Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
France
Loire – Pays Nantais
Domaine de la Bregeonnette
Joseph Orieux founded this domaine in the town of Vallet in the 1960's and has been organic from the start, recently becoming certified (only 12
producers out of 600+ actually have the certification). Today, Joseph's grandson, Stéphane Orieux upholds his family's traditions of organic farming,
hand-harvesting, wild yeast fermentations, and long, sur-lie aging. Due to the many decades of experience, Bregeonnette has become a reference
point for other winemakers in the region who want to learn how to work organically in the vines. Even Marc Ollivier of Domaine de la Pépière consults
Stéphane when he has questions about organic treatments. The same care and dedication to quality is present throughout the entire range of wines.
Everything is harvested by hand, including the Gros Plant, and the top, single-parcel wine, "Clos de la Coudray", spends 18 months sur-lie.
Loire – Anjou-Saumur
Bertin-Delatte
In the past decade or so, the town of Rablay-sur-Layon has become a small hub for dedicated young winemakers in the Loire Valley. There’s a strong
community spirit – each year the town organizes a small music festival, and there is a cooperative grocery store in the town center. Geneviève Delatte
and Nicolas Bertin started out in the area working for other winemakers, and in 2008, they purchased their own small vineyard, a 1.5ha lieu-dit named
"L’Echalier". In 2012 they built a small home and winery at the edge of their vines and found a few other small vineyards in the hills around Rablay.
The winemaking philosophy is to keep things simple; accompany the vines, the grapes, and the wine. Spend a lot of time observing, intervene as little
as possible.
Mary Taylor
When founding partner Mary Taylor first fell in love with wine in the early 90s, it was the European classics that truly spoke to her and stole her heart.
As a young professional selling wine, she quickly learned to appreciate wine in the “Old World” way — not as a luxury good reserved for special
occasions, but a living agricultural product that belongs to everyday life. After many years working with the wines of Europe, Mary arrived at an
important insight. Left in the dark by decades of simplistic marketing efforts that placed grape above geography, American consumers needed a
brand they could trust to decipher the complex notion of terroir in a clear and straightforward way. Out of this realization, the “White Label” series
was born. Today, it is Mary’s mission to unlock the world of European appellation wines by working with individual growers in multiple villages — from
Bordeaux to Nîmes to Valençay to the Douro and beyond — who produce exceptional, regionally-distinctive wines at extremely accessible prices. In
the traditional spirit of the Old World, each Mary Taylor wine has been selected as a faithful ambassador of its geographic origin, true to local traditions
and the vision of the individual farmer who bottled it. All fruit is farmed sustainably or organically, only indigenous varieties are used, fermentations
are with native yeast, and only inert vessels are used for aging to yield a set of wines of genuine quality and integrity that will bring the magic of their
terroirs to life wherever you choose to enjoy them.
Vins Hodgson
The Hodgsons' story is irresistibly bizarre: they're Japanese-Canadian winemakers who've settled in Rablay-sur-Layon via Vancouver and the Tochigi
prefecture of Japan. Kenji and Mai met in Vancouver, where Kenji studied engineering before abandoning it to work as a wine writer. Further curiosity
led them to intern at wineries in BC and Japan. Along the way, they became interested in natural wine, experimenting with low-sulfur use and natural
fermentation, and tasting widely among the plethora of French natural wines imported in Japan. So in 2009, Kenji and Mai decided to up and move to
France to work harvest with the legendary Mark Angéli of Ferme de la Sansonnière in Anjou. A year later, with encouragement from natural Loire
luminaries like Olivier Cousin and Claude Courtois, they purchased their first 3ha of vineyards in Rablay-sur-Layon, and are finally producing their first
wines under their own labels.
Loire – Touraine
Domaine Courtault-Tardieux
As a teenager, Simon Tardieux began working in the vines of Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet of Clos Roche Blanche. After university and a
short stint as a social worker, Simon decided to return to his hometown and get back to his true calling: working outside in the vines. The only problem
was that he didn’t have any vineyards. So, he teamed up with his neighbor, Alain Courtault, who has long been practicing organics (Alain was the
third producer in the region to practice organic viticulture, starting back in 1998). Together, they make a range of simple, eminently drinkable wines.
Domaine Guion
There are few properties in France that can boast such a great pioneering legacy in organic farming as Domaine Guion. In the 1950’s, the Guion
family established their farm in the heart of the Bourgueil appellation, a stone’s throw from the banks of the Loire River. Since it was a polycultural
estate, the family was able to live almost entirely off the land. By 1965, they began farming organically, with a holistic understanding of its effects far
ahead of their time. Since taking the reins from his father in 1990, Stéphane Guion has a put a much greater emphasis on viticulture, managing 8.5ha
of land. Quiet and curious, he is a well-respected member of the vigneron community in Bourgueil and is often consulted by other growers eager to
adopt organic farming practices. While Stéphane rarely appears at tastings and trade shows, it is clear that the extra time in the vineyards and cellars
is well spent. Situated on meticulously cultivated clay and limestone soils, the Guions’ vineyards range from 10-80 years old, with the younger vines
designated for the “Cuvée Domaine” and the older for the “Cuvée Prestige”. Stéphane prunes the buds rather than clusters to achieve a judicious
yield and hand harvests all of his fruit. In the cellar, he only employs native yeasts and allows a moderate maceration of the grapes. Once the bottles
are ready for aging, they are stored in a large cave shared with six other families that once served as a historic Resistance hideout during World War
II. Rustic, focused, and lively, with fresh acidity and minerality, the wines of Domaine Guion are known for their fine tannins, great aging potential, and
terrific price.
Le Sot de l'Ange
Quentin Bourse took over his friend's property in the Touraine subzone of Azay-le-Rideau, a winery that had been certified organic for years, and
started vinifying the way he learned. We originally met him years ago, and we've seen him working all over in various cellars and vineyards, listening
and watching those people we admire: The naturalists, the biodynamists (his last gig before setting up his own shop was at the legendary Domaine
Huet in Vouvray)… Basically, he's worked with everyone except the big, bad guys. Now, the work in his own vineyards is respectful of the earth it's
grown on, and what happens in the cellar is unobtrusive to the point where it's impossible to categorize a style of the wines other than "just damn
good". Well priced, super clean sans souffre (or just a little SO2 in the case of the Chenin), biodynamic wine, made by a new winemaker that we
believe will be one to watch in the years to come.
Ludovic Chanson
Having always had a passion for wine, Ludovic Chanson decided to leave his job in pharmaceutical research in 2007 and went to work for the
renowned Vouvray producer Vincent Carême. In 2008, he was able to purchase a 6.2ha property on the plateau near the village of Husseau, about a
five-minute drive outside of Montlouis on the left bank of the Loire River opposite Vouvray. The property is primarily planted to Chenin Blanc (5ha), but
there are also small plots of both Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Soils here are very clay heavy with a deep limestone base, and many of the
parcels are littered with silex and flint. The average vine age is 40 years-old, and the estate was converted to organic farming in 2006 before Ludovic
took over, and he has since achieved organic certification. Harvesting is done by hand in small baskets in one pass for the Sauvignon Blanc and
Chardonnay, and multiple passes for the Chenin Blanc depending on the cuvée for which the grapes are being picked. Since Chanson’s first solo
vintage in 2009, he has always used native yeasts for fermentations, with no chaptalization, no enzymes or bentonite, and low to no sulfur additions.
Ludovic makes a full range of wines ranging from bone dry to demi-sec to pét-nats, all of which are pure expressions of Montlouis terrior.
Mary Taylor
When founding partner Mary Taylor first fell in love with wine in the early 90s, it was the European classics that truly spoke to her and stole her heart.
As a young professional selling wine, she quickly learned to appreciate wine in the “Old World” way — not as a luxury good reserved for special
occasions, but a living agricultural product that belongs to everyday life. After many years working with the wines of Europe, Mary arrived at an
important insight. Left in the dark by decades of simplistic marketing efforts that placed grape above geography, American consumers needed a
brand they could trust to decipher the complex notion of terroir in a clear and straightforward way. Out of this realization, the “White Label” series
was born. Today, it is Mary’s mission to unlock the world of European appellation wines by working with individual growers in multiple villages — from
Bordeaux to Nîmes to Valençay to the Douro and beyond — who produce exceptional, regionally-distinctive wines at extremely accessible prices. In
the traditional spirit of the Old World, each Mary Taylor wine has been selected as a faithful ambassador of its geographic origin, true to local traditions
and the vision of the individual farmer who bottled it. All fruit is farmed sustainably or organically, only indigenous varieties are used, fermentations
are with native yeast, and only inert vessels are used for aging to yield a set of wines of genuine quality and integrity that will bring the magic of their
terroirs to life wherever you choose to enjoy them.
Michel Autran
Although his first official vintage wasn’t until 2013, Michel Autran is already making a name for himself as one of the top producers in Vouvray. This
didn’t just happen out of the blue though, as Michel has quietly been putting in the work behind the scenes for many years now. Michel started off as
a doctor, working in emergency medicine for nearly 20 years, but somewhere along the way the wine bug bit. Despite being in his 40s, Michel
eventually decided a career change was the only solution and he set about acquiring the necessary experience, working with and learning from some
of the top Chenin producers in the world, people like François Pinon, Vincent Carême, the Joussets, Frantz Saumon, Ludovic Chanson, and more. In
2011, he was able to purchase just under 1ha of prime vineyards in Noizay to start, and slowly expanded to 3.8ha today. Farming is completely
organic, and due to the steepness of some of the plots a horse is necessary for the vineyard work. The vines are all very old, between 50-70 years,
and all replanting is with massale selection of old vines from Pinon. Harvesting is by hand and with multiple tries to ensure the small team of workers
make the best selection in the vineyard. Fermentation begins with native yeast in stainless steel before immediately being racked off by gravity into
barrel, some new, but most 4-12 years old and coming from friends like Carême or the late Stéphane Cossais. A small amount of sulfur is used at
débourbage if necessary, otherwise the wines are raised completely sans souffre. The resulting wines have it all: purity, elegant fruit, incredible length,
richness balanced by enamel-stripping acidity, and off-the-charts minerality.
Loire – Centre
Vincent Grall
Since 1999, Vincent Grall has quietly been making tiny amounts of Sancerre in his garage from 3.8ha of vines, making him the second smallest
producer in the region. The production is split between two white cuvées coming from two distinct sites that are each vinified and aged differently, per
the soil type. While the sites are blended, "Cuvée Tradition" is mostly from the silex soils around the main hill of Sancerre, Le Plateau, and is done
entirely in stainless. "Le Manoir" comes mostly from Le Manoir de L’Etang where the soils are more marl and clay, and is aged in 600L barrels that
are 3-4 years old. Although not certified, the soils are worked manually and organic treatments are used. The intention is to work as naturally as
possible in both the vineyards and the cellar, but they will intervene if they risk losing their crop in bad vintages. Unlike most Sancerre producers, all
harvesting is done by hand.
Alsace
Marc Tempé
Based in the small town of Zellenberg (population 300), Marc Tempé unapologetically crafts some of the most nuanced, terroir-expressive wines in
Alsace. The domaine was started in 1993 when Marc and his wife, Anne-Marie, combined vineyard holdings from both of their families, forming the
8.5ha of the domaine today. Initially working as a lab technician and vineyard expert for the INAO, Marc used his experience to immediately convert
the vines to biodynamics and has been an ardent practitioner since. After harvesting by hand, the fruit is pressed off extremely slowly, which helps
keep the natural acidity much higher than many in the region. Depending on the vineyard size, quality, or grape variety, fermentation occurs in either
old foudres or Burgundy barrels, and always with native yeast. In fact, when additional barrels are needed, Marc will only buy from growers who also
work biodynamically. The wines are then allowed to find their own balance, resting on their lees in barrel for a minimum of two years (some of the
Grand Crus age for nearly four years). Not only does Marc believe this helps emphasize terroir, but it also helps him keep sulfur levels as low as
possible. At bottling, there is no fining, and filtering only if necessary
Ruppert-Leroy
Ruppert-Leroy is an up-and-coming domaine started by the young Bénédicte Leroy, who is making some of the most exciting wines in the Aube today.
In the 1980s, the Leroy's decided to convert a clearing to vineyards when it was no longer economically viable to raise sheep on, initially selling all the
fruit to the local coop. After working with Bertrand Gautherot of Vouette et Sorbée, Bénédicte decided to quit her job as a PE teacher and take over
the domaine just as her father was getting ready to retire in 2009. She immediately converted the 4ha (not counting the garden or small pasture the
family still raises animals on) to organics and took all winemaking duties in-house, making wines inspired by her mentor. Now practicing biodynamics,
Bénédicte is focused on making wine in a method that is as simple as possible; each cuvée comes from a single vintage of a single vineyard, bottled
Brut Nature with no dosage.
Burgundy – Chablis
Domaine Gérard Duplessis
A family domaine for five generations now, Lilian is the latest vigneron of an estate created in 1895, taking over for his father Gérard in 1999. After
going to school and internships in the region (“There was no point in making Sauvignon blanc in New Zealand, I needed to know how to work
Chardonnay in Burgundy” he says), Lilian has turned the domaine into one of the very few organic estates in Chablis. Vinifications are done in
stainless steel, then most of the Premier Crus (all but Vaugiraut) and Grand Cru spend time in old barriques for élevage. All the wines are fermented
naturally and sulfured between 20 and 30 ppm at bottling. Lilian makes some of the purest, most terroir-driven wines in the region. "If there was a
category for the "best kept secret in Chablis", Domaine Duplessis would be one of my top two picks." - Allen Meadows, Burghound
Burgundy – Mâconnais
Domaine des Gandines
Domaine des Gandines was founded by Joseph Dananchet at the beginning of the 20th century. At the time, it was a polycultural farm like most
others in the area with cows, pigs, sheep, wheat, and a couple of hectares of vines. The property slowly expanded over the years, and in 2003,
Benjamin Dananchet – the 4th Dananchet generation – joined forces with his father, Robert, slowly bringing the vineyard holdings to 13ha they farm
today while also converting to organic viticulture (certified in 2009). Since 2011, they have even begun working biodynamically, which they feel helps
retain higher natural acidities. Benjamin was recently joined by his brother, Florent, who is now assisting in the cellar. Soils are an important focus of
the Dananchets' methodology for the enhancing the vine's nutrition. The family uses no herbicides on the ground, and the soils are plowed to give air
to the microorganisms while eliminating the grass without weed killers. In order to preserve the integrity of the grapes and avoid oxidation, all grapes
are harvested by hand. Grapes are pressed whole-cluster (no destemming) and are allowed to ferment slowly with native yeast, with the only addition
being a small amount of sulfur just before bottling.
Franche-Comté
Pascal Henriot
Historically, the Haute-Saône department of Franche-Comté, located just north of the Jura and east of the Côte d’Or, Burgundy, was an important
wine-producing region with more than 20,000ha of land under vine producing more wine than all of the Jura. Within this region, the tiny commune of
Champlitte was always considered one of the most important, highest quality areas for wine, with over 600ha of vineyards planted on the limestone
slopes at 250m elevation. Unfortunately, during the late 1800’s, disease and the phylloxera crisis decimated nearly all of this vineyard land, and then
the first World War wiped out what little remained. However, the people of Champlitte have always maintained an important wine culture, so much so
that they have held a festival for St. Vincent (the patron saint of winegrowers) every year continuously since 1612. With this spirit, the first vineyards
began to be replanted here in 1970, and the local coop was officially established in 1974. Today, Pascal Henriot remains the only independent
producer in Champlitte. After graduating from viticultural school in Beaune, Pascal returned to Champlitte in 1985, planting 6ha of vineyards divided
into three parcels home to the traditional grapes of the region: Pinot Noir and Gamay for reds, and Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and some
Gewürztraminer for whites. From the start, Pascal has always worked organically (now certified), and his parcels are surrounded by native plant
hedges and walls made from the ancient limestone soils to help encourage biodiversity. All fruit is harvested by hand, and in the cellar, Pascal takes
a natural approach using only native yeast for fermentations (Pascal tells us he, “does not have a budget for enological products,”) and adding only
a minimal amount of sulfur, and in some cases, no sulfur at all. Fermentation and aging generally occur in stainless steel or enamel tanks in an effort
to highlight the minerality and freshness from the local limestone soils. These are traditional wines from another era, and we are very lucky Pascal
has had the vision and determination to keep the viticultural history of this unique place alive.
Savoie/Isère
Domaine Belluard
In all likelihood, you've never heard of Ayze or it's local, rather obscure, indigenous grape, Gringet. After all, there are only 22ha of it left in the world
(of which Dominique owns 12ha). The obscurity is too bad, because Dominique Belluard tireless works here, with this grape, striving to create some
of the most singular, compelling wines around. In 2001, Dominique decided to convert his vineyards to biodynamics, which he feels interferes the
least with the 700-year history of viticulture in Ayze (some people speculate that Gringet pre-dates the Roman influence in the area). When he didn't
like what wood and steel were doing to his wines, he switched to concrete eggs, as he felt the smaller volumes and controlled aeration they provided
yielded the best results for his small, unique parcels. Prior to Dom rediscovering the variety, Gringet was used almost exclusively for sparkling wine
intended for casual chugging. Dom honors that heritage and makes beautiful sparkling Gringet (made entirely in-house, a rarity for the region). He
also explores the grape’s potential for still wines, making some of the truest expressions of Ayze’s mountain terroir.
Domaine Dupasquier
David Dupasquier is a fifth generation winemaker at this ultra-traditional domaine. He and his sister Veronique run the domaine, but their Father Noel
is still very much involved in the vineyards and in the cellar. The vineyards are located in a southwestern lobe of the Savoie close to the Rhône Valley
in the town of Aimavigne, home to the incredibly steep "Marestel" cru, the most prestigious vineyard in the area. The vines benefit from steep, sun-
drenched slopes, primarily limestone soil, and the cooling effects of Lake Bourget. David works these vineyards with a tractor and by hand – the
Marestel vines entirely by hand, as it is too steep to work with a tractor. Plowing is done once per year for every other row as David believes that the
biodiversity this leaves in the vineyard is critical for the quality of wines. Harvest is by hand and clusters are hand selected. The word “traditional”
invariably gets used when Dupasquier’s wines come up in conversation. There are many reasons for this, one being that the wines see quite a long
period of aging in old, neutral barrel and in bottle before release. In other regions, this type of regimen might not be so unusual, but it certainly is in
the Savoie, where the typical wine is fermented with added yeast and vinified quickly in stainless steel. This brings us to another aspect of the
Dupasquier’s traditionalism: all the wines are fermented with native yeast, and even in the coldest years, they don’t inoculate. The style of these
wines absolutely reflects the place, as well as the vineyard and cellar work. There’s a warmth and ripeness to the wines that calls the Rhône Valley to
mind, yet with freshness, acidity, and cut reminiscent of the Savoie.
Beaujolais
Bernard Vallette
From the deep south of Beaujolais in the village of Lachassagne, where the soils are clay and limestone as opposed to granite, Bernard Vallette is
biodynamically farming 6.5ha of land passed down through his family from his grandparents. The grapes are all hand harvested and fermented
with native yeasts using carbonic maceration and a comparatively lengthy aging in stainless steel. The resulting wines are charming and
immensely drinkable in their youth, but also develop nicely with a few years of age. No additions in the cellar (including sugar) and just a touch of
SO2 at bottling.
Domaine Thillardon
Contemporary Beaujolais is rife with opportunity – overlooked terroirs, abandoned vines, appellations ripe for rehabilitation. But few young vignerons
have committed to such ambitious challenges as brothers Paul-Henri and Charles Thillardon, who have positioned themselves as the future of
Beaujolais' smallest, sleepiest cru, Chénas. In 2008, Paul-Henri Thillardon began making wine from 3ha of vineyards, with the conviction that Chénas
has always been unjustifiably overshadowed by Moulin-à-Vent. He has slowly added new parcels to form the 12ha he works today. From the start,
he has farmed organically, working some of the vineyards with a horse and using biodynamic treatments. In 2009, he met Fleurie winemakers and
lynchpins of the Fleurie natural winemaking scene, Jean-Louis Dutraive and Yvon Métras, who took the young Paul-Henri under their wing. Until
2015, Paul-Henri partially destemmed most cuvées and practiced a more Burgundian vinification. Starting in 2014, he decided to switch to semi-
carbonic, and then went fully cool semi-carbonic in 2015, following in the footsteps of his mentors. With the dedication and attention to detail of the
Thillardons, the future of natural Chénas is in good hands.
Domaine du Trapadis
The history of Domaine du Trapadis dates back four generations to 1850, with present vineyard owner Helen Durand’s two great-grandfathers each
owning a part of the land that together forms the 23ha of the domaine today. Trapadis is derived from the word 'trapalas', which means 'hole' in the
local dialect, a reference to the underground cave and natural spring located below the vines that provides water to the surrounding hamlet near the
village of Rasteau. Helen began to produce and bottle the wines of Trapadis at the young age of 16, and since 1996, he has complete control of the
domaine. The average age of the vines is 35 years, with the oldest parcel having been planted in 1922. Farming is all organic (certified since 2010),
with some biodynamic principles applied, and much of the work in the vineyards is carried out by horse. All the fruit is carefully hand harvested and
sorted before natural fermentation and aging in the original concrete vats.
Four Tuesdays
Some people hesitate to open a great bottle of wine on a weekday. Not us! We decided that Four Tuesdays would give you a great wine for every
night of the week at a fantastic price. Our box contains the equivalent of four 750mL bottles and stays fresh for four weeks once opened. Sourcing
great wine at friendly prices requires a fair amount of time and good luck. It comes down to finding winemakers who strive for quality regardless of
the perceived potential of their wine region or appellation. They stand out from their neighbors by going far beyond what the local winemaking rules
require – better farming, lower yields, and serious, honest winemaking.
Mary Taylor
When founding partner Mary Taylor first fell in love with wine in the early 90s, it was the European classics that truly spoke to her and stole her heart.
As a young professional selling wine, she quickly learned to appreciate wine in the “Old World” way — not as a luxury good reserved for special
occasions, but a living agricultural product that belongs to everyday life. After many years working with the wines of Europe, Mary arrived at an
important insight. Left in the dark by decades of simplistic marketing efforts that placed grape above geography, American consumers needed a
brand they could trust to decipher the complex notion of terroir in a clear and straightforward way. Out of this realization, the “White Label” series
was born. Today, it is Mary’s mission to unlock the world of European appellation wines by working with individual growers in multiple villages — from
Bordeaux to Nîmes to Valençay to the Douro and beyond — who produce exceptional, regionally-distinctive wines at extremely accessible prices. In
the traditional spirit of the Old World, each Mary Taylor wine has been selected as a faithful ambassador of its geographic origin, true to local traditions
and the vision of the individual farmer who bottled it. All fruit is farmed sustainably or organically, only indigenous varieties are used, fermentations
are with native yeast, and only inert vessels are used for aging to yield a set of wines of genuine quality and integrity that will bring the magic of their
terroirs to life wherever you choose to enjoy them.
Mas Foulaquier
Winemaker Pierre Jéquier, a native of Switzerland and formerly an architect, created Mas Foulaquier in 1998 following an exhaustive search for his
dream wine estate. Situated in the most northerly corner of Languedoc's most northerly appellation, Pic Saint-Loup, the 8ha of existing vines were at
the time just 8 years old, but happened to be planted on some great terroir. Now, at more than 25 years of age, those vines are the source of a quite
brilliant set of wines. Pierre's wife and fellow winemaker, Blandine Chauchet, joined the team in 2003, bringing with her the ownership of a further 3ha
of 50+ year-old Grenache and Carignan in the lieu-dit of "Les Tonillières". The vines are certified organic, and since 2007, are also certified
biodynamic by Demeter. In the cellar, the wines all are raised in Foulaquier’s signature, low-intervention style – native yeasts, no filtering, and minimal
sulfur added only at bottling.
Roussillon
Domaine Laguerre
A visit to Éric Laguerre in Saint-Martin-de-Fenouillet requires steep climbs through a mountain pass up to the highest vineyards in the Roussillon at
500m. Here, the granite soils, cooler climate, very low yields, and Éric's superb organic farming produce distinctive, balanced wines with bright fruit
and firm acidities. Éric initially learned winemaking with Gérard Gauby at Domaine Gauby and Le Soula, where he also developed a love for organic
and biodynamic viticulture. In 1999, Éric took over the family domaine and immediately began incorporating what he had learned; yields were
reduced dramatically to favor quality over quantity, all chemicals in the vineyards were eliminated (eventually achieving organic certification by
Ecocert), and some biodynamic practices were even incorporated, such as pruning and plowing according to the phases of the moon. The Laguerres
farm a total of 40ha high up in the foothills of the Pyrénées, although much is left to native grasses and flowers, including a flowering bush called
'Ciste' (which the top wines are named after) that helps contribute to biodiversity and wind protection. All fruit is harvested by hand and vinifications
are exclusively with native yeast, yielding a set of wines that are unique in their ability to combine concentration and texture of fruit with balance and
freshness from the granitic minerality.
Bordeaux – Entre-Deux-Mers
Mary Taylor
When founding partner Mary Taylor first fell in love with wine in the early 90s, it was the European classics that truly spoke to her and stole her heart.
As a young professional selling wine, she quickly learned to appreciate wine in the “Old World” way — not as a luxury good reserved for special
occasions, but a living agricultural product that belongs to everyday life. After many years working with the wines of Europe, Mary arrived at an
important insight. Left in the dark by decades of simplistic marketing efforts that placed grape above geography, American consumers needed a
brand they could trust to decipher the complex notion of terroir in a clear and straightforward way. Out of this realization, the “White Label” series
was born. Today, it is Mary’s mission to unlock the world of European appellation wines by working with individual growers in multiple villages — from
Bordeaux to Nîmes to Valençay to the Douro and beyond — who produce exceptional, regionally-distinctive wines at extremely accessible prices. In
the traditional spirit of the Old World, each Mary Taylor wine has been selected as a faithful ambassador of its geographic origin, true to local traditions
and the vision of the individual farmer who bottled it. All fruit is farmed sustainably or organically, only indigenous varieties are used, fermentations
are with native yeast, and only inert vessels are used for aging to yield a set of wines of genuine quality and integrity that will bring the magic of their
terroirs to life wherever you choose to enjoy them.
Southwest
Champ d’Orphée
Stéphane Lucas lives on his tiny estate (0.77ha total) within the Gaillac AOP of Southwest France. He works with the local grape, Braucol (also
known as Fer Servadou), and is deeply committed to farming organically (though not certified) as well as employing biodynamic treatments. He has
even begun experimenting with natural products such as essential oils and algae. All herbicides and pesticides are avoided, with all vineyard and soil
work being done by hand or with a small tractor. Legumes and grains are planted between the rows each fall after harvest to aid soil health and
protect against erosion. Everything is harvested by hand with extensive sorting in the vineyards as to only harvest healthy, ripe grapes. In the cellar,
the same care is put into every wine that he makes (there are only 2 estate wines, and he vinifies a few wines each year for a neighbor), and the
process is incredibly straightforward. As of now, Stéphane refuses the Gaillac AOP, deeming their regulations as being too loose in regards to yields
and organic farming. He and a few other top vignerons in the region are pushing for the laws to change, but until then he bottles everything as IGP
Côtes du Tarn.
Château La Colombière
Diane and Philippe Cauvin run Château La Colombière in the Fronton AOP of southwest France. After taking over the family domaine in 2005, the
Cauvins have worked tremendously hard to get the vineyards to where they are today and continue to work in a natural direction, favoring quality over
quantity (a rarity in this area). There are a total of 13ha of vines farmed organically (Ecocert certified), and they have even worked biodynamically
since 2010. Most of the plantings are of the local Négrette grape, but there is also some Gamay, Malbec, and Syrah, plus a white grape that is
technically not yet allowed to appear on a label, called Bouysselet. All of the wines come from 15-55 year old vines and ferment in cement or stainless
with no additions other than SO2 at bottling. Always experimenting, the Cauvins have even begun making a pét-nat rosé from Négrette!
Elian Da Ros
Historically, the region around Marmande has been more famous for tomatoes than for wine, but Elian Da Ros might change all that. Returning to
his native town of Cocumont in 1998, Elian constructed a simple winery and took the daring step of being the first winemaker to produce and bottle
his own wine under the Côtes du Marmandais AOP. Crafting superb, biodynamic wines from Bordeaux varieties as well as the local Abouriou,
Elian is one of those French vignerons that is universally respected by just about every other vigneron you talk with, regardless of their views on
agriculture and winemaking. These are some of the purest expressions of the limestone and gravel soils of the region, and display tremendous
elegance and finesse, even when working with grape varieties more famous for their masculinity and strength.
Guirardel
After working as engineers in the semiconductor industry for over 15 years, Françoise Casaubieilh (the eldest daughter of Anne-Marie Guirardel) and
her husband, Pierre Coulomb, were both fed up and looking for a change. In August of 2008, just as Françoise’s father was ready to retire from a life
working in the vineyards around the family’s home in Jurançon, Françoise and Pierre decided to return to the property, becoming the 15th generation
of the Guirardel family to make wine from this special vineyard. Neither had any experience with winemaking, but Françoise had just graduated from
an agricultural course at the local university, and Pierre would later go on to work with the Plageoles family in Gaillac, and still frequently calls on his
good friend Richard Leroy for advice. Françoise and Pierre immediately stopped using chemicals in the vines, and would eventually file for organic
certification in 2012 (which they were granted in 2015). They are also working closely with a doctor interested in energy, aligning their winery to the
lines of the “sacred network” and using their own essential oils and herbal infusions in the vineyard in place of treatments (even organic ones). The
4.5ha of vines are planted predominately to Petit Manseng (75%) with some Gros Manseng (25%) and slope steeply due south towards the Pyrénées.
The vines are 20 years old on average with very low yields (12-25 hL/ha) thanks to excellent farming and the poor clay-limestone soils with lots of
stones and glacial deposits from the ice age. Grapes are harvested by hand in successive passes from October through December, with each parcel
kept separate. Natural fermentations occur in 10 year-old, traditional 400L barrels, although they are also experimenting with some 700L barrels,
acacia barrels, and even amphora for their dry wine. In 2011, Pierre made his first trials with a no SO2 added dry wine from late harvest grapes, and
continues to refine his technique as he gains more experience, releasing wines with as little added sulfur as possible. These wines are the
continuation of an incredible family tradition and represent a throwback to Jurançon’s past that is sadly becoming more and more rare.
Corsica
Clos Marfisi
If you aren’t familiar with Corsica, the main event is Patrimonio. This AOP covers 400ha, with half of them being owned by the two largest producers,
and the other half split up amongst thirty smaller growers. If you haven’t already guessed, Clos Marfisi is part of the latter. Brother and sister Mathieu
and Julie Marfisi are the fifth generation at the helm of this estate, having taken over from their father, Touissant, when Julie returned in 2001, and her
brother in 2012, from having careers elsewhere in France. Clos Marfisi’s vineyards (which Touissant planted about 40-50 years ago) rise up from the
Mediterranean with southern and western exposures on steep slopes that are practically white with large chunks of broken up limestone. Equally
impressive is the fact that they never gave into outside pressure and the entirety of the estate is planted to local varieties; you won’t find any Grenache
here. Their father is still very active in the vineyards and is the main reason that the estate has also never been touched by pesticides or herbicides
(they will be certified organic by the 2018 vintage). Vestiges of the old guard remain in the cellar as well where native yeasts have always been used
for fermentations, and sulfur levels are kept to a minimum. Their commitment to honoring the past while shaping their own future is incredibly exciting
to us, and after years of not paying attention to Corsica, finding out what it really has to offer couldn’t make us happier.
Julian Haart
Although Julian has the resume most people can only dream of (he has studied with Egon Müller, Klaus Peter Keller and Werner Schönleber; that's
like the German wine equivalent of learning to draw under Picasso, da Vinci, and Ingres), the fact is that this resume is an easy, glossy headline that
simplifies a much more complicated story. We have met few more serious, more thoughtful and detail-oriented growers. There is so much talent here
and Julian is relentless. He will be a very, very important grower. Starting with a microscopic 0.25ha plot of terraced vines in the famous Goldtröpchen
vineyard, Julian has finally bought a few more parcels and is renting some serious parcels from his uncle. The overall style is clearly a type of Mosel-
hommage to Keller. The wines showcase a glossy, super-pure fruit that shrieks across the palate with a pushing, sharply delineated acidity.
Pulverized slate, polished to a fine dust, coats everything. The hierarchy at Haart is based on Burgundy. There is the appellation-level "Moselle”
(read: Bourgogne) and the village-level Piesporter. For vintage 2013, we fell in love with a Fuder and bought it – thus we have 1,000 liters of a wine
that is floral, saline and smokin’. This is the aptly-named “1,000L”.
Stein
While Ulli Stein’s wines are not widely known in the U.S., he has nothing less than a fanatical following in Europe. He could likely sell every last bottle
to his friends in Germany alone, yet there are places of some importance, like Noma in Copenhagen, that put in sizable orders for Stein wine. He
farms meaningful parcels of land that have a few important things in common: They are not easy to work. They are commercially unknown. And,
most importantly, Ulli loves them. In fact, Stein is more than a winemaker – he is a passionate advocate for the traditional, steep, slate vineyards
of the Mosel. In 2010, Ulli published a manifesto warning of the threats to the region’s 2000 years old viticultural tradition. Winemaking with Ulli is
refreshingly light on “style,” instead focusing on what the vineyards say to him. Certainly there is a focus on wines that are dry; lightness and zip are
more important than gobs of fruit. Complexity is good, but not at the expense of the whole – better to be simple and well done than overdone and,
well, a mess. Cut is more important than size.
Weiser-Künstler
Konstantin Weiser and Alexandra Künstler are as soulful as the vineyards they farm; this is a micro-estate with only 3ha under vine. Konstantin
and Alexandra do everything here, working in the vineyards daily. Situated in Traben-Trarbach, many of their vineyards fell into obscurity in the
latter half of the 20th century, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The fact is that these vines have not seen the “modernization” that many sites
in the Mosel have, which means these cliff-vineyards still have their jutting, ladder-like terraces. On these terraces, they have a high density of
very old, un-grafted vines. Weiser-Künstler makes wines exceptional Prädikat wines, but they also make dry wines – dainty angels carved from
mineral and slate that feel like porcelain in their weight and purity. As of 2015, they are moving towards complete organic certification.
Peter Lauer
Over the last few years, Florian Lauer, proprietor of Peter Lauer in the Saar, has gone from relatively unknown, to wine geek darling, to cult classic, to
finally, an established, blue-chip estate. Florian’s general style is exactly the opposite of his famous Saar neighbors Egon Müller and Hanno Zilliken.
At Lauer, the focus is on dry-tasting Rieslings as opposed to the residual sugar, Prädikat wines (Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese) of the latter two.
Employing natural-yeast fermentations, Lauer’s wines find their own balance. They tend to be more textural, deeper and more masculine, yet the
hallmarks of the Saar are there: purity, precision, rigor, mineral. Florian’s main playground is the breathtaking hillside of the Ayler Kupp. Though the
many vineyards of this mountain were unified (obliterated?) under the single name "Kupp" with the 1971 German wine law, it has been Florian’s life’s
work to keep the old vineyard names alive. Lauer bottles based on "fass", or cask, numbers that are often aligned with these pre-1971 vineyard
names. However, one shouldn’t take the fass numbers too seriously; they are based on the parcels that historically went into these fass and the style
of wine they most often produced. One example, "Fass 6 – Senior", is based on a selection that Florian’s grandfather made every year for his
personal consumption. On this barrel, he would write "Senior", and according to Florian, nine times out of ten, his grandfather would pick Fass 6,
which held wine sourced from the western-most region of the Kupp. Thus, today, the wine from this parcel is called "Fass 6 – Senior". In any case, the
results are undeniable: intensity without weight, grandiosity without size, clarity, and cut.
Pfalz
Brand
Young brothers Daniel and Jonas Brand (both in their twenties) recently took over their family’s century-old estate, and are quickly breathing new life
into this former workhorse of the Northern Pfalz. The kids are smart, eager, and dialed into the growing natural wine scene both in Germany and in
neighboring France. They’re just starting to make waves –– converting all their viticulture to organic (certified as of 2015) and are experimenting like
crazy in the cellar. They have a pét-nat that’s so popular it sells out before they’ve even made it, and they make the best organic, entry-level liters of
dry Riesling and Weissburgunder you’ll ever find. The Nordpfalz borders the Rheinessen (their village is closer to Keller’s than to anybody famous in
the Pfalz), and that airy but firm sensibility informs these bright and mineral-laden wines.
Franken
Vetter
Stefan Vetter is f-ing punk rock. He has done nothing that has even the slightest commercial logic to it. His old friend Andreas Adam (of the celebrated
Mosel estate A.J. Adam) must shake his head, watching Stefan, like a wild hermit, run himself up into the terraced vineyards of Franconia. Yet from a
scant few hectares of old terraced vineyards, Stefan is redefining what Sylvaner can be. These are quite simply the greatest Sylvaners I’ve ever
tasted, from anywhere, ever. Stefan is at the forefront of the natural wine movement in Germany. As such, he farms both organically and
biodynamically, working only old vines in steep, terraced sites. Pressing is done gently and can take four to six hours. The juice may see a short bit of
skin contact, but for the most part it is just moved directly into old barrels. Stefan has bought 300 and 600-liter barrels from Stockinger. During the
élevage, the wine is topped off but that’s about it. The wines are bottled without fining or filtering.
Shelter Winery
Hans-Bert Espe and Silke Wolf farm roughly 5ha in the not-so-famous region of Baden. Let’s go ahead and equate not-so-famous with not-so-ripe
and we get, immediately, a sense of the philosophy here. There are lots of words we would use to describe the bulldozer-Pinots we’ve tasted from
Baden over the years; delicacy would not be one of them. Until we tasted with Hans-Bert and Silke. This husband-and-wife team has spent the last
decade in the nooks and crannies of the wine-geek world, slowly building a reputation for pristine, delicate Pinot Noirs from Baden (there, we’ve used
the word). You might call them understated, though the rather petite structure and lively animation of the wines gives way to a mid-palate that is
awash with sweet perfumed fruit, transparent and mineral. In style, sensibility and size, they remind us quite a bit of Weiser-Künstler in the Mosel
(indeed they are all friends) – except this is Pinot Noir, from Baden. You may have to remind yourself of this when you’re tasting the wines.
Württemberg
Weingut Beurer
A one time European BMX champion running a small garagiste estate in Württemberg, at the farthest southern end of Germany, Jochen Beurer could
hardly be farther removed from the staid, landed traditions of his more Northern neighbors. His dry, terroir saturated wines from a variety of Jurassic
and Triassic soils on the hills around Kernen im Remstal have similarly little in common with historical conceptions of "German Riesling". These are,
first and foremost, "Swabian" wines, steeped in the traditions of a region that has long remained outside the national mainstream. The Beurer family
have farmed their land just outside of Stuttgart for generations, growing fruit and making wine that typically ended up in the bottles of the local coop.
Then, in 1997, Jochen, his wife, Marion, and father, Sigfried, set out on their own, making and bottling the wine for themselves. In 2003, Jochen
started experimenting with organic viticulture and spontaneous fermentations, converting fully to biodynamics over the next few years (now certified
by Demeter). Today, we can think of no other winemaker whose wines speak of the soil – a mixture of ancient lime and sandstones, and the ancient
Keuper soils beneath them – as much as Jochen’s do. Respect for nature and patience are reflected everywhere: in cool years, Jochen is inevitably
the last to pick, successive tries are the norm, and spontaneous fermentations follow their own course, usually including malolactic. Élevages are
similarly slow and careful, with wines being committed to bottle only when Jochen feels that the time is exactly right. The results are singular: a range
of completely unforced yet strikingly intense wines that are long, structured, and saturated in Swabian minerality.
Weingut Knauß
Whereas winemaking was a hobby for earlier generations at this domain (a way of winding down after a day's work at the nearby Mercedes-Benz
factory), Andi Knauß has long known he wanted to be a vigneron. After wine school and a stage in Austria where he learned how to work organically
in the vineyard and to care for the soil, Andi took over the reins at Weingut Knauß in 2004, and in less than 10 years, he has developed one of the
most important and exciting estates we know of. The vineyards are worked naturally and winemaking is careful and conscientious. Natural ferments
and minimal sulfur are the norm throughout the range, and some cuvées see no sulfur at all. Andi, who is in his early 30s, runs a tight ship, making
wine from over a hundred different plots in Strümpfelbach, the village where the winery is located, and a few surrounding villages in the hills around
the river Rems. These hills are composed of different types of limestone from different eras layered on top of each other, changing with the altitude
(between 300-400m above sea level). Vineyard land here is expensive, but Andi has slowly built up the estate parcel by parcel, sometimes row by
row, selecting the best sites for his "Selection" and "Reserve" bottlings. Andi's Trollingers are light colored, even see through, amply fruited, but with
grip and tons of refreshing acidity, and the Rieslings are closer to Montmains than they are to Mosel, but that would still miss the point. To really
understand what makes these Swabian wines so special, you’ll have to try them.
Niederösterreich – Kremstal
Weingut Müller-Grossmann
At the foot of Göttweig Mountain in the traditional winegrowing region Kremstal, the mother/daughter team of Helma and Marlies Müller-
Grossmann sustainably farm 10ha of vineyards. Focusing nearly exclusively on white wines, Müller-Grossmann lets the gravelly, loess soils do the
talking, choosing to bottle their wines by vineyard site. Everything is harvested by hand, and the same desire to express the unique characteristics
of their vineyards follows through to the cellar, where Müller-Grossman takes a traditional, hands-off approach. Helma and Marlies are even part of
an organization called "11 Frauen & Ihre Weine", a group of eleven female winemakers in Austria, banded together to support each other.
Niederösterreich – Wachau
Weingut Josef Jamek
Jamek is one of the historic estates of the Wachau; along with FX Pichler, Hirtzberger and Prager, they were the force behind the group known as
the Vinea Wachau, which demanded the highest quality of the region and created the language we use to talk about the great wines of the Wachau
today (Smaragd for the most powerful of the wines, Federspiel for the more delicate, etc.). Jamek was, without a doubt, at the forefront of this
renaissance, and it should not come as a surprise: Jamek has some of the most coveted vineyards in the Wachau, including the terraced titans of
Klaus and Achleiten. Harvested by hand and fermented in stainless before aging in large, old barrels, these are very "grown-up" kinds of wines;
solid, durable, and authoritative, they are sometimes hard to read just because they aren’t sheet-metal brilliant. But with age, the wines truly shine.
Wien
Weingut Christ
The Christ family claims an unbroken 400-year history of winemaking in Austria. Its current scion is the dynamic and outspoken Rainer Christ who,
when he came of age, took over from his father as the 5th generation tending the family’s 9ha of vineyards. After assuming control, Christ oversaw
the renovation of his family’s winery into a spectacular expression of modern Austrian architecture. Christ’s inclinations toward modernity stop at
the facade, however. The cellar work remains deliberately primitive—entirely gravity fed, eschewing fining and filtration, and fermenting solely with
ambient yeasts—and remains largely executed by Christ himself. Christ farms organically, and embraces some of the principles of biodynamics, in
particular, synchronizing some of his actions with the appropriate phase of the moon.
Italy
Valle d'Aosta
Bouquetin
Project Fuso21: regional, terroir-driven, daily drinkers, from farmers we know here in Italy – from their vineyards to your table. These are like the
wines you’ll find in a good trattoria when traveling in Italy, made from the native varieties that the locals drink. Keeping true to vini quotidiani, we
choose deliciousness over complexity and polish. All are vinified in cement or steel, lightly or not filtered, and delicious. The project connects growers
in small towns throughout Italy to folks just like us who don’t want industrial plonk for daily drinkers. This Alpine Gamay is from Italy’s northwest corner
in Valle d’Aosta, so it speaks Italian and French, but there’s nothing Nouveau about Gamay in this valley: It was brought here a thousand years ago
during the reign of the Dukes of Burgundy. The vineyards sit at 650-800 meters in the Alta Valle west of the city of Aosta. Soils are alluvial with glacial
moraine. Hand-harvested grapes are macerated for eight days and then aged for eight months, all in stainless steel. The wine has a pretty, lightly
floral nose with a palate of sour cherry and minerals. Drink it with barbecue or quaff it slightly chilled après-ski-hike-bike-work. Its name, Bouquetin
(boo-kuh-TAN) is after the ibex, the local mountain goat.
Piemonte
Cascina Fornace
We drink lots of Roero wines, and we’re friends with quite a few producers there. But we’ve yet to taste wines more lithe and pure, with more of that
famed Roero 'profumato' nose, than those of Enrico Cauda. His family has farmed for generations and used to sell grapes and make wine for their
own consumption. Skip forward to 2011, and Enrico decides to start bottling wine under his own label, naming it after the old fornace, or brick kiln,
that was on the property. Enrico and his brother Manuele now farm 3ha of old-vine Arneis and Nebbiolo (50-60 years old) organically, with certification
in process. The vineyards are in the village of Santo Stefano Roero, and thus higher in altitude than most others in the Roero. Soils are classic
Roero, with a high percentage of sand. Native yeasts, super-meticulous farming, all work in the vineyard is done by hand, in part because the
vineyards are too steep for a tractor.
Fuso
Project Fuso21: regional, terroir-driven, daily drinkers, from farmers we know here in Italy – from their vineyards to your table. These are like the
wines you’ll find in a good trattoria when traveling in Italy, made from the native varieties that the locals drink. Keeping true to vini quotidiani, we
choose deliciousness over complexity and polish. All are vinified in cement or steel, lightly or not filtered, and delicious. The project connects growers
in small towns throughout Italy to folks just like us who don’t want industrial plonk for daily drinkers. One day, PortoVino founder Ernest asked Walter
Massa (2011 Gambero Rosso Wine Grower of the Year) for a favor: Walter is most famous as the prophet of Timorasso in Colli Tortonesi, but the area
has a long tradition for delicious Barbera (including Walter’s Barbera ‘Monleale’). Fuso Barbera isn’t a private label with wine from anywhere; it’s all
estate fruit, vinified with a slow, traditional fermentation, and aged in concrete tanks. We work closely with Walter to choose the vineyards and make
the final cuvée.
Mauro Franchino
Gattinara is the most renowned DOCG of nine tiny but geographically complex appellations, collectively known as Alto Piemonte. The three largest
producers collectively have around 90 of the 100 hectares of vineyard in the appellation. That leaves 10 highly fractionalized hectares for some
hobbyists and a handful of nearly forgotten vignaioli. These vignerons still hold onto the tradition of using a sketch of the crumbling Gattinara tower on
their labels. Signor Franchino is one of these old-schoolers – no faxes or emails. Most of the time when we call or visit, he’s in the vineyard, while his
Nebbiolo sits patiently in the old garagiste cellar in Gattinara’s centro storico. This Nebbiolo has little color. It’s pale, concise, honest, and comfortable
with long stretches of silence between its notes of salt, iron, red currants, and rose hip tea. Both the Gattinara and Coste della Sesia are 100%
Nebbiolo. Go on and bring a little old world Gattinara soul to your Nebbiolo fix.
Scarpa
We sometimes assume that the great, historic producers in Italy are all well-known in the U.S. But ask the old timers: "I remember Scarpa…"
Antica Casa Vinicola Scarpa has been producing traditional, aristocratic wines in the Monferrato hills of southeast Piemonte for 150 years. They
have vineyards, farmed organically, in the Langhe as well as the Monferrato. Mario Pesce, admired by both Giacosa and Gaja, made Scarpa’s
reputation in the late 20th century, and today Maria Pier Zola and her family carry on his tradition of aging all the wines for years, and sometimes
decades before release. Traditional sometimes means 'rustic', but that's not the case here; Scarpa produces elegant wines with arrow-like acidity
and well-aged tannins. Bottle evolution and vintage characteristics emerge instead of pointillist fruit. Be on the lookout for releases from the
family's 45,000+ bottle library.
Tenuta Monolo
Tenuta Monolo is an eccentric little Italian story. We’re in the Bramaterra growing area of Alto Piemonte, an area dear to our hearts, with its wild
volcanic and marine soils, just north of Barolo at the base of the Alps. Here Nebbiolo is more harpsichord, rather than cello-Barolo in tone, with spicy
notes from the additional varieties of Vespolina and Croatina. The cantina was once part of a villa that contained over 40,000 volumes of manuscripts
and books on philosophy, classical music (especially Baroque and Renaissance), and art. Surrounded by 0.75ha of vineyards, the villa on the hill
acted as the home for the eccentric musician Umberto Gilodi, and his lifelong friend and cellar master Orlando Cremonini. Gilodi was often called the
‘Padre di Bramaterra’ for his role in creating the Bramaterra DOC in 1979. Since he was the main voice and impetus in creating the DOC, he decided
never to sell his wine so he wouldn’t have a conflict of interest with the other producers in the area. Thus, we have bottles of multiple vintages, directly
from the cantina. We’ve acquired the entire cellar, with vintages from 1982 to 2004, as a way to give homage to these men, and also to fill in a missing
piece of Bramaterra’s enological history – no other winery in Bramaterra has such a large stock of back vintages. The wines differ wildly from year to
year, and they can be a bit (charmingly) rustic. They lived a simple life, all farming was organic. Gilodi was a meticulous note taker and we have his
documents that attest to not using pesticides or herbicides in a time when most in that area were. Fermentation was in large wood botti, using native
yeasts. The vineyards, and so too probably the wines, were 60% Nebbiolo, 20% Croatina, 10% Vespolina, 10% Uva Rara. These are historic wines
with lots of character and represent the first labeled Bramaterra bottles.
Terre Sparse
When you travel from the Piemonte region into Valle d’Aosta, you pass through the pre-alpine growing areas of Caluso and Carema. Unfortunately,
as you drive along the road, you’ll also notice many abandoned terraces. There’s now a few less, grazie to Matteo Trompetto and his farm, Terre
Sparse. Matteo’s given love to those abandoned terraces, and life to a small traditional farm. There’s much work to be done and Terre Sparse is an
ambitious undertaking. It’s an area we don’t usually see many new wine producers popping up, let alone ones with working farms. And that’s a shame
since the soil and climate here are unique and warrant our attention. The Caluso DOCG sits a bit lower than the Carema DOCG, which is more Alpine
in nature. Both are located in a natural morainic amphitheater, whose soil composition of sand and other elements renders it alkaline, producing wines
with low alcohol and a savory quality. Matteo’s winemaking reflects the ethos of his organic farm; the wines have minimal intervention and use native
yeasts. Sulfur levels are low and coming down each year as he gains confidence (and feeds the family). These wines are not glou-glou; they have too
pithy of a texture, and the savory notes have a tinge of bitter, which maybe is a hallmark of many Italian wines. But they sure do go down easy after
day of hard of work on the farm.
Umberto Fracassi
Umberto Fracassi’s family has been producing Barolo since 1880, a time when Barolo went from being 'un vino dolce' to the grande vino secco that
we all know today. After the Second World War, Marchese Fracassi, or simply Umberto, dedicated himself to carrying on the family tradition of
producing old-school Barolo in Slavonian oak botti. The town of Cherasco sits at the northwest corner of the Barolo zone, just west of La Morra and
Verduno, and its growing area includes Fracassi’s 2ha Barolo monopole cru, Mantoetto. This area is also known as Italy’s capital of snail production.
Umberto also produces some white Favorita (Vermentino) that’s a good way to start a meal, as the Barolo is opening up in the decanter.
Vigneti Massa
It’s hard not to get worked up about Walter Massa’s wines. He had a vision for a variety nobody wanted (Timorasso), worked in obscurity for years,
rescued the grape, and doesn’t talk about himself but instead about the territory of Colli Tortonesi. When you get lost going there, start asking people
100 kilometers out; they all know and love him, from the gas station guy to the producer next door. You'll often hear it bandied about: "There are
thousands of native grape varieties in Italy!" That's true, but a lot of them are merely cute. Timorasso, however, deserves another category (and it’s
white to boot). It’s utterly unique, complex, capable of aging, and transparent to where it's grown. Walter is the 'contadino straordinario' who started to
replant the variety in the 1980s and remains the leading producer and go-to grower for Timorasso today. We often say that Timorasso is like Ali: 'Float
like a butterfly (baroque fruit and honeyed minerality) and sting like a bee (lots of well-integrated acidity). Remarkable and distinctive red wines made
from Barbera, Croatina, and Freisa demonstrate that Walter is more than just the "King of Timorasso".
Lombardia
Cà del Vént
Cà del Vént, home of the wind, is the name of the winery and an apt description of it. Just North of Brescia, in the hills of Campiani di Cellatica, a
sunny southern exposition warms 6ha of vineyards, which are then cooled by the wind that’s always blowing here. An altitude of 300-400m and
mainly chalky soils chisel the fruit. In the last few years, as the wines have become more refined and acid-driven, the Franciacorta consortium has
started rejecting them. Well, for Franciacorta lovers, maybe that would be a problem. For us, it’s encouraging. Antonio Tornincasa and Flavio Faliva
are obsessive naturalistas – in an area that’s known not to be too friendly to organic wines. The wines have an edgy acidity and a precision that
reflects their exhaustive work in analyzing soil structure and composition in their 13 parcels, each of which is vinified separately. Pas Operé refers to
the use of the same wine (instead of sugar) for secondary fermentation, and there are no other additives whatsoever. These are not cheap, but I truly
don’t know of any sparkling wines that are more stunning and pure than these in all of Italy.
Veneto
Bella Vita
While our focus is on small growers that work well in the vineyard and the cellar, we also understand the realities and needs of our customers. So,
we found a Pinot Grigio from Treviso that fits in qualitatively with our portfolio, and that we feel good about offering at a great price. Made by the third
generation, sibling winemaking team of Annalisa, Alessandro, Carlo, and Luca Botter (also responsible for Bella Vita Montepulciano from their
holdings in Abruzzo).
Serata
While our focus is on small growers that work well in the vineyard and the cellar, we also understand the realities and needs of our customers. So, we
found a Prosecco that fits in qualitatively with our portfolio, and that we feel good about offering at a great price. Made by a family winery outside of
Vittoria Veneto in the foothills of the Dolomites. Their vineyards are farmed sustainably without herbicides, solar panels are used for electricity, and
large amounts of the property are left as woodlands to encourage biodiversity.
Liguria
Vio
In the tiny village of Vendone, just 12km inland and 300m above the sea, Ettore and Natalina Vio planted vines and olive trees amidst the Ligurian
mountain scrub in the 1970s. Today, their son, Claudio, and his wife, Maria Grazia, now tend the family farm. The dispersed patchwork of tiny,
terraced vineyard plots adding up to just 2ha — mostly Pigato, with a little Vermentino and some local red varieties — yield just enough wine for us to
bring in a few hundred cases a year. A hectare of olive orchards gives even less of their beautifully delicate olive oil (ask us nicely, and we might be
able to get you a little). Farming is 'lotta integrata' (manual weeding, no treatments besides Bordeaux mixture), all harvesting is by hand (by necessity
of the small, steep terraced parcels), and fermentations are with native yeasts.
Emilia-Romagna
Casalpriore
When Gabriele Ronzoni “retired” seven years ago at the age of 70, he decided to start making wine full time. Back in 1987, he had purchased a 2.3ha
farm near Modena with a neglected 17th-century farmhouse. Initially only making wine for friends and family, he is now producing enough Lambrusco
that we can benefit from this labor of love. Working organically is deeply important to the Ronzoni Family. His daughter Francesca is an herbalist and
his other daughter Giovanna left journalism and started a company that makes products for organic farmers. So, when Gabriele began making wine,
there was no question that he would work organically. He has never used herbicides or synthetic pesticides, only manure for fertilizer. When he
uses sulfur, it is in very small doses and the wines have never exceeded the legal limit. Gabriele uses the Sobara grape as the base wine for his
Lambrusco. Awarded its DOC classification in 1970, Sobara is considered the highest-quality Lambrusco clone that produces the most fragrant wines.
He also uses a small amount of Salamino, Maestri, Ancellotta, and Malbo clones. And if all of this wasn't enough to convince you to give Lambrusco
another try, apparently the wine has health benefits. These local grape varieties have a high concentration of flavonoids and antioxidants, so Gabriele
believes you will have a sense of well-being after you drink his wines. If this is retirement, sign me up!
Folicello
Marco Folicello is an old-school Italian DIYer who's been an advocate of low and no-sulfur wines for over 20 years. His vines, located northwest of
Bologna, have been certified organic since the 1980's, and he has always been a passionate practitioner of native yeast fermentations. Marco works
predominantly with Grechetto Gentile or Grechetto di Todi, also known as Pignoletto nowadays. This daily drinker is refreshing with relatively low
alcohol, lemon, a touch of lavender, and almond notes. Excellent as an aperitivo, the wine can be a bit cloudy, since it’s not filtered – that's a good
thing!
Gradizzolo
On weekends, Antonio Ognibene's wife cooks up some delicious tortellini in brodo in their agriturismo for the city dwellers from Bologna looking to
pass a bucolic Sunday in the countryside. It's the perfect dish to eat with these earthy wines grown on top of Monteveglio in the Colli Bolognesi.
Antonio heads up the winery and is a man of few words, most of which he saves for his vines. He works primarily with the native white Pignoletto
(aka Grechetto Gentile), and the rare red Negrettino, of which Antonio is one of only two producers in the region. The surrounding marl soils give
these wines a touch more tension and structure than others in the area. Rigorously organic, Antonio fought with all the local producers on the merits
of native yeasts, and his wines are more interesting for it. Antonio is also an intuitive and sensitive taster and cultivator of vines; he has names for
many of the vines and holds them as his own children, knowing which gave two bunches one year and none the next. These are traditional and
charming wines for a lazy Sunday lunch, wines that have been left to ferment and decant naturally with the seasons, and released when they are
ready. You can taste the wholeness of the fruit, the depth and texture of work well done in the vineyards. Start rolling out that tortellini dough.
Mariotti
Mirco Mariotti's vineyards are located in the eastern ‘Romagna’ part of Emilia-Romagna, an area much less known than the western Lambrusco area
of Emilia. In fact, you’ll notice that Mirco’s wines use an Emilia IGP designation for what should be Romagna IGP – if only it existed. Nevertheless, it’s
a place with lots of local color, there’s a beach nearby, and folks often play cards here into the night, accompanied by sweating bottles of their own
DIY sparkling wines from the local grapes. Mirco, too, had started off making some of these DIY wines made from his own vineyards in the Bosco
Eliceo area. The vines are old, some planted in 1952, some well over 100 years old. All are on native rootstock (piede franco), as they are planted in
the beach sand, just 300 meters from the waves. Mirco chooses to work exclusively with the local varieties: Fortana, the low alcohol, high acid red
with some pretty rustic-rusty tannins, ideal for a refreshing rosato, and Trebbiano Romagnolo and Malvasia di Candia for the bianco, where the
savory, herbal, salty aspect of growing vines so close to the beach really comes through. After hand harvesting, the first fermentations are all with
native yeasts in concrete tank. Secondary fermentation is in bottle, using must from the same harvest instead of adding sugar. There is one gentle
decantation, but other than that, the wines are not filtered or disgorged. Kick off your sandals, light up the grill, deal the cards. This farmer fizz is a
good bet on rare, local varieties that are unique, delicious, and without pretense.
Il Borghetto
If you think you’ve seen all of Chianti’s expressions, Il Borghetto’s extremely detailed and ethereal Sangiovese may surprise you. Owner Antonio
Cavallini is an outsider, as the Chianti consortium has often denied him DOCG status for his wines. They cite his use of Burgundy bottles and other
"problems" with the wine. As Bob Dylan sings in Absolutely Sweet Marie, "To live outside the law, you must be honest." And it’s no secret that some
of Italy’s best producers, some of it's most honest producers, are living "outside the [DOC/G] law." Antonio organically farms 5ha of vineyards and
12ha of olive groves in Montefiridolfi, a hilltop town in the northwest corner of Chianti Classico. The area could be considered a 'sottozona' or
subzone of the San Casciano zone. The clay soil with some limestone has excellent water retention and gives wines with finesse, freshness, and
elegance, even during hot and dry vintages. The vineyard consists of an interesting mix of Sangiovese clones and biotypes (e.g. F9/R24 Biondi Santi
clone). The harvest takes place in multiple passes row by row. The musts are then fermented in multiple parcels in the cellar before a final blending.
Antonio ferments using a percentage of whole clusters, which is unusual in Italy. This technique gives the wines a distinctive aromatic elegance and
silky tannins. The approach in the cellar, in general, is minimal intervention, including native yeast fermentations in large open concrete vats or plastic
containers. There are no pumps, and all racking is with gravity. Herbal notes, crushed flowers, and elegant fruit describe the wines in general. If these
Sangiovese wines are made by a Chianti outsider, I say let him in.
Le Masse di Lamole
Lamole could be thought of as a sub-zone of Chianti Classico with its unique, high altitude vineyards (400-650m), grown on marl and sandstone soils.
Lamole produces elegant wines that are often described as 'profumati' or aromatic (red fruits, rosa canina, Iris flower, orange zest), with structure built
more on acidity rather than tannins. Toscana, yes, but nothing rustic here. Le Masse di Lamole has the highest vineyards in the area at 650m. The
mountaintop vineyards are unprotected and are home to some 100+ year-old, albarello (bush) vines, many of which are planted on their own roots
(thanks to the sandstone soils in the area). Sometimes I think owners Anna Maria and Giuliano worship Zeus, for their Sangiovese is electric. A very
humble cellar is cut out of the wall of a medieval borgo. Vinification is done in steel without temperature controls, then botti di castagno (Chestnut, not
Slavonian oak) of 15 and 25 HL that don’t have a manufacturer’s name since they were made by local artisans over 100 years ago. Lamole is a
special area and there are few wines I wouldn’t want to drink there. But, I have to put an extra wink in for Le Masse. Maybe it’s just me and a perverse
desire to swallow Sangiovese-lightning and live to tell about it.
Ranchelle
The best wine producers have their own brand of authenticity, and it comes through in the wines. Christoph Fischer is a long-time German expat
who’s fixated on a preservation project (recupero) of Maremma’s abandoned vineyards and varieties. The Maremma area lies mostly along the
Tuscan coast. It’s a place where the ancient Etruscans once cultivated vines and where the Butteri (Tuscan cowboys) still roam. Morello di Scansano
is perhaps the best-known wine from the Maremma. It can offer juicy fun, but the old local varieties here are way more soulful. We know of no one
doing such interesting work as Christoph in the area: all organic farming, all native yeasts, extremely low sulfur. Soils are an even mix of sand,
limestone, and clay. Christof works from a one hectare plot of 60 year-old albarello (bush) vines in an area named on old maps as Millocchio: literally
a ‘thousand-eyes’ (mille + occhio). According to locals, it was an area where there were once so many vineyards on the hills that thousands of vine
buds would look down on you. From that one abandoned vineyard, he has planted two more hectares using massale selection. Both wines (one white
and one red) ferment to dryness in open-topped fermenters with skin contact for about three weeks and punchdowns twice a day using a multi-
pronged mandrone stick that he got from an old farmer in the area. Christoph’s makeshift cellar was a Super Alimentari (corner grocery store) in the
1970s. It’s extremely clean now. After a light pressing, most of the juice goes into used 500-liter tonneaux; about 30% goes into stainless steel tanks.
A tiny amount of sulfur is used only when he blends the two parts.
Umbria
Marco Merli
Marco is a naturalista in Umbria, just outside of Perugia, in a town called the House of the Devil (Casa del Diavolo). He has taken over various high-
altitude vineyards around him that have a mix of native grapes such as Grechetto, Malvasia, Verdicchio, Moscato, Trebbiano, and Sangiovese. His
cellar is filled with re-conditioned small cement tanks – the kinds that farmers would use for home production – except Marco has dozens of them, so
he can follow each parcel per tank up to bottling. The wines are a bit of eco-chic rustic, with punchy acidity and just a touch of fruit. A great addition to
the portfolio from a region in which it’s not easy to find something that really shines.
Marche
Borgo Paglianetto
Borgo Paglianetto is a village of ancient farmhouses and hillside vineyards locals have brought together to form a new winery that highlights natural
and organic viticulture. The winery is located in the Matelica growing area of the Marche region, where the high-acid Verdicchio variety reigns
supreme. "Terravignata" is textbook Matelica: green apples and tangerines, framed by savory botanical herbs. "Ergon" ferments with native yeasts,
giving a subtle wine that shows muted stone fruits, botanical herbs, and a tapering saline finish. The top wine, "Vertis", is from an old, high-altitude
vineyard that produces a more structured wine, with notes of botanicals herbs and perfectly ripe tangerines. More info coming soon!
Lazio
Podere Orto
Podere Orto lies on Lazio’s high plains at 600m elevation in an area called L’Alta Tuscia Viterbese, or simply Tuscia. It’s a bit of a Bermuda Triangle,
between Italy’s center and south, at the 'trivium' of Lazio, Umbria, and Tuscany. When Chianti Classico is getting too hot in the summer, this is a good
place to come to cool off. Many of the grapes grown here are biotypes of varieties found in Toscana, but these wines are more nervous, with more
tension and a skeined elegance. Part of this is due to the diverse varieties, but just as important is the high altitude and complex soils, including blue
limestone marls. Giuliano Salesi and Simona De Vecchis planted their vineyards here in 2009 from a massale selection gleaned from abandoned
vineyards in the area. In 2011, they completed the restoration of their small farmhouse and cellar. Today, they are making fine, natural wines with
minimal intervention: there are no chemicals used in the vineyards, instead preferring biodynamic treatments, weeds are all pulled by hand, and the
wines are fermented with native yeasts without any additives. The resulting wines are a keen, fine, and natural expression of utterly unique varieties
and soils.
Abruzzo
Bella Vita
While our focus is on small growers that work well in the vineyard and the cellar, we also understand the realities and needs of our customers. So, we
found an old vine Montepulciano that fits in qualitatively with our portfolio, and that we feel good about offering at a great price. Made by the third
generation, sibling winemaking team of Annalisa, Alessandro, Carlo, and Luca Botter (also responsible for Bella Vita Pinot Grigio from their holdings
in the Veneto).
Q500
In 2006, Maurizio di Nicola aided by his great-nephew began the work of recuperating a century-old farm in the village of Colle Trotta, situated in the
shadow of the 2900m Gran Sasso mountain in Abruzzo. The crops include farro fields, fruit and olive trees, and 3.5ha of vineyards. Maurizio calls the
wines Q500 (Quota 500) because all of the vineyards sit at 500m or higher (and incidentally, they look down on Valentini’s). Farming is certified
organic, fermentations are indigenous, and the wines are unfiltered.
Campania
Antica Masseria Venditti
Back in 1988, the Italian wine guide Gambero Rosso introduced the word "organic" for the first time in its review of Venditti’s wines. Those who still
believe that “organic” equals “unscientific” should think again. Nicola Venditti is both an enologist and the very incarnation of a contadino (farmer). The
vineyards have been in the family for over 400 years — thus the “antica” part of Antica Masseria — and he is deeply passionate about his territory of
Sannio, adjacent to better-known Taurasi. Nicola eschews oak and kneels at the altar of steel, thus letting all of the wines really show the clean and
distinct fruit of their native grapes (some of which only he cultivates). His cantina is squeaky clean, and he gladly whistles out pH and acid levels for
those inclined. This humanist-techno-geek approach, he explains, is a combination of the “humanity” of ancient methods and local varieties, together
with the “rationality” offered by technology. The new "Assenza" (meaning, "not containing" or, "absent of") wines are made completely without SO2.
Cantine Matrone
The Matrone family has been cultivating vines on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, just east of Naples, since the 1700s. Fast forward to this century,
when Andrea Matrone and his cousin Francesco reappropriated the original 18th-century family cantina and 2.3ha of vineyards on the southern
slopes of Vesuvius. If Etna’s volcanic wines are noble, Vesuvius’ are wild, with potassium and iron-rich volcanic soils providing more funky bitter and
salt notes. There’s a bianco made mostly from Caprettone (which may be none other than Trebbiano d’Abruzzo according to Andrea), a part of which
sees two days of skin contact, and a rosso made mostly from Piedirosso with other local varieties. Farming is uncertified organic and fermentations
are with a pied de cuve from the local vineyard yeasts. This is another compelling, young producer springing from an old family tradition — a
combination that increasingly is making some of the most exciting wines in Italy.
Pierluigi Zampaglione
Pierluigi Zampaglione’s family has farmed tomatoes, grains, and beans for generations in the town of Calitri, located 75 miles east of Avellino in the
Alta Irpinia. In 2002, Pierluigi decided to plant 2ha of Fiano vines at 800 meters of elevation and to make a single wine called "Don Chisciotte" (Don
Quixote – among other things, Pierluigi sees his vineyards and himself as tilting at the windmill farms that dot the Alta Irpinia landscape). Farming is
certified organic. All stainless steel, native yeasts, extended skin contact, very little sulfur, no other additives, and no filtration. The wine is complex
and chock full of character on the highest elevation Fiano vineyards we know of.
Puglia
Calx
Project Fuso21: regional, terroir-driven, daily drinkers, from farmers we know here in Italy – from their vineyards to your table. These are like the
wines you’ll find in a good trattoria when traveling in Italy, made from the native varieties that the locals drink. Keeping true to vini quotidiani, we
choose deliciousness over complexity and polish. All are vinified in cement or steel, lightly or not filtered, and delicious. The project connects growers
in small towns throughout Italy to folks just like us who don’t want industrial plonk for daily drinkers. Calx Primitivo is made by Filippo Cassano of
Cantine Polvanera. Filippo's certified organic vineyards are located in Gioia del Colle, a quick 30-minute drive inland west of Bari and home to the
highest elevation vineyards in Puglia. Soils are deep red clay with an underlying base of pure limestone, which, when combined with the elevation,
gives wines that have plenty of fruit, while still retaining their freshness and minerality. Fruit from Filippo's 20-year-old vines is hand harvested,
fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel, and also aged entirely in steel with only a small amount of SO2 added for bottling.
Name Vintage Grapes Size Pack Importer SLO Code
Calx Primitivo IGP Puglia 2017 Primitivo 750mL 12 PV 597106
Calabria
Giuseppe Calabrese
Giuseppe Calabrese tends 4ha of mostly bush-trained old vines in the Pollino Mountains of northern Calabria, in the ancient town of Saracena. He
works without peer in this remote area; to say he’s plowing the rough road is an understatement. The winter’s here are bracing, summers are fresh,
thanks to the nearby mountains and high altitude (400 meters). The soil is a mix of Neogene marine deposits and limestone, as seen by the many
ancient limestone caves you find in the area. Giuseppe’s wines are an echo of the local wildness, and the ancient Saracean civilization, which still
imbues the area. His works focuses on the local native grapes. The red is the intriguing and moody Magliocco Dolce: smoky and salty, with black
fruits and grainy tannins. The limestone and 40+ year old bush vines make a difference. His white is from Guarnaccia (a synonym for the Campanian
variety Coda di Volpe) and Malvasia, and it is an exercise in controlled oxidation that will be a stunner for fans of the Jura ouillé genre who are looking
for more than roasted nuts. These are exciting times for Calabria, and exciting wines from a place far away and relatively unknown.
Silvio Carta
The Carta family has been making (and storing) wine in the sleepy coastal town of Oristano for generations. The local grape is Vernaccia (though not
the one from Gimignano). The vine was possibly introduced by the Phoenicians or it was cultivated from wild vines of the Tirso valley. The style is
"oxidative", but no Englishman created or discovered this wine (as happened in Marsala). And maybe that’s a shame because these wines deserve
to be better known outside their home. The wine is vinified dry, and the nose is chalky and intriguing. Multiple aged vintages are available. The
register is something new for us, falling somewhere amid the mineral tones of Fino, the nuttiness of Marsala, and a bit of passito fruit.
Sicilia
Alcesti
Gianfranco Palladino and family are making honest, pure wines from local grapes in the Marsala region of Sicily. Certified organic farming and hand-
harvesting in a region and price-point that isn’t always the norm. Our idea of fresh, Sicilian wines ready to drink; both are fermented and aged in
stainless steel.
I Custodi
Mount Etna is a current darling of the Italian wine scene, and I Custodi is among the 21st-century Etna Renaissance producers who are now making
wines as compelling as the active volcano’s cooled lava flows. Founder Mario Paoluzi has teamed up with Etna guru Salvo Foti and I Vigneri, the local
vineyard workers who tend the ancient albarello vines and volcanic terracing. The Etna Rosso "Pistus" (mostly Nerello Mascalese) comes from Etna’s
north slope, where the wines are known to be structured and savoury. In 1774, the Florentine scholar Sestini called them ‘navigabile’ or ship-worthy,
keeping after long voyages. Don’t miss 150+ year-old vines mostly-Nerello cru "Aetneus". The racy Etna Bianco "Ante" (mostly Carricante) comes
from 1200m high vineyards on the sea-influenced eastern slopes; raw fish come alive with this wine. "Alnus" is the traditional ‘pista e mutta’ (press
and rack) Etna rosato. Organic.
Mortellito
Val di Noto sits in the southeast corner of the Sicilian triangle, dipping down to the latitude of North Africa. In spite of the warm climate, the local
varieties (especially Grillo and Frappato) and white limestone soils are capable of producing balanced wines with tension and moderate alcohol. Dario
Serrentino, after years of selling off his grapes (to naturalistas Frank Cornelissen, Lamoresca, inter alia), started to vinify and bottle his own wines in
2014 as Mortellito. Dario is a naturalista as well, but he insists on making clean wines that taste extreme only in their deliciousness. He works his
family’s 25ha, 15 of which are under vine; the rest are a mix of ancient olive groves and heirloom almond varieties. His wines have a tempered
hedonism, a mix of 'taking' in the sun (as the Italian idiom goes), and then 'taking a bath' in the salty-cool sea.
Galicia
Benaza
The wine region Monterrei is located just above Portugal in the province of Ourense. Monterrei is a relatively new DO but possesses a long history of
winegrowing, and at the moment is experiencing a renaissance in winemaking. The climate is relatively dry and warm for Galicia and more continental
than Atlantic. The soils are a mix of clay and alluvial. Benaza Godello is a balanced, drinkable, and food-friendly vino blanco. It expresses the unique
personality and inherent qualities of the Godello grape and Monterrei terruño. Benaza Godello is a cuvée made especially for Vinos de Terruños in
collaboration with Álvaro Bueno, a vintner with deep roots and intimate knowledge of the Monterrei region. Fermented in stainless steel vat and
raised on the lees for up to a year.
Guímaro
Cultivated since Roman times, Ribeira Sacra’s steep, terraced vineyards are some of the most picturesque and treacherous in the world of wine —
think Douro, Côte-Rôtie, or the Mosel. Like those most dramatic terruños, wine-growing here is not for the faint of heart; it takes spirited determination,
unwieldy optimism, a sense of tradition, and a willingness to collaborate. All of these qualities are embodied by the young Pedro Rodríguez of
Guímaro. Pedro descends from a long line of colleteiros working in the Amandi area, Ribeira Sacra’s most prime sub-zone with south facing vineyards
planted on slate just above the river Sil. His parents, Manolo and Carmen, still work the vineyards daily and also maintain a small finca of mixed
agriculture. In 1991, Pedro decided to take over the family winery and named it Guímaro, which means "rebel" in Gallego and was a nickname of
Pedro’s grandfather, and became one of the first adegas to join the Ribeira Sacra DO in 1996. Pedro immediately set about making significant
improvements in the vineyards, such as reducing yields of the commonly over-cropped Mencía grape, eliminating chemicals, and paying attention to
the different plots’ expositions, which greatly helps to preserve natural acidity in the grapes. Old-fashioned winemaking methods were reclaimed as
well: wild yeast fermentation, foot treading in open-top vessels, stem inclusion, working with low sulfur, and aging in used barrels. Never resting on his
laurels, Pedro is leading his estate to organic certification and has undertaken a massive project of planting heirloom grape varieties at the highest
elevations in Amandi. With this ever-evolving approach, there is no doubt the future is looking bright at Guímaro.152.76
La Milla
Rías Baixas represents the lowlands of Galicia, with an elevation generally less than 300m near the sea and the lower reaches of the rivers, giving
the region a distinct Atlantic influence with mild temperatures and high rainfall. Here, Albariño finds its natural habitat. La Milla is a cuvée made in
collaboration with third generation winegrower and winemaker Angel Parada. It is sourced from an organically and biodynamically farmed plot of old
vines (up to 80 years old) in the sandy soils of the Soutomaior subzone of Rías Baixas. After hand harvesting, spontaneous fermentation and aging
occur entirely in stainless steel tanks.
Nanclares
Located in Cambados right on the Atlantic Ocean, Alberto Nanclares has been quietly crafting some of the most serious, ocean-infused, age-worthy
Albariños in the Val do Salnés subzone of Rías Baixas. After a career as an economist for many years, in 1992, Alberto and his wife wanted to unwind
their careers near the ocean. As happenstance, the small home they purchased came with some vineyard land. Initially, Alberto had no plans to make
wine, but the idea of farming grew on him, so he invested in some winemaking tools and set up a tiny winery in his garage. In the beginning, Alberto
farmed conventionally but quickly became disenchanted with the use of chemicals. Gradually, he moved away from the systematic herbicide and
pesticide use and has now eliminated chemicals altogether with full-fledged organic farming and some work with biodynamics, a rarity in this humid,
Atlantic-influenced region. Alberto currently tends 2.5ha of vines, all trained in the traditional pergola style, and divided into 12 small parcels in the
parroquias of Cambados and Meaño. Some of the vines are so close to the ocean that Alberto gathers seaweed to use for compost, and he does not
plow in order to keep the surrounding flora and fauna in their natural habitat. After harvesting by hand, all of his wines are fermented with wild yeasts
by parcel, and he chooses not to de-acidify, preferring the edginess of the naturally high acidity. Malolactic fermentation rarely occurs, and the wines
spend a good amount of time (usually more than one year) on their lees before being bottled without clarification or filtration and only a minimal dose
of sulfur. Nanclares wines are angular and 'vin de garde' in style with great concentration, crystalline precision, and a distinct saline character that
pairs effortlessly with the abundant fresh seafood the region is known for.
Siete
Siete Rioja comes from a second generation family farm using environmentally friendly methods for producing the best wines. Vineyards are divided
among several municipalities – Calahorra, Andosilla, and San Adrián – all within Rioja Baja. The soils are diverse, with limestone dominating, but also
sand, clay, and gravel. Siete is a wine made especially for Vinos de Terruños in collaboration with brothers Andrés and Ramón Serrano, pioneers in
organic farming in Rioja Baja. Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Mazuelo are each vinified separately in stainless steel before final blending.
Navarra
Verasol
The region of Navarra sits just northeast of the bordering Rioja. It is a region that enjoys three distinct climate influences – Atlantic, Continental, and
Mediteranean – as well as a myriad of soil types and elevations. This makes Navarra one of the most interesting regions for winegrowing in all of
Spain. The fruit for this cuvée is sourced from organically farmed vines around the town of Olite, a winemaking town in the Ribera Alta subzone of
Navarra. Due to its limestone sub-soils, high elevation, and accompanying fluctuations between daytime and nighttime temperatures, this is an area
known to produce excellent Tempranillo and Garnacha based wines. Verasol is a cuvée made especially for Vinos de Terruños in collaboration with
Charo Moriones, a vintner with deep roots and intimate knowledge of the Navarra region. Fermented and raised in old cement vats. Bottled unfiltered.
Goyo García
Goyo García Viadero, the son of one of the most respected winemaking families in the Ribera del Duero, has been crafting iconoclastic, naturally-
made wines since the 1980s. Greatly inspired by natural winemakers, like Pierre Overnoy from the Jura, Goyo started his current project of reviving
old vineyards to produce his own naturally made wines in 2003. With the help of his wife Diana, Goyo farms three, tiny single-plots in the heart of
Ribera del Duero near the town of Roa, all on different soil types and altitudes. The vineyards here are very old (the youngest vines are 80 years old),
and all the vines are head-trained and interplanted with white grapes. Goyo harvests first for acidity, and then coferments red and white grapes
together, just as things were done in Ribera del Duero back in the good old days. In the cellar, the grapes are all destemmed, fermented exclusively
with wild yeast, and nothing is added during élevage (including SO2). The wines are then raised in old French barrels at an underground, century-old
cellar. Goyo also makes wine in Cantabria, the region where his mother comes from, high up in the Picos de Europa mountain range, where there is a
little-known outcropping of old-vine Mencía and Palomino planted on pure broken slate. Using similar practices as his Duero reds, Goyo produces
beautiful mountain-laden, mineral-inflected wines from here. That’s right, Palomino gone Wild!
Isaac Cantalapiedra
The Cantalapiedras descend from several generations of winegrowers working in the municipality of La Seca, a dusty town of 1,000 people that is
considered to be the heart of the Rueda appellation. While most producers in the region have embraced the ultra-modern styles of Verdejo (high
yields, machine harvesting, selected yeasts, cold fermentation, heavy filtration, and copious amounts of sulfur) to make an internationally appealing
wine, the Cantalapiedras have taken a decidedly different approach. Although there are records of the Cantalapiedras’ grape-growing dating to the
19th century, the birth of the current estate can be traced to 1949 when patriarch Heliodoro planted his first vineyard plot at the age of 15. For many
years, Heliodoro’s son Isaac worked alongside him, and together they built a 20ha domaine that is now certified organic. In the past, they sold the
bulk of their grape production to larger producers in the area. It is with the third generation – Helio has since passed away and Isaac’s son Manuel
has joined – that the family has established a small cellar of their own, bottling their first vintage in 2014. Being farmers first, they strive to go beyond
organic and incorporate many biodynamic practices into their viticulture. Their grapes are oftentimes harvested later than other producers in the
region, and they keep about 7ha of their vines to vinify themselves, selling the rest to the old relationships of the family. In the cellar, Manuel utilizes
wild yeasts for fermentation, minimal amounts of sulfur, and no other additions. They produce a wide range of wines, from more soil-driven, single-plot
wines, to flor-aged wines (historically traditional for the region), as well as skin-contact wines and pét-nats with no added SO2. These are winegrowers
who promise to be dynamic and forward thinking. Given the excellent quality of the wines right out of the gate, we are beyond excited to see what the
future holds for Manuel and Isaac Cantalapiedra.
La Senda
Bierzo, located in the northwest province of León, is known for its Mencía-based wines with plenty of fruit and spice, as well as an important stop for
travelers who walk the Camino de Santiago. Here, the travel-weary pilgrim will find hearty Castellana food and much-needed repose before crossing
the Cantabrian Mountains into Galicia toward the North Atlantic coast. Diego Losada is in many ways a fellow pilgrim, in search of the "Atlantic" in his
wines, and even named his project La Senda, meaning "the path". Diego originally studied organic chemistry at university, acquainting himself with
winegrowing through a scientific perspective. Eventually, Diego rejected the rigid nature of science, turning to the open-ended and intuitive philosophy
of natural winegrowing. After working at a few larger wineries in the region, Diego decided that he needed to make wine his own way. In 2013, Diego
began by recuperating three small parcels to bottle his first wine. Today, he currently rents 15 parcels totaling just over 5ha, focusing on bush-trained
vines that are at least 60 years old at high elevation, in sites relatively isolated from other vineyards so any chemical treatments cannot taint his soils.
Using organic viticulture, Diego encourages biodiversity, letting the natural flora grow amongst the vines. In the winery, Diego works with extremely
low-intervention since he wants his wines to retain the energy and life of the vineyards. As such, he employs a mix of unlined concrete vats and older
oak and chestnut casks and foudre for fermentation and aging, and there are no pumps, no battonage, and no additives besides minimal amounts of
SO2 when necessary. The results are simply some of the most revolutionary Bierzo wines that we have encountered.
M. Sokolin
After working as a sommelier in San Francisco at Michael Mina and Acquarello, Mitchell Sokolin decided to spend the last several years traveling the
globe learning to make in both hemispheres, at places like Mac Forbes in Australia. Finally, for his first solo project, he has settled down in the
southern part of Castilla y León in Sierra de Salamanca. The grapes for this wine come from a vineyard planted in 2004 as part of research
collaboration with the regional government. Called "La Espaldera" ('trellis' in English), it represents the most comprehensive collection of the known
clones of Rufete. While the trellised, cordon-pruned vines are a departure from the more traditional bush vines of the region, it is tightly planted on a
steep WNW-facing slope of decomposed granite and quartz, supported by hand-built stone terraces. It has been farmed organically (and certified as
such) since it was planted, and the winemaking follows a very minimalist approach, with SO2 as the only addition.
Vevi
The wine region Rueda is located in the heart of Spain, in the southwestern part of Castilla y León. It is high in elevation and possesses a continental
climate with wide shifts between very warm days and cold nights. Rueda has a long tradition of winegrowing and is the ancestral home of the noble
Verdejo grape. Verdejo makes one of the most distinctive white wines in all of Spain. Vevi Rueda is a cuvée made especially for Vinos de Terruños in
collaboration with Silvia García, an organic farmer and vintner with deep roots and intimate knowledge of the Rueda region. Vevi expresses the
unique personality of the native Verdejo grape, along with the inherent qualities of the Rueda terruño. It is a balanced, drinkable, and food-friendly
vino blanco. Fermented in stainless steel vat and raised on the lees 6-8 months before bottling.
Aragón
Bielsa
The wine region Cariñena is located just southeast of Navarra in the province of Zaragoza. It is part of the larger political region of Aragón, the area
considered to be the ancestral home of the Garnacha grape. Cariñena possesses an ideal terruño for growing and making wine from old vine
Garnacha. The soils are poor and limestone based. The climate is continental, with hot days to ensure ripening and cool nights to preserve acidity,
along with a unique cooling influence from a wind that blows from the north, called Cierzo. This cooling influence helps give unusually delicate
aromatics and elegant wines from the late-ripening and potentially alcoholic Garnacha grape. Bielsa Garnacha is meant to be a drinkable and food-
friendly wine that expresses the unique personality and inherent qualities of self-sustaining, old vine viticulture and the Cariñena terruño. It is a cuvée
made especially for Vinos de Terruños in collaboration with Ana Becoechea, a vintner with deep roots and intimate knowledge of the Cariñena region.
Fermented and raised 3 months in American barrels. Bottled unfiltered.
Catalonia
Carlania
Carlania is a small family run winery comprised of husband and wife (and Conca de Barberá natives) Jordi Miró and Sònia Gomà-Camps. Jordi
grew up working his family’s vineyards alongside his father, and after working in the port city of Tarragona, the couple decided to settle back in
the countryside of Conca close to their extended families to raise their children in a rural setting and live amongst the vines. Today, the couple
biodynamically farm 13ha of vineyards. As is typical of the region, the vineyards are a mix of 'espaldera' and 'en vaso', and sit at 400-500m elevation
just 20 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. This village is the epicenter (and identity) of the Trepat grape, so most of their holdings are Trepat
(along with some Macabeu), with the parcels ranging from 30-40 years old on average, with some vineyards more than 100 years old. Only sulfur
and biodynamic preparations are used in the vineyards, all harvesting is by hand, and since 2015, Jordi and Sònia have vinified their wines
completely without any additives (including SO2) and without fining or filtration. The resultant wines show the years of work that Jordi and Sònia
have put into natural farming and winemaking; they are wonderfully complex, gulpable wines that show pure, mouth-coating Mediterranean flavors
and compliment the cuisine of Carlania's home region.
German Gilabert
Cava is Spain’s most famous sparkling wine. In order to be called Cava, the wine has to be made using 'método tradicional', where the secondary
fermentation happens in the bottle. 95% of Cava is produced in the Penedès area of Catalonia, located just southwest of Barcelona. It is no wonder
that Cava is the drink of choice in the many tapas bars of the great city. The grapes used for German Gilabert come from the subzone Alt Penedès,
where the highest elevation plots are located. Only native grapes are used, the vines are farmed organically, and the wine is bottled without added
sugar or Brut Nature. German Gilabert is a cuvée made especially for Vinos de Terruños in collaboration with a vintner who has deep roots and
intimate knowledge of Cava production. Primary fermentation in stainless steel vats. Secondary fermentation in the bottle, and it is raised on the lees
18-20 months before disgorgement. Bottled with no dosage.
Suriol
It’s a family affair at Suriol, an estate that manages to embody tradition while producing some of the most delicious Cavas and still wines as naturally
as possible. “Naturally” in this case means working only with their 'collita propia' (own vineyards) and certified organic grapes, no added commercial
yeasts or enzymes, very little sulfur additions, and no dosage at bottling of their Cavas. In short, Suriol is the real deal. The Suriol family has lived and
made wine in the same masia, the Castell de Grabuac, in Font-Rubí, Penedès, since the 15th century. Their 25ha of vineyards are divided up into 20
different micro-plots and surround the masia. Located in the Alt Penedès, the higher elevation winegrowing area of the region, the Suriol vineyards are
planted at 250-350m on heavy limestone soils. Originally, the family made wine just for themselves and to sell to local tavernas. It was not until 1985
that, under the leadership of the patriarch Francesc, the family started working seriously to produce Cava and bottling their own sparkling wines. Their
vineyards have been always worked organically, with certification arriving in 1998. In the cellar, the lively and passionate son, Assís Suriol, is in charge
of the winemaking. All the wines are fermented by parcel with wild yeasts in stainless steel vats. The wine is then racked to underground concrete
tanks where the malolactic fermentation occurs naturally over the winter. The Cavas rest on the fine lees until sale. In some cases, such as for the
Gran Reserva wines, the wine can spend ten years or more on the lees. All of Suriol’s work in the vineyard and in the cellar equate to remarkable
expressions of their place and their family’s long history of winegrowing. These are true Vins Catalans with heart and soul.
Extremadura
Envínate
Envínate (meaning 'wine yourself') is the brainchild of four friends, winemakers Roberto Santana, Alfonso Torrente, Laura Ramos, and José Martínez.
This gang of four formed back in 2005 while studying enology at the University of Miguel Hernández in Alicante. Upon graduation, they formed a
winemaking consultancy, which eventually evolved into Envínate, a project that mainly focuses on exploring distinctive parcels in the Atlantic-inflected
regions of Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands, as well as other exceptional vineyard plots across the Iberian Peninsula. Their collective aim is to
make profoundly pure and authentic wines that express the terruño of each parcel in a clear and concise manner. To this end, no chemicals are used
in any of the Envínate vineyards, all parcels are picked by hand, the grapes are foot-trodden, and the wines are fermented exclusively with wild yeasts
with a varying proportion of whole grape clusters included. For aging, the wines are raised in old barrels and sulfur is only added at bottling if needed.
The results are some of the most exciting and honest wines being produced in Spain today.
Castilla-La Mancha
Deya
Sourced from an organic grower in Castilla with a large collection of relatively old, bush-trained vines, Deya comes from several vineyards, between
40 and 50 years old. After a 10 day maceration, the wine is fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel. A fresh take on 100% Tempranillo from
Castilla-La Mancha for a great price.
Valencia
Curii Uvas y Vinos
Curii is the project of couple Alberto Redrado and Violetta Gutiérrez de la Vega, the daughter of the old-fashioned Alicantino estate Gutiérrez de la
Vega. Their aim is to restore old parcels in their native region and make wines with minimal intervention – true Mediterranean wines with lifted
aromatics and pure drinkability. They farm just over 1ha, with parcels ranging from 30-100 years old, and currently bottle one wine from the local
clone of Garnacha called Giró. It is native yeast fermented with whole grape clusters and raised in a mixture of neutral French oak barrels and one
old American oak foudre.
Gutiérrez de la Vega
For nearly 40 years, Felipe Gutiérrez de la Vega and his wife, Pilar, have championed traditional winegrowing in the sun-soaked region of coastal
Alicante. Inspired by the historical wine styles of their area and the artists and writers who enliven their cuvée labels and names, the family produces
a diverse range of 'vinos mediterraneos' from dry to sweet. In 1982, the couple moved the winery into an old Almazara (olive mill) in the secluded
village of Parcent to have better access to the diverse range of vineyard sites throughout their region. They currently farm 10ha (2 owned, 8 rented)
of head-pruned vines with a variety of parcel sizes, expositions, and elevations around La Marina Alta, as well as inland in the Sierra de Salinas
mountains. Since they are only a few kilometers from the sea, the nearby Mediterranean brings breezes and a pleasant humidity to their rugged
mountainside. Organic farming combined with the earthy soils, high elevations, and proximity to the ocean allow the grapes to fully ripen while
maintaining very good acidity. The grape varieties are as varied as the climates. Moscatel comes from the lower lying areas close to the ocean and is
planted on ancient terraces of chalky, iron-rich clay soils. Monastrell makes its home in the ungrafted sandy soils of the Sierra de Salinas. Giró, the
local clone of Garnacha, comes from coastal mountain vineyards planted on clay-calcareous soils. Their winemaking approach has always been
artisan: natural yeasts are employed for fermentation, and no other products are used in the winery except for judicious amounts of sulfur. Soleras are
maintained for their highly acclaimed noble sweet wines, and based on the direction of Felipe, there will be a bottling periodically with an age
designation. Clearly, the results are worth the effort, as these wines are nothing short of brilliant and show the truly authentic approach that Gutiérrez
de la Vega has brought to fine winemaking in Alicante.
Vera de Estenas
Historically, the high-yielding Bobal grape was regarded as only useful for simple, acidic red and rosé wines destined for the local co-op. Recently, a
handful of quality-minded growers, using artisanal farming and vinification, are producing highly individual wines of true Mediterranean complexity,
with remarkable freshness, moderate alcohol, and calcareous soil-inflected tension. One of the torchbearers of Bobal is Vera de Estenas, possibly the
most traditional producer in the Utiel-Requena DO of Valencia, with some of the oldest Bobal holdings in Spain. Founded in 1945 by Francisco
Martinez Bermell, Vera de Estenas has been crafting wines from their 47ha of organic estate vineyards since their inception. Situated at 800m
elevation near the mouth of the Estenas river near the foot of the Sierra del Remedio mountains, their 'en vaso' trained vineyards run northwest to
southeast along a broad swath of calcareous clay soils. Summer brings scorching heat, but a cooling wind called the 'Solano' brings relief, and
nighttime temperatures can drop substantially due to the high elevation, helping to preserve acidity in the grapes. Under the current leadership of
Felix Martinez, Vera de Estenas is producing some of the region's most compelling wines, from Bobal vines as old as 100 years.
Canary Islands
Dolores Cabrera Fernández
Dolores Cabrera Fernández is a longtime farmer working in the Valle de la Orotava in northern Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. Wine-
growing here dates back to the Spanish conquest of the 15th century, and it is the oldest of the five appellations on the island. Dolores' vineyards
have always been worked organically, with a portion of the parcels being certified organic. After selling her grapes to larger producers for many years,
Dolores started making and bottling her own wine in 2013. The product of her efforts is "La Araucaria", a singular and natural approach to the Listán
Negro grape, the predominant grape of her region. It is sourced from 100+ year-old vines on the slopes of Mount Teide planted using the unique
'cordón trenzado' (braided cord) method. The grapes are hand harvested and 100% destemmed, with primary fermentation in steel tank followed by
aging in old Burgundy barrels for 10 months. Bottled without fining or filtration and very little SO2 added, this is a pure expression of the volcanic
Canary terruño.
Portugal
Duriense
Mary Taylor
When founding partner Mary Taylor first fell in love with wine in the early 90s, it was the European classics that truly spoke to her and stole her heart.
As a young professional selling wine, she quickly learned to appreciate wine in the “Old World” way — not as a luxury good reserved for special
occasions, but a living agricultural product that belongs to everyday life. After many years working with the wines of Europe, Mary arrived at an
important insight. Left in the dark by decades of simplistic marketing efforts that placed grape above geography, American consumers needed a
brand they could trust to decipher the complex notion of terroir in a clear and straightforward way. Out of this realization, the “White Label” series
was born. Today, it is Mary’s mission to unlock the world of European appellation wines by working with individual growers in multiple villages — from
Bordeaux to Nîmes to Valençay to the Douro and beyond — who produce exceptional, regionally-distinctive wines at extremely accessible prices. In
the traditional spirit of the Old World, each Mary Taylor wine has been selected as a faithful ambassador of its geographic origin, true to local traditions
and the vision of the individual farmer who bottled it. All fruit is farmed sustainably or organically, only indigenous varieties are used, fermentations
are with native yeast, and only inert vessels are used for aging to yield a set of wines of genuine quality and integrity that will bring the magic of their
terroirs to life wherever you choose to enjoy them.
Domaine Tatsis
"Our family is as steeped in winemaking history as anyone could imagine," says Periklis Tatsis, one half of the sibling team that owns and operates
Domaine Tatsis with his younger brother Stergios. During the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the forced population exchanges in 1924, the
Tatsis’ grandparents came from Ano Vodeno in Eastern Romylia, an area of Thrace that equates roughly to today’s southern Bulgaria. Periklis
explains that his people were always grape growers and winemakers and it had been the trade of the family since time immemorial. When the Tatsis
family was moved to Greece, they chose to settle in Goumenissa, an area (and appellation) that was covered in vines and spoke to their values and
history. The fit was natural, and the Tatsis family property started with a scant 4ha that has now grown into 14ha today with additions that they’ve
made since taking over the domaine from their father in 1996. Periklis works the land and oversees the vines with Stergios in charge of making the
wine, although the lines often blur as with any family endeavor. The wines are certified organic and many biodynamic principals are applied, but the
best way to describe them is as one of the small group (three or four at most) of original natural winemakers in Greece to pop up in the 1990s, at a
time when international varieties, commercial yeasts, and 100% new oak was the norm in the rest of the country. Domaine Tatsis wines can easily be
seen as traditionalist in nature but that would be only a part of the story. They constantly experiment, doing long macerations of their native white
varieties and long élevage for roses. They release their appellation Goumenissa with significant bottle aging for a true representation of the wine as it
should be enjoyed. They are both a throwback as well as on the forefront of the wine scene in Greece with nary a care of what anyone else is doing.
Thessalia
Domaine Zafeirakis
Domaine Zafeirakis represents one of the most exciting new domaines of Greece. Nestled in the foothills of Mount Olympus in the region of Thessaly,
Christos Zafeirakis has built a winery both in honor and continuation of the four generations of winemakers in his family that preceded him. Having an
impressive resume including completing his enology degree at the University of Milan and consecutive years of work in Tuscany, Piedmont, and Alto
Adige, Christos returned to his home of Tyrnavos and immediately started to set new standards by creating the first organic vineyard in the area in
2005. As if that weren't enough, he extended the family's holdings to 8ha and worked tirelessly to reintroduce the obscure, native variety Limniona,
which was nearly extinct due to the phylloxera epidemic 80 years prior. Zafeirakis' obsession is first and foremost with the soil. The area of Tyrnavos
has high clay deposits which dominate the overall terrior, with sand, flint, and limestone scattered throughout due to the fact that this area once had
an ancient river run through it. Christos' wines are now all certified organic. Spontaneous yeast fermentation is a must, whether the vinification occurs
in stainless steel or in the 1200L Austrian oak fermentors he uses for his reds. Additionally, an intensive massale selection is taking place in the
vineyards, and Christos continues to refine the clonal selection through this process to raise the bar of his wines year after year.
Koutsoyannopoulos
Koutsoyannopoulos Winery, founded in the late 19th century by brothers Gregoris and Dimitris Koutsoyannopoulos on the island of Santorini, is one
of the oldest continuously producing winemaking families in Greece. From 1870 to 1917 the bulk of Koutsoyannopoulos’ exports went to Odessa in
Ukraine. And while the Russian revolution in 1917 closed this chapter of exportation, the market opened up in France, Italy, and the rest of Western
Europe. Today, four generations later, this winery continues to operate under the care and supervision of its present owner, Georgios
Koutsoyannopoulos. The estate vineyards are comprised of 15ha of vines, which continue to be cultivated in the traditional way of weaving them into
baskets or crowns. These vineyards lie in the areas of Vothonas, Megalochori, and Fira. Long-term contracts with farming families on the island also
bolster the amount of fruit available in this bare and sparse land. What makes the vineyards in Santorini unique is the volcanic soil on which they
grow. The soil consists of white volcanic ash mixed with schist and limestone, with hardly any organic matter. The ash soil traps the moisture in the
air during the nighttime and early morning hours, acting as a kind of reservoir, initially storing water and then providing necessary moisture to the vine.
The combination of the especially hot and dry climate with the volcanic soil works to keep disease in check; phylloxera cannot survive here, so
rootstocks are ungrafted, with some of the oldest continually producing vines on the island estimated at nearly 400 years old. Koutsoyannopoulos’
traditional renditions of Assyrtiko bring all of the pedigree of the variety, terroir, and history of Santorini together flawlessly.
Crete
Domaine Economou
Domaine Economou is one of Greece's most artisanal and sought-after wineries. Yiannis Economou, the heart and soul of the estate, is a 'vin de
terroir' natural winemaker of extraordinary ability. With an enology degree from Alba, years of cellar work in Germany, Bordeaux (at Château
Margaux), and Piedmont under the guidance of Nebbiolo maestros such as Ceretto and Scavino, he returned to Crete in 1994. Upon resurrecting
the family vineyards, Yiannis brought his considerable winemaking experience to bear on the rare, native varieties of eastern Crete. Yiannis treats
his wines with a kind of obsessive care rarely seen in modern winemaking: selling off lesser vintages when not satisfied with a year, suffering through
incredibly low yields rather than chemically treating the vines, and bottling and releasing his wines when he feels they are ready instead of being
dictated by market principles. The domaine’s 16ha of organic vineyards are located in the villages of Ziros, Katsidoni, and Etia at 600-650m altitude
in what is otherwise known as the Ziros plateau. It is a sparse, ethereal place, a terroir of such a singularly exposed nature (we wore sweaters at
night in July) as to lend itself to absolutely lunar comparisons. In its main part, the vineyard is cultivated with 35-70-year-old, ungrafted vines. Domaine
Economou’s red Sitias are made predominately from the local clone of Liatiko, found nowhere else in Crete (let alone Greece or the rest of the
Mediterranean). It is a small-berried clone that diverges greatly from other Liatikos in the central and western parts of the island. Other local varieties
such as Mandilari, Vilana, and Thrapsathiri make up the rest of the production. These are natural wines with nothing added in the winery besides a
small dose of sulfur before bottling. Domaine Economou releases wines only when Yiannis deems them ready; consequently, many vintages are held
back for 10-15 years after harvest. Needless to say, these are some of the most idiosyncratic and distinctive wines in the world.
Brea
Brea is a collaboration between "New California Wine" OG, Chris Brockway of Broc Cellars, and wine importer and logistics veteran, Tim Elenteny.
Their goal is to craft site-specific, terroir-driven, sustainably-farmed versions of beloved California grape varieties, such as Chardonnay, Cabernet
Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. By working closely with farmers and choosing unique vineyard sites, the two are able to craft classic expressions of these
grapes while also keeping them accessible in both price and quality, ready to drink now but also suitable for short term aging. The work is natural in
the cellar, utilizing only native yeasts for fermentation, with no added bacteria, enzymes, or powdered tannins, no new oak, and minimal use of sulfur.
These are real deal, unadulterated expressions of Cali fruit that we believe are a big step above most “private labels”.
Broc Cellars
After growing up in Nebraska and working in Seattle, Chris Brockway arrived in California to study winemaking. Following a textbook education at UC
Davis and Fresno State, Chris’ experience of drinking and enjoying more low-intervention, natural wines persuaded him to take a somewhat different
path than most of his classmates. In 2002, he began working at an urban winery in Oakland before leaving in 2006 to set up his own label from a
small industrial unit in Berkeley. Today, he runs his operation from a slightly bigger premises around the corner, but the focus remains the same:
producing site-specific wines from off-the-beaten-path vineyards or with unique, heritage grapes varieties, working only with fruit that is organically or
biodynamically grown, and taking a decidedly hands-off approach in the cellar, with only natural ferments and no additions other than sulfur when
needed. Chris' work continues to push the boundaries of "The New California", and his wines are some of the most compelling, terroir-expressive
examples being produced in the state today.
Keep Wines
Winemakers Jack Roberts (assistant winemaker at Matthiasson) and his wife, Johanna Jensen (formerly of Scholium Project and Broc Cellars), have
come together to create Keep Wines. They are influenced by the old world, with a focus on less-ripe fruit, organic farming (all vineyards are either
working or certified), minimal manipulation in the cellar, and great ageability. In the vigneron tradition, they do as much of the work themselves as
possible from vineyard to bottling. Jack, who originally hails from England, references his heritage in the name and label of the wine; the image is of
Beverstone Castle, an 11th century Norman stronghold in Gloucestershire, England where Jack’s father was born and raised. All that remains of
Beverstone today is what you see on the label; the moat and the tall ‘keep’ (from the Middle English 'kype', meaning barrel or cask), which was the
defenders' last resort in a siege. It was also where they stored their most precious possessions, especially their wine.
Lusu Cellars
Lusu Cellars is a new project from winemaker David Teixeira, focusing on heritage California and Rhône grape varieties. David sources exclusively
from old, dry-farmed and sustainable family-owned vineyards. Winemaking is as minimalist as possible to try and extract the essence of each of these
special vineyards: indigenous yeasts are used, punchdowns are by hand, only older barrels are used so as not to mark the wines, and there is no
fining, filtration or other additions. The goal is to make wines that are truly "Californian" and show a sense of place and time for each of their unique
provenances. These are exciting and honest wines from a young winemaker that will be one to watch!
Holden
Sterling Whitted and Michael Garofola continue to push the boundaries of Oregon wine working out of the Medici cellar in the hills north of Newberg.
They work primarily with Northern Italian varieties like Vermentino, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, and a Friuli-style Sauvignon Blanc while also producing
detailed, elegant renditions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Sterling previously worked at Owen Roe, Cameron, and Teutonic Wine Company while
studying advanced enology at Oregon State University. He started the Holden in 2011 and for several years made micro bottlings in a range of styles.
Michael, one of Portland’s most esteemed sommeliers, joined the business a few years later. The current line up maintains an adventurous spirit but
with a new level of sophistication. All fermentations are with native yeast, and SO2 use is kept to a minimum leading to some of the freshest, most
compelling wines coming out of the state today.
Omero Cellars
Established in 2009, Omero is a small (10ha) family owned vineyard and winery located in the heart of the Ribbon Ridge AVA in the northern
Willamette Valley. The estate is farmed organically, with a focus on maintaining the natural biodiversity of the land through minimal intervention, dry
farming, native cover crops, and the integration of livestock, most notably the 21 sheep that roam the property. In 2014, Omero brought on Chad
Stock of Minimus to take over all winemaking duties and increase their focus on making distinctive, authentic, natural wines. Chad has incorporated
some biodynamic principles, native yeast fermentations, and more transparent, minimalist winemaking to create a range of acid driven, food friendly
wines that truly reflect the terroir of this unique place.
Mexico
Baja California
Bichi
Mexico has a centuries-long history of winemaking that has mostly gone under the radar. Spanish conquistadores planted vines in the early 1500’s
(before both Chile and Argentina) and Baja California represents about 90% of the vines in the entire country due to the ideal climate and geography.
The soils are mainly sandy loam over granite, and some of the most distinctive vineyards are planted as high as 2500ft in elevation. The nearby
Pacific Ocean brings a lovely spine of salinity into the wines and helps moderate temperatures. Brothers Noel and Jair Téllez, with the help of Chilean
(by way of Burgundy) winemaker Louis-Antoine Luyt, are producing amazingly fresh and energetic wines from very old, recently recovered vineyards
of Misión (aka Listán Prieto), Rosa del Peru (aka Moscatel Negro), Tempranillo, and Cariñena, among other unknown varieties. Bichi means "naked"
in some parts of northern Mexico, and for Téllez and Luyt, it thus seemed like an appropriate name to give their new natural wine project. Bichi farms
10ha of their own vineyards biodynamically and collaborates with a growing family of organic farmers working vineyard land in Tecate and around
Valle de Guadalupe. In the winery, grapes are destemmed by hand and gently trodden by foot, and fermentations are carried out by wild yeast in
locally-made concrete amphorae. Inside the bottles are incredibly vibrant and transparent wines that evoke the nearby Pacific Ocean, the granite
soils, and rugged mountain vineyards of their region. Through the persistent work of the family and their farmers and collaborators, lively Baja wine is
officially on the map.
Argentina
Mendoza
Campo
We are proud to introduce Campo. Old-vine, organically-farmed fruit, made with low intervention: wild yeast fermentation, no acid adjustments, no new
oak... Pure, straight-forward Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina that don’t taste like blueberry pie!
Cider
France – Normandy
Cyril Zangs
After a career as a book sales rep in Paris, Cyril Zangs decided to go back to his native Normandy with his family and started making cider. All of his
ciders come from organically grown apples, about 70 different varieties in total, some of which have yet to be identified, and are picked from the tree
by hand, not from the floor where they already started the process of rotting. Zangs tells us the idea is to have apples that are sweet, bittersweet, and
tartly acidic to balance everything out, instead of some growers who have switched to a mono-cépage where single flavors (usually sweet) can
dominate. After harvest, Cyril puts his apples through greniers, or aging in an attic, for one or two months depending on the year, an old practice that
gives the resulting cider much more depth of both color and flavor. After the greniers aging, the apples are crushed, pressed off, and transferred to
stainless steel tanks where fermentation starts naturally. The cider is then bottled while still fermenting and aged in pupitres for up to a year, with no
filtering and no sulfur added. For those of you accustomed to sweet cider, this is going to be a new experience. This is a dry, age worthy (hence, the
vintage dating), fuller bodied cider.
Spain – Asturias
Ramos del Valle
Ramos del Valle from Sidra Fran is an all-natural hard cider made with traditional methods using apples from the Asturias region of northern Spain.
Founded in 1918, Roberto Ramos is the third generation of his family to make cider. Sidra Fran is currently owned and operated by Roberto and his
four siblings. Sidra Fran uses only native apples from the region. The apples are hand harvested in September from the family's own orchards on
mountain slopes. There are over 800 native apple varietals in Asturias and 22 varieties authorized in the region. Sidra Fran is in the process of
recovering additional ancient apple varietals. Fermentation occurs naturally and spontaneously with native yeasts. The cider then rests in large
chestnut wooden vats in contact with lees for over five months. No sugar or carbonation is added.
France – Southwest
Domaine Séailles
Domaine Séailles is one of the pioneers of organic viticulture in the Côtes de Gascogne region of Southwest France. A family-owned estate since
1961, Séailles is now run by Jean Labérenne, who lead the domaine to Ecocert organic certification in 1997, swearing off all chemical fertilizers,
herbicides, insecticides, and synthetic chemical products. Located in the town of Ténarèze, which is unique in the region for its limestone soils, Jean
farms a total of 25ha of hillside vineyards with help the of Julien Lanclet and Laurent Lefèvre, even saving 2ha of vines to make the traditional spirit
of the region, Armagnac. The distillation is carried out at the domaine using an old, direct wood flame heated still, and the resulting spirits are aged
in 400L barrels for a minimum of 20 years.
Italy – Trentino
Distilleria Francesco
Francesco Poli’s vineyards (550m/1800ft) can be found along the emerald-colored alpine lake of Santa Massenza, in the Trentino area of Trentino-
Alto Adige. Francesco Poli’s son, Alessandro, now works and oversees them along with the cantina. Alessandro works mostly with the native grape
varieties of the area: the delicate and herbal red, Schiava, and the lithe alpine white, Nosiola. Working with native yeast fermentations, his cellar style
remains minimalist with the precision and timing of a good cellar master. He has always believed in organic farming, and the winery obtained organic
certification in 1989 (and they now also employ several biodynamic techniques and preparations). Distilleria Francesco is the other face of Francesco
Poli. Besides wine, Poli is equally known for his detailed and delicately textured herbal infusions and various bottlings of grappa produced on the
property with a wood-burning, copper 'bagnomaria' water bath still.
Italy – Veneto
Le Vigne di Alice
Sisters-in-law Cinzia Canzian and Pier Francesca Bonicelli started Alice in 2004 to fulfill their dream of bottling artisanal Prosecco thatʼs all their
own: estate fruit, pre-Dolomite, grower Prosecco. We call it Prosecco for non-Prosecco lovers (a category that includes us). In addition to their
exceptional sparkling wines, the women also continue on the tradition of producing a small amount of Amaro. Previously, this Amaro was reserved
just for friends and family that came to visit at Cinzia's grandmother's osteria in Vittorio Veneto (she is the 'Alice' in 'Le Vigne di Alice'). Luckily, we
managed to convince them to sell us whatever extra they could so we have a small amount to share with you today. Cinzia’s aunt’s nickname was
'Nina' and she was the one who composed the amaro recipe with over 30 different medicinal (and mountain) herbs. The bitter cut comes from
Gentiana lutea, known in English as bitter root. The herb grows in grassy alpine and sub-Alpine pastures, usually on calcareous soil. You may
recognize its bitterness, as it is the main ingredient in Angostura bitters. Mint, orange rind, sage, fennel fronds, and more give aromatic nuance.
Italy – Piemonte
Monterosa
Monterosa is a new, artisanal Vermouth project in Alto Piemonte from Daniele Garella, brother of Cristiano Garella of Colombera & Garella fame.
Daniele hand-picks herbs in Alto Piemonte around Mount Rosa, including “muttolina”, a local biotype of genepy. Cold extractions of the herbs help
preserve their delicate volatile oils. The base wines for both Vermouths are grown and made locally: Erbaluce for the white, and mostly Nebbiolo for
the red. These are an exciting, new chapter in the century-and-a-half-old tradition of Piemontese Vermouths.
Italy – Sardegna
Silvio Carta
The Carta family has been making (and storing) wine in the sleepy coastal town of Oristano for generations. The local grape is Vernaccia (though not
the one from Gimignano). The vine was possibly introduced by the Phoenicians or it was cultivated from wild vines of the Tirso valley. The style is
"oxidative", but no Englishman created or discovered this wine (as happened in Marsala). And maybe that’s a shame because these wines deserve
to be better known outside their home. The wine is vinified dry, and the nose is chalky and intriguing. Multiple aged vintages are available. The
register is something new for us, falling somewhere amid the mineral tones of Fino, the nuttiness of Marsala, and a bit of passito fruit.
Spain – Valencia
Vidte
Vidte Vermouths come from the La Marina Alta sub-zone of Alicante, a region with many years of history in both wine and vermouth production. The
climate is Mediterranean giving these vermouths distinctive herbal characteristics. The soils of La Marina Alta are very limy, with low levels of clay
and very little organic material, giving very high-quality base wines. Vidte Vermouths are made in collaboration with winemaker Pedro Sarrión, an
oenologist with extensive knowledge in the production of wines from Alicante and Castilla-La Mancha. The base wines are made from the traditional
varieties Muscatel and Merseguera and are then macerated for several months with a combination of local Mediterranean aromatic herbs.
France
Domaine du Trapadis Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel Grenat 2015 Grenache/Carignan 500mL 6* MFW 553343
Domaine de Saint Pierre Vin de Liqueur "Les Larmes du Paradis" NV Chardonnay/Trousseau 750mL 6* MFW 570474
Mélaric Coteaux de Saumur "Funambule" 2013 Chenin Blanc 500mL 6* MFW 603343
Julien Thurel "Cydromel" 2014 Apples/Honey 750mL 6* MFW 562075
Guirardel Jurançon "Marrote" 2012 Petit Manseng 750mL 12* MFW 581526
Mélaric "Liquoreux de la Cerisaie" VdF Blanc 2011 Chenin Blanc 500mL 6* MFW 603342
Austria
Tinhof Burgenland Aperitiv NV Weißburgunder/Neuburger 500mL 8 CH 542553
Italy
Sorrelle Palazzi Bianco Pisano di San Torpè Vin Santo Riserva 2011 Trebbiano/Malvasia/++ 375mL 6 PV 602524
Spain
Alfredo Maestro "La Cosa – The Thing" VdlT Castilla y León 2014 Moscatel de Alejandría 375mL 6 JPS 574442
Gutiérrez de la Vega "Casta Diva Cosecha Miel" VdM 2013 Moscatel de Alejandría 500mL 12* JPS 590583
Gutiérrez de la Vega "Recóndita Armonía" VdM Tinto 2013 Monastrell 500mL 12* JPS 593665
Greece
Domaine Economou Sitia Late Harvest Liatiko 2006 Liatiko 500mL 6* DNS 603755
Hatzidakis Santorini Vinsanto 2004 Assyrtiko/Aidani 375mL 6* DNS 603762
United States
East Hollow Cider "A Bee and A Tree" Imperial Cyser NV Wild Apples/Honey 375mL 12* MFW 592290
Old Westminster Winery Maryland "Solera Batch No. 1" NV Cabernet Franc/Petit Verdot 500mL 12* MFW 602464
Eden Ice Cider "Heirloom Blend" NV ('13) Empire/McIntosh/++ 375mL 6* MFW 569675
Eden Ice Cider "Windfall Orchard" NV Heirloom Blend 375mL 6* MFW 569676
Eden Ice Cider "Northern Spy Barrel-Aged" NV ('13) Northern Spy 375mL 6* MFW 569677
Big Bottles
Name Vintage Grapes Size Pack Importer SLO Code
Sparkling/Pét-Nat
France
Bernard Vallette "Née Bulleuse" VMQ Rosé NV Gamay 1.5L 6 MFW 562442
Julien Thurel Cidre "Champêtre" 2016 Apples 1.5L 1 MFW 590060
Julien Thurel Cidre "Nectar" 2016 Apple 1.5L 1 MFW 590060
White Wine
France
Mélaric Saumur Blanc "Billes de Roche" 2014 Chenin Blanc 1.5L 6* MFW 603344
Domaine des Rouges-Queues Bourgogne Aligoté "L'Aligator" 2016 Aligoté 1.5L 3 MFW 597999
Domaine de Saint Pierre Arbois "Savagnin Autrement" 2016 Savagnin 1.5L 6* MFW 600431
Germany
Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Spätlese Feinherb (15) 2017 Riesling 1.5L 6 MFW 584439
Italy
Bella Vita Pinot Grigio IGP Veneto 2017 Pinot Grigio 1.5L 6 MFW 538943
Spain
Daterra Viticultores "Gavela de Vila" VdM Blanco 2016 Palomino 1.5L 6* JPS 596123
Luis Rodriguez Ribeiro Blanco "Viña de Martin Os Pasás" 2016 Treixadura/Albariño/++ 1.5L 4 JPS 605721
Envínate "Benje" VdM Blanco 2017 Listán Blanco 1.5L 3 JPS 589408
Envínate "Táganan" VdM Blanco 2017 Albillo/Marmajuelo/Gual/++ 1.5L 3 JPS 589411
Luis Rodriguez Ribeiro Blanco "Viña de Martin Escolma" 2013 Treixadura/Albariño/++ 1.5L 4 JPS 605716
United States
Bow & Arrow Eola-Amity Hills Sauvignon Blanc "Le Chénaie Vnyd" 2016 Sauvignon Blanc 1.5L 6* MFW 601238
Germany
Weingut Beurer Württemberg Rosé Trocken 2018 Trollinger/Portugieser/++ 1.5L 6 VB
Stein Mosel Rosé Trocken 2018 Pinot Noir/Cab Sauv/Merlot 1.5L 6 VB
United States
Division-Villages Columbia Valley Rosé of Gamay Noir "L'Avoiron" 2017 Gamay Noir 1.5L 6 MFW 596035
Red Wine
France
Le Clos des Jarres "Insouciance" IGP Coteaux de Peyriac 2016 Caladoc/Merlot 750mL 12 MFW 601377
Bernard Vallette Beaujolais "Quatre Saisons" 2014 Gamay 1.5L 6 MFW 541912
Benoît Roseau "Syrah de Rosette" IGP Collines Rhodaniennes 2014 Syrah 1.5L 6 MFW 598527
Elian Da Ros Côtes du Marmandais "Le vin est une fête" 2016 Abouriou/Cab Franc/Merlot 1.5L 6 MFW 598523
Benoît Roseau "Petit Patagon" IGP Collines Rhodaniennes 2015 Syrah 1.5L 6 MFW 579560
Mas Foulaquier Pic Saint-Loup "Gran' Tonillières" 2010 Carignan/Grenache/Syrah 1.5L 6* MFW 584328
Benoît Roseau Saint-Joseph "Cuvée Patagone" 2017 Syrah 1.5L 6* MFW 604063
Mélaric Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame "Clos de la Cerisaie" 2015 Cabernet Franc 1.5L 6* MFW 603345
Domaine Thillardon Chénas "Les Carrières" 2017 Gamay 1.5L 6* MFW 599825
Domaine de Saint Pierre Arbois "Saint-Pierre" 2016 Pinot Noir 1.5L 6* MFW 590069
Domaine de Saint Pierre Côtes du Jura "Les Gaudrettes" 2016 Pinot Noir 1.5L 6* MFW 590071
Benoît Roseau Côte-Rôtie "Coteaux de Tupin" 2016 Syrah 750mL 6* MFW 605016
Italy
Bella Vita Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2017 Montepulciano 1.5L 6 MFW 538945
I Custodi Etna Rosso "Aetneus" 2010 N. Mascalese/N. Capuccio/+ 1.5L 6* PV 600750
Spain
Envínate "Albahra" VdM Tinto 2017 Garnacha Tintorera/Moravia 1.5L 3 JPS 596099
Envínate "Lousas – Viñas de aldea" VdM Tinto 2015 Mencía 1.5L 3 JPS 583464
Daterra Viticultores "Portela do Vento" VdM Tinto 2017 Mencía/Garnacha Tintorera 1.5L 4* JPS 596122
Luis Rodriguez Ribeiro Tinto "A Torna Dos Pasás" 2015 Brancellao/Caiño Longo/++ 1.5L 4 JPS 605719
Envínate "Benje" VdM Tinto 2017 Listán Prieto/Tintilla 1.5L 3 JPS 589410
United States
Bow & Arrow Willamette Valley "Air Guitar" 2016 Cab Franc/Cab Sauvignon 1.5L 6* MFW 601236
Order Details
Order deadline:
− Philadelphia: Tuesday, 3:00 PM
− Pittsburgh: Monday, 3:00 PM
Order approval deadline in LOOP:
− Tuesday, 3:00 PM
Delivery schedule:
− Philadelphia and Suburbs: Wednesday
− Pittsburgh: Friday
Full cases sales only, except wines with a pack size marked with *
For items less than $25/btl, a case can be split, as long as the
remainder of the case is filled (i.e. 6+6, or 4+4+4, etc.).