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Nothing Can Be So Beautiful

Vini Conestabile della Staffa
Rustico 2020
Umbria Rosso IGT
100% Sangiovese
Organic
Monte Melino, Italy
Winegrower & maker: Danilo Marcucci

Ruby…think deep stained glass like Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Breathing in scents of cherry, plum, a dash of good funk then violets, mini roses, a slight vanilla touch, and a mix of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and as it says a rustic vibe. Tasting and it starts off tart & alive with cherries & plums, oil cured olive pits, dried crushed herb blend maybe tarragon & thyme, smoke, black & white pepper, juicy blackberries, red currants, tart & fresh green & pink strawberries, and a wood shaving from my grandfather’s shop.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: deliciously smooth

Y’all know how much I love wine, but it’s also the tales, the history, and what draws people to work the vines. Reading about Danilo Marcucci on SelectioNaturel’s site and they write he’s the first to say this is his wife’s land and “he is merely a guest, married to the vines and his wife Alessandra’s noble lineage” (dating back to the Middle Ages w an arranged marriage in the 1700s sealing the families’ deal). He just rebooted everything, and was lucky that chemicals were never used on the land, since he’s been called “Italy’s Lord of Natural Wine”. He learned from old school masters after being introduced to a glass of nature, and his philosophy is “No chemistry in the vineyard, no technology in the cellar.” Sometimes keeping it all about nothing can make everything oh so beautiful.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass  #organic #sustainable #Umbria #Italy #viniconestabile #selectionaturel @viniconestabile @selectionaturel @docwinebar @docwineshop

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A Gentle Caress Of Peace & Love

Anne Pichon Wines
“Sauvage”
Gris Montagne 2022
Ventoux AOP
Grenache 50%, Cinsault 30%, Syrah 10%, Carignan 10%
Organic, biodynamic, sustainable, indigenous yeast
Ventoux, Rhône, France
Winemakers & nature lovers: Anne Pichon & Véronique

Very light orange pinky rose. Nothing is overpowering in the scents. It’s fresh yet a little creamy with cherries, plums, some mellow melon, and sea breeze & wet stones. Sip and it’s delicate yet vibrant at the same time, plums (red & yellow with the fruit, skins & all), cherries, pomegranate, that touch of cream feel, a strawberry/raspberry blend with salt & lick of rock, and a lemon zing slides in toward the end.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: absolutely delicious

Every bottle of Anne Pichon’s wines that I’ve had fill me with different emotions. Some have been passion, others pure joy, and this one a gentle caress of peace, love & and a dreamy slow moving time in the countryside. Now back to how this wine came about. Anne & Marc (her husband, who sadly passed away) Pichon found a perfect place to make wine in an already organic yet left behind domaine that came with quite a romantic name in my bee & bug loving book, “Mur-Mur-Ium” (the buzzing song of bees). Aptly named since they even have a beekeeper that’s placed his hives in the vines, which is a sheer delight for me. As I’ve babbled about before, my great-grandfather was a beekeeper & these beneficial creatures fascinate me. There’s a video “The T Edward Morning Show with Véronique of Anne Pichon” & her description of her brother Marc as a nature lover full of passion & a free spirit was so beautiful; how they as a family decided to continue with the winery even after his death is so touching. After listening to Véronique’s words, their “Sauvage” wines seem to me to be like a love letter to nature, it’s complexity, strength & beauty. ❤️🐝

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass #Rhone #France #organic #sustainable #annepichon  #annepichonsauvage @tedward_ws @docwinebar @docwineshop

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Get The Party Started

Catch & Release Wines
Block Party 2022
Pinot Gris 50%, Riesling 30%, Gewürztraminer 20%
Organic, native yeasts
McFadden Farm
Mendocino, CA
Beno Stewart & Monica Varriale

Rose tinted orange sunset with unfiltered goodness. Scents of a papaya/mango/orange-citrus cocktail blend with a little Creamsicle, some heady blossoms, a bit of musky IPA tangerine, and a salty slate breeze with a teeny bit of natural good funk in the way back. All of the scents are there in the taste and also a bit more natural sweet like honeysuckle, touches of fresh squeezed Valencia oranges, cantaloupe, a lime pop, and a smidge more of that salty slate. So delightful and easy to enjoy so don’t overthink this smile in a bottle, just grin and wink right back at it.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: NOPE

Catch and release used to be what I did at my grandparents’ pond except the day I was using my kid’s reel and a giant catfish swallowed my plastic toy hook. Let’s just say my great-grandmother “Nana” had to come over and make some of the best batter fried catfish I ever had. Actually this wine would have been great with it but at the time was paired with Pepsi. Now let’s get back to the present and this wine. Beno & Monica sum up their objectives best, “We make wines we like to drink, in partnership with growers who lead from the front of regenerative farming. We champion simplicity, prioritize delicacy, and crave acidity at every turn.” What better reason than to make yourself, others and the earth happy. I say raise another glass to them, and “Get The Party Started”!

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass #Mendocino #california #organic #sustainable #goodvibes #getthepartystarted #shirleybassey @catchandreleasewines @docwinebar @docwineshop

 

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What A Wonderful World

Cantine Benvenuto
Zibibbo 2021
100% Zibibbo di Pizzo
Calabria Bianco IGP
Organic, sustainable, hand harvested, native yeasts
Francavilla Angitola, Italy
Giovanni Benvenuto

Yellow green shining light. Sniffing and wow! There’s melons (honeydew with a bit of cantaloupe & more), pears, peaches, lemon soda & citrus blend with a touch of tangelo, a whole bed of flowers including a heady bit of wisteria & magnolia, dusting of vanilla/Oreo cream filling, and a lovely lush & lingering memory of a night filled with amore. All of those scents are there in the taste but a bit more festive & floral with a musky melon, a cream feel evened out with that citrus lemony lime-arita zing with a salty rim, and a gentle touch of our old cool spring house (sans salamanders). Just so good!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: crisps it all up so depends on your mood

Zibibbo di Pizzo has one passionate champion and protector in Giovanni Benvenuto. After his studies in agronomy, he returned to his grandfather’s land and treated it (and still does) in the natural reverent way it deserved…going organic and sustainable. He’s also joined in his/their cause with a few other growers/winemakers (aka “I vignaioli dell’Angitola”) to resurrect, rebirth & keep this ancient grape (Zibibbo) flourishing. Honestly if there was a fan club for this grape, I’d be more than happy to join because this wine is flirtatious, romantic, just makes me so happy, and reminds me that beautiful experiences like this show me that we do live in “What A Wonderful World”.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #wineislove #winetime #organic #sustainable #worldbyglass  #Italy #whatawonderfulworld #NickCave #ShaneMacGowan #Calabria #Zibibbo #jandamorewines @cantinebenvenuto @docwinebar @docwineshop

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Modena Magic

Torre Tusini
Petnè
Lambrusco
Sparkling wine
Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Rosy berry orange magenta dappled sunset (sailor’s delight!) with teeny white bubbles. Floating upward to my nose at first is a beautiful creaminess, raspberries, strawberries, boysenberry, blueberries, heck…all the ripe berries! Also a splash of cherry & plum, that Easter morning scent of a bag of jelly beans being popped open (Hoppity, hoppity down that trail) and some fresh cut really ripe red watermelon. Those same scents are right there in the taste with a bite of lemon spitz, with a lick of watermelon Jolly Rancher on the exhale, and all that fruit flows in the taste yet crisp & dry at the same time. Best of both worlds and this is a really good bottle on this steamy night.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: delightful and sparky

As I’ve said before, Modena, what a city of magic. Is it something in their water (or maybe the famous Balsamic vinegar) that births great artists in multiple fields, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Enzo Ferrari, and Massimo Bottura? Now from this label I’ve learned of another, Ernesto Maranesi and “his writings… ‘Il Piccolo Vocabolario del Dialetto Modenese’ is a work of great historical and cultural value…he guides us to discover the expressions and idioms of the local dialect, providing a valuable testimony of the richness of the language spoken by ordinary people in the Modena area.” ❤️ the play of the name “Petnè” which led me to think of pét-nat, but as I found in the small type from Maranessi’s dialectology studies tucked down the side of this bottle, “Petnèr – Pettinare. Ravviare i capelli. -Petnerès Pettinarsi. Fig. Accapigliarsi, accapellarsi, acciuffarsi. Pigliarsi a capelli.” it’s more about styling or combing hair and maybe even getting caught up in it. Now I wonder which “do” would I rather get tangled up in while sipping this glass…Mohawk, Beehive or Flapper? What’s your vote?

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #winetime #worldbyglass  #petnat #torrretusini #modena #Italy  #usawineimports @torre.tusini @docwinebar @docwineshop

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It Takes A Village…Or A Region

Les Vins Pirouettes
Le Pet Nat de David 2020
Riesling
Pét-Nat
Organic, biodynamic, indigenous yeast, no sulfur, unfined & unfiltered
Rosheim, Alsace, France
Winemakers: Christian Binner, David Koeberlé (also grower) & team
Cultivated & Vinified by Domaine Muller-Koeberlé

Hazy gold with a lot of unfiltered goodness…almost like sea monkeys. Sniffing a combo of orange, tangerine, lemon, allspice, apples, pears…ok it’s pie along with citrus zest, and a hint of fresh picked Kirbys. Taking a sip and it’s a good wedge of that above pie…crisp & fresh with an extra squeeze of lemon, touch of pineapple, papaya, white pepper, and all sends your tastebuds kicking up their heels in a flying dance.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: delicious

You know the saying, “it takes a village” or maybe a whole region as in Les Vins Pirouettes’ case. It’s a project/collaboration with a lengthy list of Alsatian organic & natural growers/winemakers with the encouragement by Christian Binner & his wine team. David’s Domaine Muller-Koeberle, definitely fits the membership requirements and then some, with dedication to biodiversity, permaculture, agroforestry, and he also creates a gentle safe nourishing space in his cellar with classical music (which sounds like a perfect grape spa for me). You can really taste and feel the artistic beauty of nature being allowed to run free through “Le Pet Nat” and it’s just a start for me from this grower/wine team’s line. Really hoping my next encounter will be with their, “Ultra Violet” because I’m reading it’s “ultra glou” and who doesn’t ❤️ a good “glou glou”. 🍇

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #winetime #worldbyglass #organic #naturalwine #Alsace #France #PétNat #petnat @jennyfrancois @christian.binner @lesvinspirouettes @domaine.muller.koeberle @docwineshop @docwinebar @cheezit

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Pairs with Fosse

Weingut Wurzinger 
Früg Orange 2022
Grüner Veltliner 70%, Roter Traminer 30%
Organic
Tadten, Burgenland, Austria
Owners & winemakers: Josef & Pia Wurzinger

Shining rose gold just like my great-great-great grandmother’s ring I still have. Breathing in tangelo, lemon & lime, a salty breeze with a little aromatic white pepper, crisp apples, roses and a touch of good old wisteria, peaches, and fresh rained on slate. Sipping away and all the scents are in the taste with more peach, orange rind, lovely pears & apples, and in the back a little fresh cut grass with puff of smoke & mineral lick. This is delicious and very easy to drink so call a friend or two to join in because it’s a whole liter.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: so perfectly smooth

Ok maybe I’m just not that cool, but I had never heard of the 60’s dance called the Frug. Massive thank you to Weingut Wurzinger and Jenny & Francois for leading me down a YouTube rabbit hole. It’s a hip shaking stylish groove that if done right can make you look pretty suave & mod (in my case probably looks more like Elaine from Seinfeld dancing). When I first saw Fosse’s, “The Rich Man’s Frug”,  I have to admit the first thing that popped into my head was the courtship maneuvers of the Hooded Grebe 🤣. Please check out these two videos and definitely grab a liter to start your dance party right. 🪩💃🕺

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #organic #naturalwine #worldbyglass #winelover #austria #winetime #orangewine #letsdance #fosse #Früg #frug @weingutwurzinger @JennyandFrancois @docwineshop @docwinebar

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Devoted From Beginning To End

Vinos del Viento
Rosé 2022
100% Garnacha
Campo de Borja DO
Sustainable, unfiltered, hand harvested
Aragón, Spain
Winemaker: Michael Cooper

Electric 80s magenta watermelon rose salmon. Sniffing and it starts off gentle with red currants, strawberries, a bit of very ripe watermelon, an orange zip, some blossoms float by my nose and a whiff of salt & smoke. Sipping and it’s bright, bold and delightful! That citrus zip comes forward along with cranberries, pomegranate,  strawberries (red, pink & green), watermelon rind, and smidge of herb (including fennel) with a touch of heat on the back. Damn delicious!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: meh

Ah love…it comes in many forms and so does passion. First Michael (originally from CA) found romantic true love while studying in Italy and then before he knew it he also fell hard for wine. I love that he threw himself fully in with studies, working in the industry, and just learning on his own by drinking to see what grapes and flavors spoke to him. Now, he calls himself a “vine hunter” which is very accurate since he “has searched out high altitude, old-vines and dry farmed vineyards. Their unique microclimates and indigenous century-old clone strands make some of the most original wines in the world.” They vines are dry farmed and no pesticides are used. There’s another very important thing I’m seeing more and more, caring about the container the wine is delivered. He uses “locally fabricated lightweight bottles made from recycled materials.” He’s totally devoted from the beginning to the end with his “Wines of the Wind”.

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #worldbyglass #winelover #wineoclock #winemaker #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #naturalwine #Rosé #organic #Spain @cheezit @vinosdelviento @soilairselection @docwineshop @docwinebar

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Bubbling Romance

Château de Minière
Bulles de Minière
100% Cabernet Franc
Sparkling Red Wine
Organic Agriculture Ecocert, HVE
Bourgueil, Loire Valley, France
Kathleen Van den Berghe & Sigurd Mareels

Deep maroon purple with pretty in pink bubbles. At first sniff there’a a bit of creaminess (kind of Oreo center) followed quickly by raspberries, fresh picked pink & red strawberries, boysenberries, spring house mineral fresh, cherries, tiny tarty plum, and after a bit a bouquet of spring flowers pop up. Sipping raspberries, blackberries & seeds, blueberries, strawberries, dried cherry & cranberry, a touch of lemon spark in the back and a crisp end. This bubbly is pure romance, so go ahead and shoot that arrow…through my heart!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out a bigger depth of berries

Well, this is truly a bottle of romance…after honeymooning Kathleen & Sigurd (originally from Belgium) began searching for a vineyard to call their own. Once they saw Château de Minière, well just take a look at the site for yourself, the home and grounds are just gorgeous (it’s like living in a fairytale setting), and has centuries of history with women at the helm of the manor. Kathleen has joined that line, not only with rejuvenating the castle while keeping it true to its historic roots, but also tending to the environment and all that resides in it. Even with the organic & biodynamic you would expect for the vines, there’s also a LPO bird sanctuary, bee hives, rainwater recovery, and more. Oh and not to be forgotten, “Careful thought has been given to the bottling of the wine, for instance: lightweight bottles, unbleached cardboard, strict traceability of corks, nothing is left to chance.” What started out in my mind as a bottle of romance, I now see as a beautiful passionate labor of love. ❤️

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #organic #naturalwine #worldbyglass #winelover #winetime #sparklingwine #bubbly #loirevalleywines #loirevalley #France @cheezit  @chateaudeminiere @communalbrands @docwineshop @docwinebar

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Nothing Is Impossible

Aslina Wines
Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
Winemaker: Ntsiki Biyela

Twinkle twinkle little light yellow green star. Sniffing grapefruit, orange, lemon & lime, slice of pineapple, honey dew & other light melon, very ripe cucumbers, fresh rained on sidewalk with a cooling breeze, and pinch of salt. All of the scents are here in the taste along with a smidge of honey, a smooth operator feel of silk, satin or whatever might make you slide off the sheets, lemon & lime zest spark at the back, and a little fresh cut grass green good. This glass just keeps growing in personality and is definitely being added to my replay list.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: easy going good

Ntsiki saw an opportunity and ran with it. Post high school she was searching for a university scholarship and ended up receiving one in winemaking, but here’s the catch, at the time she really didn’t know anything about wine, but that wasn’t going to stop her. After graduating in 2003, she started working with Stellekaya Wines, became South Africa’s first black female winemaker, started accumulating awards & recognitions including “Woman Winemaker of the Year, 2009”, and following her desire to have her own business, she started creating her own wines. When it came to picking a name, “Aslina” is very fittingly named after her grandmother who raised her, was always there for her, is still a guiding force in her decision making (as in considering what would Aslina do in this situation), and gave her the inspiration that

“nothing is impossible”. There’s a great video/interview by Food For Mzansi that shows Ntsiki ’s reverence and joy talking about her grandmother, her expanding wine life, and a part that really hits @worldbyglass home with me about tasting wine. “When you pour this wine in a glass, where does it take you to, what do you imagine when you’re having that wine…it must create a memory, it must remind you of your life. It must remind you of certain things you grow up with…”. ❤️

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #worldbyglass #southafrica #organic #WesternCape #wineinacan #winetime #worldbyglass #cheezit #pairswithcheezits @cheezit @wine4theworld @aslina_wines @docwinebar @docwineshop