Marine Layer combines Pinot Noir grapes from several Sonoma Coast sites to create “Lyra”. It’s the name of the bright constellation that is visible in California from around the vine’s springtime re-awakening to the time of harvest – as if following the life of the grape. The natural elegance of these cool-climate grapes is emphasized in the wine-making, including by harvesting at night, preserving many whole berries, fermenting naturally, and using on 25% new wood.
Posted on November 13, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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This is a super-star of a deal that combines two of our favorite tricks for finding hidden gems and super steals. One: find a star producer's baby bottle. Two: look for a wine just a little outside of the most famous (and expensive) terroirs.
George Vernay's Saint-Agathe Syrah does all that and more.
Posted on November 10, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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Mario Fontana describes his wines as “come una volta” — as in the past. His Cascina has only been around since 1995, but their wines are made like it’s still the 1960s or '70s. We love them.
Posted on November 06, 2024
Floribeth Kennedy
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Like Bob Dylan’s music – covering folk music, the blues, rock and gospel – or Salvadore Dali’s paintings – from realism to surrealism – Andrew Jones of Field Recordings has range. He does single varietal, single vineyard wines that are extremely varietally correct, and he has blends that encompass more grapes than the average person can rattle off the top of their head. Today we have the latter for you, an orange wine that is a showcase of blending prowess.
Posted on November 03, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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Last week on our tour of Italy we went to the often forgotten region of Calabria to discover the great Gaglioppo grapes of Ciro. That was at Italy’s toe. Today, we cross the Gulf of Taranto – formed thanks to the immense arch of the Italian boot – and arrive at its heel. We are in Apulia – or Puglia, the Italian name that is often used in English.
Posted on October 30, 2024
Floribeth Kennedy
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Jackson Holstein's parents were literal pioneers, driving west from Kentucky to Oregon in a pickup truck. They bought ten hectares, and named it Holstein Vineyard. Jackson grew up among those vines. He learned a little vineyard management from his Dad, but he also went to school and he studied. He also traveled the world, worked at various wineries, and side hustled by producing a bit of wine in a garage – it turns out that tech companies are not the only start-ups that happen in American garages.
Posted on October 23, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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f you need to pick a bottle for a group of friends, some of whom want a wine of terroir transparency, another who wants a natural wine, and a third who just wants something yummy that reminds them of Sancerre, well, this is your bottle! Honesty and character for anyone who is paying particular attention to the wine, and straight up deliciousness for anyone who just wants something tasty. All of that, and a great price too! Timeless wine for a price that feels like we're stepping back in time: What could be better?
Posted on October 20, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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It’s not just great value that draws us to the Edges of Burgundy. It’s also because it’s in and around the Edges that vignerons feel that they can experiment. What wine producer wants to take a chance on a zero sulfur Clos de Beze? If it doesn’t work out, you are out a lot of revenue. That’s one reason that natural winemaking is so much more popular in Beaujolais or the Loire. Or on the Edges of Burgundy.
Posted on October 16, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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Sonoe Hirabayashi group up in Nagano, Japan. Her family made sake, fermented soy sauce, and miso, and grew apples. She came to California to study wine, completed a number of internships at wineries around the world (Ted Lemon, Ostertag, etc.), and then settled down here to make Californian wine. She calls her winery “Six Cloves” – the name that her Japanese ancestors called their own business.
Posted on October 13, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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When Pauline and Géraud Fromont founded their Domaine des Marnes Blanches deep in the south of the Jura, the region (Sud Revermont) wasn't on anyone's radar. It was 2006, the husband and wife were fresh out of wine school, and they were happy to be able to come home to the Jura and build something together. Since then, so much has changed. The Jura blew up. Ganevat (from the same region) became a star and then a superstar, Labet and Miroir (likewise neighbors) became culty and then cultier. The Natural Wines of Overnoy Puffeney became legendary and spearheaded the whole movement.
Posted on October 09, 2024
Josh Shapiro
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Pascal Doquet owns some of the choicest parcels in Champagne, in premier and grand cru sites like Vertus and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte de Blancs. His work is meticulous. His wines are fabulous. Why are they still so under the radar?
Posted on October 02, 2024
Francesca Maniace
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