) who has a global perspective on wines and has adapted the Malabaila wines to a fresher, lighter style. She is assisted by Alfredo Falletti, who has worked in the cantina for thirty years. Classic Roero wines, the Malabaila wines are soft and balanced, due to the very sandy, white/beige soils of the Roero.
If you would like to read the more in-depth history about this very, very old winery spanning centuries, visit their website, here.
ABOUT THE WINE:
Fruity wine with citrus notes. The vines are 15 years old. Fermentation is slow with indigenous yeasts and aging on lees. The wine accompanies your aperitifs, cold starters and seafood platters.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Clos Roussely was an outbuilding of the castle in the village of the Province of Touraine in 18th century. In 1917, the great-grandfather of Vincent Roussely (current winemaker), bought Clos Roussely and transformed it into a winemaking space.
After this, Marcel, the grandfather of Vincent, inherited and expanded the estate into a merchant wine company. In the early 1980s, Jean Claude and Nicole, the father and the aunt of Vincent dedicated themselves to the development of the merchant company and left their vineyards in the care of a local winegrower.
Upon inheriting the estate in 2001, Vincent Roussely, the 4th generation, decided to take full control of the vineyards and the facilities. The estate, located in some of the most infamous areas of the Touraine and Touraine-Chenonceaux appellations, has been certified organic since 2007. The oldest vineyards on the estate are roughly 80 years old. The terroir is mostly clay and tuffeau limestone with large flint deposits. The climate is relatively mild, which allows a superb expression of the best characteristics of the Sauvignon Blanc grape, which makes up 80% of the estate’s vineyards.
The soil is worked in environmentally friendly ways, with manual and horse-powered plowing and aerating. The estate does not use herbicides, pesticides or chemical molecules and it prides itself in protecting plant and animal diversity within the local ecosystem.
ABOUT THE WINE:
This wine accounts for over 10% of the domaine’s production in most vintages and is the first parcel harvested each fall. The vines are all in excess of 35 years of age. The cepage is not actually a Pinot; its origins have been traced to the Mosel; it can also be referred to simply as ‘Auxerrois’. A dry wine, the skin has a slightly bitter note, thus pressing is very light to minimize this element.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
The Schoech family can trace its roots in the vineyards of Ammerschwihr back to 1650. Artifacts from their heritage are on proud display in their cellar in the village of Ammerschwihr. The current estate was established in 1971 on the edge of the village and retains the name Maurice Schoech, although today the domaine is run by his sons, Jean-Léon and Sebastien Schoech.
The estate produces 25 different cuvées from 11 hectares of vines, 70% of which are located in prime hillside locations and harvested manually. All of the parcels are in and around Ammerschwihr except for one 0.5 ha plot in the famed Rangen de Thann vineyard, which is 15km south of the village. Including this little gem, a total of four hectares are planted in Grand Cru vineyards, with about 2.5 hectares in Kaefferkopf and 1 hectare in Mambourg.
The renown of the Kaefferkopf vineyard can be traced back to 1832, when the first bottles bearing its name were produced. It was not designated “Grand Cru” until 2007, when it became the 51st vineyard in Alsace to receive this classification. It is one of only two Grand Cru vineyards where a blend of grape varieties is permitted, along with the Altenberg site in Bergheim. The domaine’s Rangen de Thann plot is, in fact, planted to Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Riesling; the wine is a blend of those varieties and therefore the wine is not labeled Grand Cru, bearing simply the proprietary name “Harmonie R” instead.
ABOUT THE WINE:
A white wine made from Xarel-Lo grape. Xarel-lo is a white grape variety of Spanish origin specially grown in Catalonia. It is across between Brustiano faux and 'Gibi', a synonym for the Spanish Hebén grape. The vines are 50 years old and the soil is calcareous clay with gravel. The grapes are hand-harvested and fermentation is performed with native yeasts. The elevage is 7 months with the lees.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Mas Candí is a joint venture between Ramon Jané, Mercè Cuscó, and Toni Carbo, three Catalunya natives passionate about organic / chemical-free farming. Ramon and Toni first met at oenology school at Camp Joliu in Penedès back in 1988. By the time their 1994 graduation rolled around, the pair were quite good friends. In addition to sharing mentalities on farming and viticultural practices, both Ramon and Tony hailed from vine-growing families in Spain. Separately, they could achieve modest goals; together, the two could move mountains.
Ramon’s family owns approximately 30 hectares of vineyards in Font-Rubí, not too far from where Enric Soler farms his Espenyalluchs plot. Despite the area’s warm temperatures, vineyard climates here remain cool, thanks to the high altitudes at which the plots are cultivated. Additionally, Ramon’s partner Mercè owns 14 hectares of vineyards in Garraf, which would undoubtedly be a designated grand cru of Penedès if the region classified their vineyards as such. Unlike the clay soils of Font-Rubí, limestone-rich earth dominates the sites of Garraf.
In 2005, Ramon and Mercè joined forces with Toni to create Mas Candí. Prior to collaborating, each of the growers sold off their grapes to big Cava producers. Given the very low prices they were receiving, it was clear that this business model was not sustainable – nor was the aggressive agriculture or harmful vineyard practices that such brands were supporting elsewhere.
Mas Candí is a collaboration built out of passion, love for the land, and friendship. All vineyards are farmed organically and without the use of chemicals, which is still a bit of an anomaly in the Catalunya area. The resulting wines are complex, authentic, and reflective of the place from which they come.
ABOUT THE WINE:
Easy drinking, light and spicy. A wine to be drunk while still young, within two years. Chillable red. Grape is Grolleau, a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Loire Valley of France. The name is derived from the French word grolle, meaning "crow" and is said to reflect the deep black berries of the Grolleau vine. The soil type in the vineyard is silty clay on blue schist with rocky slate subsoil and vines were planted 60 years ago. Carbonic maceration and fermentation done in stainless steel tanks for a period of 6 months. Hand-harvested grapes, native yeasts.
ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:
Les Athlètes du Vin is a négociant project focused on typical, value-driven wines from the Loire Valley. The idea was conceived by a group of French winemakers called Vini Be Good, who work together to distribute their wines across France. The wines are vinified by various members of the Vini Be Good network using their own grapes or grapes purchased from friends and neighbors in the Loire. We are proud to present these wines made by their friends and family, as several of the cuvées are vinified by Gérard Vallée, brother of Mathieu Vallée from Château Yvonne.
The labels for Les Athlètes du Vin are drawings by French artist, illustrator, and cartoonist Michel Tolmer, who has been the unofficial lead artist of the French natural wine movement since the 1990s.