{"title":"Montebruno","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe'll never forget our first Montebruno wine, a stark contrast to the oak-laden, high-extraction, boozy bottles that defined most Oregon Pinot Noir in the mid-aughts. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePinot Noir with Old World structure has long been compared to Burgundy, but we’ve always found Montebruno's wines more like the great natural wines of Sicily’s Mount Etna. This isn’t so surprising once you dig down into the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEtna is an active volcano, with vines planted directly into overlapping lava flows, new and old. The flow that covered the Willamette's Crawford Beck Vineyard 15 million years ago imbues a similar, almost ashy minerality. Etna's noble grape, Nerello Mascalese, isn’t Pinot Noir, but it’s often confused for it in blind tastings. Thanks to the regions' similar terroirs, it’s even more apparent. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBoth Etna and the Willamette have huge diurnal shifts. The Crawford Beck Vineyard has something of a natural AC system: cool Pacific breezes funnel through the Van Duzer Corridor, turning sunny days into practically frigid nights. Sicily is one of the sunniest places in the Mediterranean, but the elevation on the slopes of Etna ensure air circulation and the same temperature drops, for high acid wine production. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNJ-native Joe Pedecini learned how to make wine from his grandmother, Angela Montebruno, who in turn learned from her Calabrian ancestors. But it was not his Grandma’s wine — a fine representation of New Jersey’s terroir, we’re sure — that proved to be Joe’s inspiration. Rather, it was a bottle of Roumier's Bonnes-Mares. He decided he wanted to make wine that tasted like that, so he headed west to Oregon. He took his Grandma’s surname, Montebruno, and opened a winery. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJoe’s first vintage was in 2004. He didn’t have any wholesale representation and he had no idea how to sell his wine. He lived in Park Slope, and one day he loaded up his truck with samples and drove around the city looking for friendly wine stores. He found us, and the rest is history: three newsletter stories later, and we still love his wine. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Joe got started, Oregon Pinot was going through a period of excessive oak and extraction. Joe's wine was revelatory: it showcased Oregon's special terroir with exceptional purity and a decidedly Burgundian sensibility. When Joe showed up with his pick-up truck, we fell in love with his wine, and then so did our customers and friends.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/sf.flatiron-wines.com\/collections\/montebruno.oembed","provider":"Flatiron SF","version":"1.0","type":"link"}