Margins San Benito County Vermentino San Miguel District 2024

More about Margins

Megan Bell is exactly the type of winemaker we love to support at Flatiron. Talented, whip smart and a joy to be around she spends most of her days and nights amongst the vines. She may not own any vineyards but Megan works closely with the dedicated family farmers that own the soil that the mostly old vines she works with call home. When we first tasted Margins, the name of her winery and wines, It was very clear that she was a force to be reckoned with.

Fast forward a few years and her wines are prominently displayed and sold at the buzziest wine bars and bottle shops as well as on some of this countries most talked about wine lists. It really no surprise. Her wildly aromatic wine are filled with qualities that make them truly epicurean. Bright and bouncy fruit, flavors and aromas of flowers and savory herbs as well structure built on acidity, minerality and gentle tannins.

As the name suggests Megan is focused on producing wines from vineyards and varieties that are considered on the margins of California wines. In most cases when something is referred to as “on the margins” or marginal, the connotation is negative. But not so in wine. Many of our favorite European wines are produced in spots that were considered inhospitable for food production. The mountain wines from the cliffs of Cote Rotie or the Rhines terrifyingly steep vineyards come to mind. A combination of low organic nutrients in the soil and difficult weather, in good years can produce fruit of exceptional quality and concentration.

Whether she is working with Assyrtiko from Paicines or Nebbiolo from the Tres Pinos, Megan does everything in her power to stay out of the way of the phenomenal fruit she works with. She has garnered a lot of trust from the grower/partners, so much so that she has convinced everyone she works with that wasn't working organically, to convert. She did this by helping to guide them through the changeover as well as guaranteeing a home for their naturally grown grapes. ​​As of vintage 2021, all the vineyards Margins works with are farmed organically.

She shares a facility in Watsonville with a slew of other talented young winemakers. Each variety is treated differently and either aged in stainless or neutral oak. All fermentation takes place with ambient yeast and nothing is ever added or removed except for a touch of sulfur. Bottled unfined and unfiltered they not only display their respective varieties characteristics while they show off unique qualities of this lesser known terroir.

The biggest difference with the past vintage wines as opposed to the current wines is their restraint. Upon opening they are pretty reserved but once they mingle with air they slowly unfold, revealing extremely charming aromas and flavors. Wines that help maintain and improve the health of the land and people that make them possible, made without pretension by a talented, hard working craftsperson and are a joy to drink; Megan Bell’s Margins are the total package.