SF Local Blog: Wine & Spirits Stories, Events, Offers and more

Young Inglewood Cabernet Franc: A Surprise from Napa

Just off Highway 128 on the stretch between Rutherford and St. Helena, you would be forgiven for suspecting that Young Inglewood is yet another new face in the heart of the Napa Valley producing over-priced wines. But they are open for visits, so go there, and you will discover something very different.

Posted on September 06, 2023

Lee Madueno

Margin Santa Cruz Mountain Rosé Summer Wine by one of California’s Brightest Rising Stars

We have had the pleasure of watching Megan’s growth as a winemaker. Fun and funky in the beginning there was always an impression that these were made by talented hands. Fast forward to now and Megan is making some of the state’s most terrier driven wines that are as poised and complex as they are a joy to drink.

Posted on September 03, 2023

Lee Madueno

Volcanic Wines from Lazio

Andrea Occhipinti started his eponymous winery to focus on indigenous Lazio grape after falling in love with the area when he attended oenology school there. No, Andrea is not related to the more famous Occhipinti’s in Sicily. But he does share with Arianna an almost preternatural ability to convey terroir through gentle and thoughtful winemaking.

Posted on August 30, 2023

Floribeth Kennedy

Refreshing Summer Sparklers from Birichino

Pet nats are a fairly recent trend among winemakers. With the demand for sparkling wines only getting higher many producers have expanded their production to include a few pet nats. But what is a pet nat?

Posted on August 27, 2023

Lee Madueno

Great Alsatians from the “Other” Boxler

Alsace lovers know that the region is divided between the granite terroirs and the limestone terroirs. Boxler is a granite specialist, and Brand boasts plenty of it – granite that is more and more decomposed as you go up slope. Brand is a Riesling that ages extremely well, and we are excited to be able to offer one today that has already spent more than 5 years in the cellar.

Posted on August 23, 2023

Jeff Patten

Amorotti = Beauty and Nature in Abruzzo Valentini-like, for a Fraction of the Price!

We are always a bit skeptical when importers talk about new producers with lavish comparisons to the greats that are nearby. “This is the next Conterno” or “it tastes just like Raveneau” are the kinds of hyperbole we hear all the time. But sometimes, every once in a while, they are right on. This was the case when we were introduced to the beautiful wines of Amorotti.

Posted on August 20, 2023

Lee Madueno

Soave: A Market Failure Means Great Values

Soave also has its share of Foillards – a handful of producers who make great wines from top terroirs using traditional or enlightened methods, usually both. Pieropan may be the best of them. Among their lineup are two singe-vineyard bottlings from the heart of the Soave Classico zone, where old vines grow in volcanic soils at fairly high altitudes.

Posted on August 16, 2023

Jeff Patten

Cezin Jasnieres: The Beauty of Far Flung Wine

Today's special place is to the north of the Loire Valley, on a tributary confusingly named the Loir (our spell check so badly wants to add the "e"). Here, those generations of experimenters discovered that it happens to be a perfect place to grow a grape they call Pineau de la Loire (this time you really do need the "e") but everyone else calls Chenin Blanc.

Posted on August 13, 2023

Jeff Patten

Domaine de Marquiliani Risen from Ashes

When Andre Almaric purchased the Domaine de Marquiliani estate in 1954 he had his work cut out for him. Twenty years earlier the estate was mostly destroyed in a series of fires and it had been abandoned and in a state of disrepair ever since. In the ruins, he saw an opportunity to carve out a life and legacy for himself.

Posted on August 09, 2023

Jeff Patten

Ciro Biondi: The Other Side of Mount Etna

Ciro Biondi is one of the key players in the renaissance that has made Mount Etna one of the greatest wine spots in Italy, and the world. Little known even 20 years ago, wine geeks worldwide now seek out these amazing wines made from ancient vines, indigenous grapes, high altitudes and terroir that is so exotically volcanic that you can still see lava flowing nearby.

Posted on August 06, 2023

Lee Madueno

John Cameron: The Wizard of The Dundee Hills

The name John Paul Cameron has become synonymous with the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made this side of France. He isn't a household name simply because very little of his wines leave his home state of Oregon, many destined for the best restaurants in Portland or the cellars Burgundy collectors, as John’s wine’s are well loved by even those who drink wines exclusively from the Cote d’Or.

Posted on August 02, 2023

Lee Madueno

Enfield, and a Most Serious Rosé

In recent years, the world of Rosé wine seems to have gone straight from sweet white Zinfandels to the palest, lightest pink wines imaginable, usually from Provence, but increasingly from every other corner of the wine world as well.

All of this, of course, misses a very important wine category, that we’ll just call “Serious Rosé”

Posted on July 31, 2023

Lee Madueno

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SF Local Blog: Wine & Spirits Stories, Events, Offers and more

Young Inglewood Cabernet Franc: A Surprise from Napa

Margin Santa Cruz Mountain Rosé Summer Wine by one of California’s Brightest Rising Stars

Volcanic Wines from Lazio

Refreshing Summer Sparklers from Birichino

Great Alsatians from the “Other” Boxler

Amorotti = Beauty and Nature in Abruzzo Valentini-like, for a Fraction of the Price!

Soave: A Market Failure Means Great Values

Cezin Jasnieres: The Beauty of Far Flung Wine

Domaine de Marquiliani Risen from Ashes

Ciro Biondi: The Other Side of Mount Etna

John Cameron: The Wizard of The Dundee Hills

Enfield, and a Most Serious Rosé

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SF Local Blog: Wine & Spirits Stories, Events, Offers and more

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