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Following The Dream

Textura
Pretexto Tinto 2020
Dão DOC
Jaen, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Alfrocheiro
Sustainable, organic
São Paio, Gouveia, Portugal
Marcelo Araujo & family
Winemaker: Luis Seabra

Ruby purple that’s so deep I can’t see my fingers on the other side of the glass. Sniff and there’s cherries, tart & a few dark plums &  touch of prunes, raspberries, tomato leaves, fresh pulled beets, and as it opens a floral moment of tiny roses. Sipping & again cherries, tart & dark plums, green tomatoes warm from the backyard, dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, pinch of sage), young strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, and a lemon/lime zest moment. Smooth, fresh and easy to love.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: ack ack ack awful

So what do you do if you realize you love wine more than your old job in Brazil? If you’re like Marcelo Araujo you follow your passion, but you also follow a well thought out plan. He & his family found the right plots in Portugal, the right people (Mariana Salvador & Luis Seabra) to help guide the way, and utilize what is already there like the 100+ year old textile factory that they renovated into their winery, wine bar, and a space for “wine tourism” which celebrates the native grapes that make as they say their “wines of character”, local recipes, culture, and of course nature since they are nestled right near Serra da Estrela Natural Park where you can find Eurasian eagle-owls (wow are they huge!), Common genet (so freaking cute), wolves, boars, and so much more. Who wouldn’t want to follow a passion and end up in such an enchanting place that you can call home? They are definitely living the dream, or rather in their case the best wine life possible. 🍷❤️

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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

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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.”

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