Posted on

Sparkles Galore, But There’s No Lipstick On This Duck

Filipa Pato
3B Blanc de Blancs NV
Brut Nature
Bical (70%), Maria Gomes (23%) and Cercial (7%)
Biodynamic, unfiltered
Bairrada, Portugal
Winemakers: Filipa Pato & William Wouters (wife & husband)

Deep orangey gold with fine white bubbles. Breathing golden apples, poached pears with pie spice, touch of bakery toastiness, lemon, lime, a little thyme & a salty shake. Sipping and the start has a little hay that tumbles out the door, smidge of baguette on the back, lemon & lime and their zest, drop of kumquat, crisp slivers of hard pears & crabapples, lightest tiny bit of pineapple, salty seltzer, and a crisp mineral lick.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: bright, crisp and toasty

Filipa is part of one of my favorite flocks “The Pato” family, but she’s left her own imprint (or duck footprint) in wine history too. In 2020, she was elected winemaker of the year in Portugal (1st woman in 30 years) and recently included as one of the 4 from Portugal in Meininger 100 Finest list which is really cool. Not to forget her partner in all of this, her husband William (chef/head sommelier/restaurateur. His roots come from Belgium, so to no surprise he has a past in being a head chef to keep the Belgian soccer/football team happy. I also love which I have mentioned before on another post their motto: “Authentic Wines Without Make-up”. They stay true to indigenous grapes and let nature guide you through the final story that comes out of the bottle. Also if you check out their IG page, they have a perfectly cute piggy family in their vineyard/farm. Would love to know their names! 🐷 Now, I just await my next encounter with another of their wines to gracefully swim up.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #sparklingwine #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass #portugal #naturalwine #docwinebar #docwineshop #Bairrada @skurnikwines @docwineshop @docwinebar @filipapato

Posted on

“The Curse” Is Really A Gift

Bodegas Cinco Leguas
La Maldición
Malvar en Bota 2019
Malvar 100%
DO Vinos de Madrid
Organic practices & sustainable
Project located in Chinchón
Madrid, Spain
Winemaker: Marc Isart

Deep 0range amber with a bit of golden that keeps turning a bit deeper over time. Breathing in honeysuckle, spring flowers & apple blossoms followed by a nuttiness & honey, dried orange & lemon zest, tarragon & thyme, later a hint of pine sap. First taste and it’s so many things at once…like a light sherry with dried apple, hazel nuts & a few other nutty bits, mellow orange, lemon & a little lime, in the end a little chalk like those ol’ time Valentine’s conversation hearts, and bit of a welcome burn.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: Step away from the box

“The Curse” is more a gift. Yes, the land Marc has acquired and started out with is rough, rocky, and a small harvest, but these grapes are precious. He did pick up some more parcels but still kept everything natural and as hands off as possible in the winemaking process. Pretty inspiring honestly that he is going after his dreams with his own productions/projects. It shows a true passion not only to his vines, but also to letting the Madrid region terroir gain more and more of  its own voice through each bottle.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #winelover #winetasting #winetime #organic #naturalwine #malvar #Madrid #Spain #bodegascincoleguas #vinewine #vinewinenyc @tedward_ws @vinewinenyc @bodegas_cinco_leguas

Posted on

Family Business

Tenuta Hans Rottensteiner
Eisacktaler Sylvaner 2022
Alto Adige Valle D’Isarco DOC
Bolzano, Italy
Toni (father) & Hannes (son) Rottensteiner and the whole family

Lightest shiny yellow brick road gold. Right out of the gate the scents are full on waving at my nose and saying to come in for another sniff. There’s honeydews, cantaloupes, pears & golden apples, a tangerine & citrus blend (reminds me of a hazy IPA), pine needles (oh I think it’s time to get the ornaments out), eucalyptus, and a bit of muskiness. Oh the is so much more gentle in the taste. Again there’s pears & golden apples, pine, eucalyptus, honeydew, watermelon rind, a much smaller citrus twang, and a little mango/pineapple blend that creeps in the longer it’s resting.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Please do not make me do this…blerg!

At Tenuta Hans Rottensteiner, it’s all about family…the whole big family…men, women, and evidently that also includes their vineyards & grapes. Here’s the views from some of the family from their site. As Toni says, “Wine is like a young child to me. It must always be taken care of so that it can mature to be its best, and can be bottled with pride and joy.” Now that’s a good vino parent. For Hannes, he sees wine a little more creatively magical or mystical, “Wine, the beverage of the gods, would never become that what it is to drink without human intervention, but yet its quality remains entirely dependent on nature, and this is just incredibly exciting to me in all its facets.” For Judith, “wine is family tradition with roots, and the courage to innovate.” Lastly Evi sees it as a joyful moment from being raised in the vines, becoming a sommelier, and now having her own vineyard, she can proudly say for each bottle of achievement “That’s mine!” 

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass #Sylvaner #Italy #massanois #docwinebar #docwineshop #rottensteiner @massanois @docwineshop @docwinebar @rottensteiner.wine

Posted on

A Woven History

Quartomoro di Sardegna
Òrriu
Caòr
Cannonau di Sardegna DOC
Red Wine
Marrubiu, Sardegna, Italy
Low intervention, indigenous yeast, unfined & unfiltered
Winemaking couple: Piero Cella & Luciana Baso, and their children Alberto & Violante

Deep yet bright ruby/garnet. There’s all sorts of lovely scents like Mission figs, cherries, a touch of Oreo cream, bowl of berries blend: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries; light balsamic reduction, and orange zest. Sipping away and there’s cherries, dark plums, prunes & dried figs, a teeny pine resin, red currants, blend of citrus zest with mostly orange, and again that bowl of berries with balsamic reduction which is just crying for a good steak. It’s delicious…not too heavy, not too light, just right.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: so smooth

Every time I meet a Quartomoro wine it reveals something new. I’ve had wines from their Òrriu collection but hadn’t looked into what that word would mean in Sardinian, which is to “ weave, weft, warp”. From their IG, “The wines of this line are the intersection of tradition and innovation. The threads that make up them are biodiversity, knowledge of man, passion, dreams and tradition.” Of course I wasn’t just going to stop there, I needed to find out more of Sardinia’s historic tradition of hand weaving beautiful tapestries, carpets, etc that had almost been lost. The fine detailed work is so beautiful. I was just reading that if a weaver loses count of the “pibiones” they have to backtrack to the last section they remember. My box of squirrels brain probably would not be very good at keeping track of something so intricate. If you want to check out some of their work and the women keeping it alive, check out the documentary by @sardinianarts Kelly Manjula Koza  “I Want to Weave the Weft of Time”.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #redwine #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass  #redwine #cannonau #sardinia #sardegna #italy #steephillwines #docwinebar #docwineshop #quartomorodisardegna #quartomoro @steephillwine @antosicurezza @docwineshop @docwinebar @quartomoro

Posted on

Time To Shake Some Trees!

Dewey’s Wines
Syrah 2020
Sumu Kaw Vineyard
El Dorado County
Organic, unfined & unfiltered
Santa Rosa, CA
Charlie Miller & Emma Rosenbush

Inky dark purple with a maroon rim. Give this bottle a moment and then scents of raspberries w some cream pop out at first followed by blueberries, boysenberries, a warm smokiness, black pepper, cedar & coriander and other spice rub, dried cherries, cranberries & prunes, and over time a touch of dainty flowers. Sipping away and all of the scents are there with a little more pine & herbiness, dried dark figs, even deeper dried cherry that turns into dark raisins, the pepper & spice come forward over time, a smidge more of pine needles on the exhale with some singed Mandarin orange zest (love this fruit so much). I’m betting my tongue will be very purple later.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out cherry and strawberry Starbursts

Don’t know why I so often pass over California wines. So glad I ended up at a tasting for Dewey’s because it reminded me of how special they can be. Emma (originally from NY) & Charlie (native Californian) are making their own form of magic with their single vineyard wines and Sweet Vermouth (grabbed one of those up too ❤️). Once home, checked out their IG and turns put they have picked up roots, are now in NY, changing their name to “Dew East”, and not only are they continuing in wine but also cider which makes me giddy! Time to shake some trees!

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #winelover #winetasting #winetime #organic #naturalwine #syrah #SantaRosa #California #vinewine #vinewinenyc #deweyswines @vinewinenyc @deweyswines

Posted on

🎶You Can’t Spell “Awesome” Without “Me”🎶

M ⵔ ⵔ ᗋ
Le Bazar 2021
Sparkling Orange
Trebbiano, Clairette, Vermentino
VDF
Natural wine, no sulfites
Provence, France
Jean Luc Lametrie (also founder of Wine Mc2)

Deep golden orange with and pink bubbles. Sniffing and there’s oranges, kumquats, a little Cherry Twizzlers, a childhood memory of Circus Peanuts, then very light raspberries along with lemon/lime spritz, smidge of toasted coriander & fresh baked baguettes. Going in for the taste and here comes a blend of orange, lemon-lime, kumquats, light pomelo, young raspberries with seltzer & salt, tarty yellow cherries, bit of quince & pear combo pie, smidge of smoke, and as it opens a little toast but mostly sharpens everything.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER IT

MOOA is pronounced “Moi” which as we all know means “Me”, so I guess Jean Luc decided to embark on this project purely for himself and we’re just lucky to get to share a taste of it. The first time I picked one of your wines “Ground Control To Major Tom”, it was the label that lured me in, but when I popped that cap, what was living in the bottle was even better. With this orange I was already betting I’d totally be in for a fun & sparky bubbly and you did not disappoint. My question is why the name “Le Bazar”? This is definitely not “a mess” but a bottle of pure awesome natural joy.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #sparklingwine #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #orangewine #winetime #worldbyglass #provence #france #taylorswift #naturalwine #docwinebar #docwineshop #Mooawine #winemc2 @mooawine @winemc2 @docwinebar @docwineshop

Posted on

Sometimes Father Knows Best

Domaine du Bel Air
Jour de Soif 2021
Cabernet Franc
Bourgueil AOC
Organic, hand harvested, native yeasts
Touraine, Loire Vally, France
Pierre & Rodolphe(son) Gauthier

Maroon with a ruby rim. Scents start growing of deep cherry, vanilla, prunes/dark plums, raspberries, black currants, touch of earth, dark bitter chocolate (my favorite), mix of peppercorns, and a few tiny violets. Tasting all the scents dancing on my tongue joined with boysenberries, orange zest, bell pepper & a smidge of warmth too, and at first I thought caraway seed but then realize it’s rye but no hot pastrami (ooh that would be so good). Just simply delightful and will be on my repeat list!

Pairs with Cheez-Its: mmm even more juicy

Pierre’s great-grandfather was a potter that decided he wanted to change careers and go into mixed farming. After a while he branched out and picked up land for vineyards and it all grew from there. By the time André Gauthier (Pierre’s father) was ready to pass the land to him, “he only had one wish: that I do the same thing. He was the last winemaker to work his vines with a horse, so I started working with a horse.” In the 80s, Pierre as he said “listened to the sirens of ‘progress’, the weedkiller, the fertilizer” because at the time it was being sold as a timesaver & an easier way, but thank goodness he realized he had lost his way and returned to the natural past, his father’s training, and what truly made him happy. By 2000, the Domaine was certified organic and the quality shows. 🍷❤️

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #petnat #instawine #winelover #winetasting #winetime #organic #naturalwine #Bourgueil #LoireVally #France #vinewine #vinewinenyc #polanerselections #DomaineduBelAir @vinewinenyc @polanerselections

Posted on

Jazzy Holidays

Porter & Plot
Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Mendocino County
Grapes from Cox Vineyards located in Ukia, CA (certified organic)
Produced & bottled by WINC
Buellton, CA

Ruby with purple/blue pops. Sniffing and there’s dark cherry followed by an easygoing vanilla cream, raisins, black currants, a bit of dried fig, coriander, and a just right very light bunch of violets. Sip & swish and again there’s deep cherries, dried cranberries, golden raisins, dried figs, black currants, very light orange zest, blackberries, a little raspberries, boysenberries, a chocolate warmth & a velvet touch, smidge of a licorice jelly bean (yeah I’m probably the only kid that loved them), and a tingle of warm spice on my lips.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: smooth and juicy

Oh it’s that time of year again! Holidays are even closer than we all think. Anyway, if you haven’t started picking up wines for the gatherings, or in my case just for moi (yes, I’m working while the rest of you will be lounging in comfy clothes)…anyway, this Cab is for you. You can dress it up with an elegant meal (think steak, venison, lamb chops, wild boar, some fun funky cheese…etc.) and get out the good glasses meant only for company; or follow my kicked back menu of a more rare than medium-rare cheeseburger while spinning some “Pithecanthropus Erectus” and relishing in a multitude of Mingus memories. Either route you take, wishing y’all’s upcoming holidays will be happy and of course jazzy! 🍷

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #redwine #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #CabernetSauvignon #winetime #worldbyglass #Mingus #charlesmingus #califonia #CA #porterandplot #winc #docwinebar #docwineshop @docwinebar @docwineshop

Posted on

Raised To Appreciate

Frank Cornelissen
Susucaru 2022
Rosato
Terre Siciliane IGP
Malvasia, Moscadella, Cattaratto, Nerello Mascalese
Organic, unfined
Etna (North Valley), Sicily, Italy

Deep magenta rose with a cork that gave me a battle, but I won. Scents start emerging of a blend of raspberry, strawberry & cherries, and it has a lot of depth. There’s also a straw of hay (that fades), smoke, black pepper, and orange & lemon squeeze and zest. Sipping and tart fruit flavors of cherry, blood orange & lemon, along with yellow plums, young strawberries, raspberries, red currants, watermelon Jolly Rancher, and a shake of white pepper. It’s crisp and glou glou worthy.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: NOPE

Frank Cornelissen’s father is who led him to fall in love with wine by letting him take a sip (at a young age), taught him to appreciate a good glass, and eventually let him start picking bottles at their local shop. Makes total sense that this Belgian would land in Sicily and purchase hectares of ungrafted vines on the slopes of Mt. Etna, and dedicate himself to working obsessively organic and as natural as possible. In fact, he’s so committed to his environment and all that live in it that his site also has instructions on how to go about recycling everything from the bottle, the closure, label, case and pallet. His “Susucaru” Rosato is a very special wine, not only for how delicious it is but also for its name. Turns out in their local Sicilian it translates to “they stole it” which happened to a good part of the grapes from Frank’s first vintage. I wonder if the thieves were 2 footed, 4 or of the winged variety. Hmmmm? 🤔

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #rosato #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #organic #winetime #worldbyglass #Sicily #italy #zevrovineselections #Susucaru #FrankCornelissen #docwinebar #docwineshop @zevrovineselections @frankcornelissen_winery @docwinebar @docwineshop

 

Posted on

When Dão Happens

Freire Lobo
Sardanita 2022
Pét-Nat
Encruzado, Bical, Fernão Pires, Barcelo, Cerceal & Malvasia Fina
Organic, hand harvested, natural fertilizer from Bordeleira sheep
Oliveira do Hospital, Dão, Portugal
Owner, winemaker & very resilient: Elisa Freire Lobo

Yellow hazy gold with a shimmer of green and very active fine bubbles. BTW take care when opening. It can be a bit explosive. Now it’s time to relax and give this glass a sniff. There’s honeydew, cantaloupe & other white melons, pears, a lemon/lime spritz, Golden Delicious apples along with baking spices, a salty breeze, and also a lovely creaminess. Now onto the taste filled with a citrus blend of lemon, lime, & kumquats, white pepper, persimmon, fresh honeycomb, and salt. So crisp & alive that’s leaving a tingling vibration on my lips.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: crisp and fresh

As it says on Freire Lobo’s site, “When Dão Happens!” Well it’s been a tale of ups & downs & then back up again. Elisa is the first female winemaker of the region, and getting there took studies, working in wineries in other regions, and finally back full circle to her parents land in Dão where she knew to make her wine great she needed to take it back to a more natural/organic past. Then in 2017, the nightmare happened of losing half of her vineyards to the blasted fires that break my heart. She was resilient, and plowed on with what was left. Maybe it wasn’t the original plan but you work with what you have, and what she has created or let nature create is wonderful. Would this pet-nat have existed without this upheaval? I don’t know, but I do know I love it. Thank you for finding a solution or a way to forge forward, continue to naturally grow, and “take it to the next level.”

wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #petnat #instawine #winelover #winetasting #winetime #organic #naturalwine #Dao #portugal #fleetstreetwine  #vinewine #vinewinenyc @cheezit @fleetstreetwine @vinewinenyc @freire_lobo_wines