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Loving the Flip Side

Face B
Pif Paf
Brut Nature NV
Blanquette de Limoux AOP
Mauzac  & Chenin Blanc
Organic, hand harvested, Méthode Champenoise, bottle aged for 18 months
Calce, Roussillon, France
Winemaker: Séverin Barioz 

Pale pretty yellow. Ooh breathing in sweet wisteria, magnolias, honeysuckle, apples, and creamy mellow pears. Those apples and pears reappear in taste and also a creamy feel. Next comes some honey but not overly sweet because there’s fresh crisp citrus bits with a little hazelnut, and grass.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: it’s an ideal pairing

From what I’m seeing the name Face B comes from the B-side of a single. You remember those…right? Well, can you believe the Smith’s “How Soon is Now” was a B-side? Seriously, it was on the back of “William, It Was Really Nothing” in 1984. See just because it’s the flip side, doesn’t mean it’s 2nd tier. Just like this bottle of bubbly give it a chance and you’ll find that your “B” is really an “A”.

#wine #naturalwine #winelife #perfectpairing #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #Mauzac #CheninBlanc #Calce #Roussillon #France @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #thesmiths #methodechampenoise #facebcalce @vinewinenyc @cheezit

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A Golden Island Cocktail

Vinícola Taro
Blanco 2019
Malvasía
DO Lanzarote
Organic, hand harvested, indigenous yeasts
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Winemaker: Pablo Matallana
Label artist: Carlos Matallana

Pure spun gold. First sniff and something a little wild jumps out to say “hello!”, then follows singed brioche, smoky goodness along with a citrus blend w an IPA grapefruit floating in and out and after time warm honey follows…also some freshly rained on concrete and a salty breeze (yeah it really does, I’m not quoting a cheesy greeting card). Drinking a cocktail of orange, tangerine, and lemon with an IPA twist, melon, pears and apples, serious smoke as time goes by with a kiss of salt, and a granite/mineral (volcanic soil fed) lick. This is crisp yet complex and damn wonderful!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: digging it!

As much as I love this bottle, just looking at it and all I can think is of La Palma’s volcano which is causing evacuations, destruction and terrible air quality. I know Vinícola Taro is from Lanzarote which is fortunately one of the eldest islands (technically dormant) and placed far enough away that so far they are currently safe, but according to El Pais is eventually (far, far in the future) “destined to sink under the effects of erosion”. If you are interested in the birth of the Canary Islands, their growth, and what is currently happening, check out their very informative article/infographics.

#wine #naturalwine #winelife #perfectpairing #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #Malvasía #Lanzarote #CanaryIslands #Spain #cheezit @worldbyglass @el_pais #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #PabloMatallana @matallana_man @taro.vinicola @matallana.pablo @josepastorselections @vinewinenyc @cheezit

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Gravity’s Pull

Nicolas Arnou
Chouette! 2020
VDF
100% Chenin Blanc
Organic, natural wine, no filtration or pumps, gravity cellar, and following lunar patterns
Les Champ-sur-Layon, Pays de la Loire, France

Deep gold warmth. Scents of apples, oranges, pops of hay, all spice, hazelnut hints, and honeycomb (my great-grandfather was a beekeeper and oh how I love those bees…nothing like chewing the comb). There’s also an underlying funk that fades. First sip and dang that’s natural! Here comes hay, apples, apricots, green pluots, orangina and a light taste of circus peanuts…hmmm. Just lively moon-dappled vibrance!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: mmmmmm crisp

Turning from the life of an electronics engineer to winemaker, now that’s a nice career change. Nicolas definitely doesn’t have bats in the belfry, but he sure does in the cellar. When he took on his 10 hectares of vineyards (part of Domaine de la Raimbaudières) there was also an old 3 level gravity cellar housing his new bio beneficial friends. More new buddies can be found inhabiting (and assisting in) the organic grounds from the small ladybugs to the haunting owl on the label. So, I have to say this is a first for me, another of Nicolas’ wines “Le Canon à moutons” makes an appearance in a comic book (“Sauvages!!!”). Ok, this isn’t like L&R or Deadpool, but the artist Otto T. depicts Thomas Ferrand collecting wild edible wonderments and what is better to pair with a foraged finds menu than natural wine? 🥂

#wine #naturalwine #winelife #perfectpairing #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #CheninBlanc #Loire #France #cheezit #organic #owls #Chouette #bats #loveandrockets #deadpool @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #nicolasarnou @terrestrialwine @nicolasarnou @vinewinenyc @cheezit

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Elbow Grease Guarantee

Julie Karsten
Métaphysique des Cuves 2019
AOP Côtes du Rhône
Grenache, syrah, cinsault
Organic
Castillon-du-Gard, France

Deep dark rubylicious. Plum and cherry scents weave their way out followed by something a little buttercream frosting that blends in citrus and cedar. Slowly sipping those cherries and plums again along with prunes, Fig Newtons, raspberries, cranberries, tangerine and orange peels, and a mixed bag of spice like cloves, anise, cardamon and more. This is going to be a beautiful binge worthy paring. Yeah, I’ll admit, I’m finally getting around to watching all of “The Closer” and this is a wine I could see Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson pouring post case. “Yoohooooo! Please pass me those chocolates. Thank yooouu, thank you so much!”

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out a lot of dried fruit like raisins, prunes, and blueberries and also pine sap. I like it better without but I have to admit “with” is quite fun

Julie’s wines come with an “elbow grease guarantee” and “100% happy vines”. Just take a gander at her IG account for proof. Alert roses stand guard at the end of the rows. There’s also all sorts of critters enjoying and roaming the fields and farm from spiders, snakes (and their skins), toads, sheep, praying mantis, a beautiful black cat, dogs, and a majestic horse. Her passion for her “living soil for living wines” is all there captured in perfect snapshots of “work in progress” from vine to cellar. 📸

#wine #naturalwine #winetasting #perfectpairing #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #Grenache #syrah #cinsault #CôtesduRhône #CotesduRhone #France #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram @julie.karsten @vinewinenyc @cheezit

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It Don’t Mean A Thing, If It Ain’t Got That Swing!

Domaine des Terres Dorées
FRV 100
Sparkling Gamay Semi-Dry Rosé NV
Organic, sustainable, hand harvested, indigenous yeasts, méthode ancestrale
Charnay, France
Owner and winemaker: Jean-Paul Brun

Electric rose colored glasses with fine white bubbles. Nose tickling light pops of raspberries, strawberries and clean fresh breeze. Raspberries tumble out first on my tongue quickly followed by strawberries (fresh and preserves), a little cherry juice, and in the back there’s a tiny bit of dark plums that fade and blend back in with this fruited cocktail. Thankfully it’s off-dry, so the sweet is just right and doesn’t hit you over the head with a mallet. Fun and fresh and delightful and has me craving goat cheese or even a spicy pimento cheese sandwich which we all know needs to be made on Sunbeam bread.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: whoa it deliciously works

Just check out the sparkly label and it spells out what is in this bottle: Finese, Funny, Rebelle, Rire, Veritas, Vinification d’Art, Sans Mentir, a splash of Fellini, and much more. After your first glass you’ll want to smooch Jean-Paul Brun firmly on the lips. His Gamays just sing and this one has that jazzy “swing”! Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah!

#wine #TerresDorées #terresdorees #sparklingwine #Rosé #bubbly #rose #jeanpaulbrun #gamay #FRV100 #Charnay #France #ladygaga #tonybennett #jazz #naturalwine #winetasting #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram @louisdressnerselections @vinewinenyc @cheezit

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Picpoul Party Perfection

Domaine Julie Benau
Chichois à la Baraquette 2019
VDF
100% Picpoul
Organic, sustainable, skin contact
Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Winemaker: Julie Benau
Painting “Julie” by Brandon McQueen

Orange tinted gold that changes from top to bottom of the pour like a blended paint roller. Breathing in orange rind, tangerine, lemon, very very ripe Kirby cucumber, salt, and grass. Taking a swish of crisp pears, honeysuckle nectar, light peach/melon mix, and at first hay that runs away, a little of those first cuttings of grass from the weed wacker, a squish of lime & lemon, a shake of salt and even a spice like hmmm, oh yeah, mace. So luscious yet fresh and vibrant! There’s layers that surprise me like how an artist builds up an oil painting. I don’t want oysters or anything, I just want this solo.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Well who would have thought…I like it. Everything just ramps up more

Julie Benau, champion of Picpoul, and evidently a lot of fun if Brandon McQueen’s depiction of her is accurate. “Chichois à La Baraquette” kind of says it all, as it sort of translates into “wild stuff that went down at the party”. With all seriousness though, everything I’m finding about her makes her one really cool, creative and inspiringly dedicated person. Her family used to sell their grapes to a co-op, but in 1999, she changed all that by returning home and taking on bottling her own wine. This little wild party child is only one of her creations. Another is her “Robot Cochon” (also a cool label) Tempranillo, and then there’s one I bet I will never get to ever try but greatly intrigues me…“Libéro”. This Picpoul didn’t only benefit from the oyster shell fed terroir, it also got to age for 6 months in barrels while hanging out in an oyster bed “under the sea”. Oh lord, now I have Sebastian stuck in my head singing that tune.

#wine #winetasting #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #Picpouldepinet #Picpoul #Languedoc #languedocroussillon #France #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #juliebenau @vinewinenyc @winemc2 @jbcreyssels @cheezit

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Listening to the Vine

Domaine Les Hautes Noëlles
hého le Rouge 2019
Val de Loire IGP (PGI)
45% Cabernet Franc, 45% Grolleau Noir, 10% Gamay
Organic, hand-harvested, indigenous yeast
Saint-Léger-les-Vignes, Loire, France
Owner & winemaker: Jean-Gabriel Tridon and his wife Juliane

Ruby pool with garnet rim. Delightful strawberries and raspberries greeting my nose, and as it warms citrus zest, black pepper & a warm spice like a bit of nutmeg (which I found the hard way, I am allergic to… It’s not pretty. It sucks because I love that holiday flavor), and a puff of vanilla. Those strawberries and raspberries are back in the sip and they’ve brought along cherries, and something a little dark rugged edgy, then a vanilla droplet appears, orange rind shave liveliness with a grind of pepper. Try it chilled, or try it slightly chilled. Either way pick up two because you’ll not want them to end.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: smoooooth yeeeesssss

Juliane & Jean-Gabriel Tridon embarked on what looks like a second act or new adventure in life with Domaine Les Hautes Noëlles. I love the fact they committed themselves fully to wine and Jean-Gabriel went back to the books and hands on experience and education (especially on working and growing organic). I’m just going to let their words from their site speak for them because there is no way I could do it better. “In a world where Man seems to want absolute control of everything, the vine gives those who dedicate themselves to it a wonderful lesson in humility. There is what we understand about Nature. There is what we know about it without being able to explain it. And then there is the great unfathomable unknown. The vine demands constant attention. In particular, it requires us to think ahead and even to prepare, today, for the generations of tomorrow. As for the wine quietly and slowly developing in the silence of a vat, it takes its time. It takes the time it needs. This is now our lives, our daily lives within this unspoilt setting; this is what we wish to share with you.” 🍷❤️

#wine #winetasting #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #hého #heho #CabernetFranc #GrolleauNoir #Gamay #Loire #France #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram @vinewinenyc @skurnikwines @domaineleshautesnoelles @cheezits

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A Dashing Waltzing Partner

Val de Mer
Sparkling Non Dosé NV
100% Chardonnay
Sustainable, hand-harvested & no dosage added
Sourced from Tonnerre, France
Co-owned: Patrick Piuze & Moutard-Diligent

Golden with a little warm glimmer and tiny bubbles popping all over. Those bubbles send my sniffer some apples, a smidge of apple brandy that walks out the door but closes it gently, toasted brioche, a little vanilla, and  an Oreo cream center. Smooth sipping ripe apples of all sorts, lemon lime twist, crisp like seltzer but not salty, touch of toast, and some mellow limestone. She’s a polished accomplished lady that I recommend keeping well chilled and she’ll shine through the evening.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: really good! Sharpens everything

Before this sparkler came into existence, Patrick Piuze, had a winding, globe trotting road to wine. Hailing from Quebec and 3rd son of a blue collar family, the vines called to him from what I’m reading when he was 18. With guidance and inspiration he worked with wineries abroad before returning to Montreal to open the wine bar “Le Pinot Noir”. Drawn back to France for studies and more experience he opened his own winery and became a Chablis master, or as it is said on Bowler Wine’s site, “Patrick has become walking encyclopedia of the terroir of the area.” Now with Val de Mer, he has joined up with Moutard-Diligent for a 2nd wine venture. The grapes for the Sparkling Non Dosé are from 25 year old vines and the winery (& above ground cellar) is in Tonnerre which is 10 miles from Chablis. He’s still all about minimal intervention and letting the land speak, and in this bottle it says celebrate and take an elegant waltz with your dashing partner under the stars.

#wine #sparklingwine #bubbly #Chardonnay #ValdeMer #PatrickPiuze #MoutardDiligent #winelover #vino #vin #organicwine #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #Tonnerre #France @bowlerwine @cheezits

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Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Domaine Bertrand et Axelle Machard de Gramont
Bourgogne Aligoté “Le Chêne du Court” 2017
AOC
100% Aligoté
Organic, hand harvested
Nuits-St. Georges, France
Winemaker: Axelle Machard

Pale glistening gold. Fragrances of apples, peach, smoke, light tangerine, and wet rock or limestone. As the glass and I are both sweating due to the evening…rolling this around in my mouth and there’s fresh apple, pear, light peach, salt, a lemon lime swirl ting of tart, and something herby but I can’t quite place which. I should have my Penzeys’ card revoked. It’s just so crisp, refreshing, elegant and so welcome. Henri is knocking on the door and this glass brightens this rainy grey day. Unfortunately it has me craving mussels and super salty frites which I have neither, and am not about to make a delivery driver come out in this  rough weather.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: delicious and sweeter

Coming from a distinct wine lineage, Axelle, Bertrand’s daughter is at the helm of Domaine Bertrand et Axelle Machard de Gramont, and is who brought it into organic certification. I’m glad she came back from a 15 year stint in Paris to rejoin her father in wine. Her parcel of Aligoté is pretty darn special residing behind the Abbaye de Saint-Vivant which is now a historic site and had been going through restoration when a discovery took place. I got pretty intrigued about the Abbey and with some really bad Google Translate of different papers and posts, I found that a bottle was unearthed from under debris and a slab near the apse and altar. It could date back to 1772 or possibly 1810-60 and it was opened and tasted in 2011. I would love to know how that turned out, and I’m sure one of you probably knows.

#wine #winelover #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #Aligoté #Aligote #pairswithcheezits #wineinfluencer #winestagram #France #Bourgogne #burgundy #axellemacharddegramont @axellemacharddegramont @docwineshop @docwinebar @apwineimports @cheezits

 

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Rouge Rebel

Domaine No Control
Délire du Désordre 2019
Vin de France
Gamay
Converting to organic, biodynamic practices, hand harvest, and unfiltered
Auvergne/Beaujolais, France
Winemaker: Vincent Marie (he also has exceptional taste in music 🤘🎸)

A swirl of dark ruby & purple. Before we get any further let it breathe. Decant this baby and out will pop and crack some leather, bright cherry, vanilla whiff, then here come the flowers. There’s roses, lilacs, lilies, and everything just keeps exploding and also some barny (not the dinosaur) funk. On with the show…sipping cherries & dried cherries, olive pits, smidge of leather, and a whole bunch of juicy goodness of cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries laced with balsamic. Is it rustic…is it punk or is it a mix of all with funk?

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: smooths it all out

This bottle intrigues me like the silent bad boy with the leather jacket and motorcycle that did doughnuts in mom’s flower patch but still manages to pick me a bouquet. Maybe our 2nd rendezvous with this rebel tonight will let me see a bit more his soft sensitive side. Or maybe I’ll just roll with this Gamay Auvergne/Beaujolais fusion mix and crank some “Rage Against The Machine”.

#wine #vinho #vino #vin #Gamay #rageagainstthemachine #pairswithcheezits #worldbyglass #cheezit #vinewinenyc #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winelife #naturalwine #organic #Auvergne #Beaujolais #France @vinewinenyc @vincentnocontrol @steven.graf.imports @cheezits