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Deep Natural Thoughts

Esencia Rural
(Bodega Ecológica Bruno Ruiz)
De Sol a Sol
Airén 2016
Organic, biodynamic and super natural!
Quero, Toledo, Castilla–La Mancha, Spain
Winemaker: Julián Ruiz Villanueva

Deep orangey gold skin contact pour. Reminds me of Tang (you remember the astronauts drink that Buzz Aldrin hated) or even the color of a Cheez-It. Damn this is deep and heady and that was a short sniff. It’s like a Sherry/Manzanilla vibe…nutty, caramel, golden raisins, dried apricots, and grassy. Now this is an explosion of taste wonderment and I find it absolutely intriguing, but I can see where some might get overwhelmed or not “be that into it” because it is intense. There’s nothing wrong with that but like I always used to tell my friend’s kid when he was little, try something at least 3 times before you make your mind up that it’s not for you. There’s tangy orange fresh and dry with splashes of lemon tart, caramel, brown sugar cookies, honey, and hazelnuts. This is a glass to be savored and contemplated on or shared over good conversation and not a glob-glou. Hangout with this wine, let it grow and let yourself settle into it’s personality and get comfortable with it and maybe have some “Deep Thoughts””.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Oh absolutely not!!!! That was disgusting. Shake it off, shake it off

Julián post school in Madrid, came back with a mission to farm organic and take on the artisan mantle. After trying other produce he turned to the vines in 1998, and has around 50 hectares. De Sol a Sol comes from his favorite “El Almendruco” (4.8 hectares) which was planted by his grandfather. This is the land that produces the indigenous yeasts or bacteriology of the flor. He wants to keep his wines super natural, they’re certified organic, dry-farmed, some are old, ungrafted vines, and he loves to work with the local grapes. You also can’t find chemicals in the vineyard or cellar. De Sol a Sol (From Sun to Sun), Airén 2016, is dedicated to all of the hardworking farmers who work from sun up to sun down, which is just a beautiful thought. Here’s Julián’s own words which I found in Cuvee3000’s video, “Only we, the artisans, can preserve the cultural value of each area: vinifications, grape varieties, simplicity, tradition and so on.” That dedication is good enough for me

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @esenciarural @selectionsdelavina @zevrovineselections @zev_rovine @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #naturalwine #cheezit #wineinfluencer @worldbyglass #winestagram #instawine #Airen #Airén #Quero #Toledo #CastillaLaMancha #Spain #JackHandey #deepthoughts #BodegaBrunoRuiz #desolasol #snl

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Can Fix Your Car and Make a Kicking Wine

Rodica
Sparkling Refošk Saignée 2018
100% Refošk
Certified organic, dry farmed, environmentally friendly & energy efficient wine cellar
Truške, Istria, Slovenia
Winemaking family: Rodica, founded by Marinko Rodica

Cranberry with white/very light pink bubbles. Looks like your Thanksgiving cranberry out of the can or homemade sauce with a little doily dancing on top. Letting the first bit of funk dance in and out, then strawberries, tiny roses that float in and wander back and forth, and sweet fresh cut grass that works it’s way in. Next there’s blend of coriander and cinnamon but mellow and not too in your face. For some reason when I hit the roses, all that kept popping into my head were a swirl of Frida Kahlo’s work full of beauty and strength. Sipping strawberry fizz (reminds me of mom’s homegrown not over sweet strawberry jam), raspberry and blackberry smash (seeds and all), and lemon/lime squeeze. Refreshing! A little strawberry Starbust as I get to the end of the glass. Don’t over think it like I have been and just enjoy it like I will the next glass or two. Dancing berries left…dancing berries right….dancing berries in the middle…shake your tail feather!

When I found out this wine/winery was created by a car mechanic that wanted a change in life (1998)…well as you can see, I just had to buy it. As you read above, this is no motor oil but a bottle of dancing love. Marinko Rodica and his family have a great care for their beautiful land, the vines, the creatures, and the world around them. They also mostly work with indigenous grapes such as this Refošk, and as I read more about this beautiful grape, it has health advantages too. Supposedly some part of it can help with atherosclerosis, has a component of aspirin, and can help digestion. Who knew? Evidently the Slovenians do and they have a yearly festival in Marezige celebrating the wine and all the great foods, etc. to go with it. It’s on hiatus till next year due to well, you know the world we’re still living in, but you can still check out the experience and plan next year’s trip.

@vinewinenyc @rodicawines @vinum.slo.cro @cheezits #Saignee #wine #vinho #vino #vin #PétNat #petnat #bubbly #sparklingwine #organic @worldbyglass #worldbyglass #needmorewine #cheezit #vinewinenyc #winestagram #instawine #wineinfluencer #Refošk #Truške #Istria #Slovenia #bluesbrothers #raycharles

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A Lovely Reliable Old Friend

Domaine de La Pinardière
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2019
100% Muscadet (Melon de Bourgogne)
Sustainable agriculture
Vallet, Loire Valley, France
Owner/Winemaker: Christophe Olivier (4th generation of this longstanding wine family)

Shiny golden with a light green hue. Scents of seaside saltiness then open to green apples, a mix of pretty pears, and granite. Sipping in pears, golden delicious apples that when you bite in are juicy and crisp all at once, a minerally lick of a rock, shake (or two) of salt, and a spark of lime zip. So fresh! Exhale and there’s a little salty peatiness in the back of your mouth. Smooth…Oh this is an old friend that stays consistent each time I meet you, and you always make me crave shrimp, langoustines, and oysters…but then when am I not craving those.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: ooh clean and lovely

I first met this wine on a night on my own. Walking home, I passed a bustling oyster bar and noticed the window seat open, and that never happened. My S.O. was living in Switzerland, and I was missing him and decided to treat myself but not break the budget. The sun was dimming, and this little glass transported me to France. It became a stop on evenings when it was still too warm to go home and this glass of muscadet was a delightful partner with a handful of oysters. Tonight, this wine is just the same as it was in the past and all of these memories and emotions come flying back. It’s amazing how time flies, places close, people move…sigh…but so happy to have some things not change.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny #DomainedeLaPinardiere @BaronFrancois @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #cheezit #whitewine #organic @worldbyglass #needmorewine #winestagram #instawine #wineinfluencer #Muscadet #MelondeBourgogne #Vallet #LoireValley #France

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Spring on a Wing

Wild Nature Wines
Prosecco Rosé Brut DOC 2019
Millesimato
90% Glera, 10% Pinot Noir
Certified vegan, organic for more than 40 years, and biodynamic
Veneto, Italy
Winemaker: Emilio Fidora

Salmon rose pour with delicate white bubbles. So alive and romantic! Breathing in a salty fizz, laid back strawberries and cherries, light cherry blossoms, red delicious apple peels, and a dreamy breath of Spring. This is a beautiful mouthful of cherries, strawberries, cranberry, and salt. The tingly bubbles also have a spritz of lime, and an apple roundness, a smidge of cinnamon on the back, and as time goes on all of a sudden a cherry jelly belly drops in. It’s a total party!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Makes it even more crisp if that is possible

Wild Nature Wines are essentially that. They have two estates in Veneto (Venice and Verona) where they live in harmony with the all sorts of four-legged and winged neighbors such as owls, foxes, rabbits, and even this regal and funky pheasant on this label. Each wine gets their own unique familiar drawn entwined with the environment and growing as one. I don’t know who the artist (anyone know?) is but they are truly talented. Talent also runs in this family, and innovation. Emilio’s grandfather (Guido), made history bringing on the organic over 40 years ago (Veneto’s oldest organic estate); and then Emilio decided to embark forward in the steps toward biodynamic and now they are certified bio and vegan and living up to their name.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @wildnaturewines @SkinContactWines @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #Millesimato #wine #vino #cheezit #Prosecco #Rosé #rose #sparklingwine #bubbly #organic #naturalwine @worldbyglass #needmorewine #winestagram #instawine #Italy #Veneto #Venice #Verona #Glera #PinotNoir #WildNatureWines

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Get Up! Get On Up!

Domaine Julien Prével
Sec Machine 2019
Pét-Nat
100% Chenin Blanc
Organic and hand-harvested
Montlouis-sur-Loire, France
Winemaker: Julien Prével

Cheery gold with a fun and fine foam. Right on the tip of my nose is a little malt yeast (like what you’d find at an Athens, GA bar popcorn machine, and if you haven’t tried it…do!), Meyer lemon, mellow apples, grass, and wet rocks after a good hard rain. Sipping and still a pinch of that malty yeast, apples, pears, hay, and baking spice blend. Ooh next there’s a good lemon squeeze to wake it up and smack me in the face alive and vibrant. So, there is also a banana bit, and I have a love/hate relationship with that flavor. It’s a Bavarian weissbier banana, so it’s a love for me. This sparkler is made for all sorts of beer lovers, and as it opens it’s a massive easy drinker. Oh, one more note all of a sudden…on the back end there is some yellow cake (not uranium). Who doesn’t love cake?

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Yes! Everything heightens and it’s a party!

I’m so glad Julien Prével didn’t go into the academia/teaching realm as a profession and ended up in wine. We wouldn’t have this lovely “Sec Machine” if life had taken a different route, and I wouldn’t have this classic stuck in my head for days! Let’s all get up and “Shake your money maker”!

@vinewinenyc #domainejulienprevel #JulienPrevel @TerrellWines #terrellwines @cheezits #wine #vinho #vino #vin #PétNat #petnat #bubbly #sparklingwine #organic @worldbyglass #worldbyglass #needmorewine #cheezit #vinewinenyc #winestagram #instawine #CheninBlanc #Montlouis #Loire #France #jamesbrown

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Generation to Generation

Domaine Victor Sornin
Beaujolais Lantignié Nature
“Les Monthieux” 2019
100% Chardonnay
Appellation Beaujolais Villages Protégée
Organic, sustainable, hand harvested, native yeasts, and NO OAK in aging
Lantignié (vineyard), Régnié-Durette (winery), Rhône, France
Winemakers: Frédéric Sornin (Domaine Frédéric Sornin) and his son Victor who this cuvée is named after

Light straw yellow. Inhaling crisp apple and pears, orangey bits floating on a fresh clean spring breeze, and clean wet granite. First sip and say hello to crisp and clean apples, then luscious pears, some tartness and tang from a smidgen of orange rind, and a little nectarine. It’s clean and fresh, a splash of salty; and no I haven’t been crying into my wine. There’s something bitter in the end. It’s like biting into rosemary but not the fragrant exhale, but all the fruit comes quickly back. I have to say, thank the Lord there is no oak and you get to embrace the pure chardonnay.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: ooh perfect! More fruity goodness

Frédéric Sornin’s father passed down the estate to him in 1990, and now he has his son Victor learning and working with him, so what better way to honor that than have two cuvées in his son’s name (a red and this white). It truly must be wonderful to watch your offspring grow while working by your side and sharing the same love of the land and creating wine. It’s such a beautiful snapshot of family love, and I bet Frédéric is one proud papa. Oh by the way, they’re also joined in the vines by free roaming sheep that graze and replenish the land, the natural-organic-bio way.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @Domaine-victor-sornin @vinotas_selections @DomainedesRonze @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #cheezit #whitewine #organic @worldbyglass #needmorewine #winestagram #instawine #Chardonnay #Beaujolais #BeaujolaisVillages #Lantignié #regniedurette #Rhône #rhone #France

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Hatched in a Garage

Constantina Sotelo
Pío, Pío 2018
100% Albariño
Natural, minimal intervention, and hand harvested
Cambados, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain
Winemaker: Constantina Sotelo

Glimmering gold color. First scent that bounces out is Lemonhead candy, and next creeps out orange hint, spring flowers including a butterfly lilac, slate and grows into pear brandy. Sipping and there’s a tart start of citrus blend that heads into apples, pears (fresh and baked), as it blooms there’s honeysuckle delight, salt, baking spice, sweet tarts, and a back end hint of Poire Williams. It’s clean, fresh, delicious and an adventure in a glass.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: meh no

Constantina Sotelo’s small garage micro winery (that wants to stay small), has set out to let the wine speak for themselves, or as is said on the site “Minimal intervention to obtain maximum expression.” They may differ over vintages or even bottles from the same year, but she would rather allow nature to choose the path for the final outcome. Diverse personalities are welcome here as long as they are honest representations of the land, the vines, and grown as hands off as possible. Pío Pío 2018, definitely has a lively and unique personality as you can see from what I previously wrote. The label is adorable, but what’s in the bottle is a distinguished beauty that would easily stand out at an upper crust black tie affair and make everyone do a double take. It honestly rocked my world.

@vinewinenyc @constantinasotelo @d_i.wine @cheezits #wine #vinho #vino #vin @worldbyglass #worldbyglass #needmorewine #cheezit #vinewinenyc #winestagram #instawine #naturalwine #Albarino Albariño #Galicia #Spain #ConstantinaSotelo

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A Natural Seduction

Finca Casa Balaguer
Picofino
Monastrell 2019
Red Wine
100% Monastrell
Organic and biodynamic, hand harvested
Villena, Alicante, Spain
Winemaker: Andrés Carull

Deep cherry with spots of blue. Pull out the cork and immediately its creamy scents with cherry, cola, and cinnamon butter cream frosting. Channeling my inner Cookie Monster. Let it be for a bit and it’s earthy along with raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries. Now you’re ready to dive into that sip. There’s tart cherry tang that goes deep and later there’s that tang once again. Now here come the raspberries, some strawberry sweetness, earth, dark chocolate, and a dry woody bit like a pecan hull at the end that with each sip can turn around again to that fruit.Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Smooth and velvet

Finca Casa Balaguer is part of Andrés Carull and Marta Ribera’s small family winery Vinessens, and boy is it all natural. After a surprising encounter with a natural wine during a trip to France in 2008, they were hooked or as they say seduced by its magical power. They only work with local varieties to enhance the true feel and taste of their lands, and keep it biodynamic and organic. And they sum their passion beautifully on their site, “Immerse yourself in a world, from which you have no escape. When you enter the world of natural wines, wines made with nothing but fermented grape juice, no additives and no makeup, you won’t want to escape. There is no way back. We can tell you from experience. The lasting memory of these wines is not stored in the mind, but in the heart.” I do have a question about this wine. Can someone please tell me is the bird with the cute hat on the label a kiwi or what is it? I have a little bet running with a friend, so would love to know.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @vinessens @zevrovineselections @zev_rovine @cheezits #wine #vin #vino #redwine #cheezit @worldbyglass #worldbyglass #needmorewine #pairswithcheezits #sustainable #biodynamic #organic #Monastrell #Villena #Alicante #Spain

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An Empty Nest Filled with Vines

Old Westminster Winery
Franc Fizz 2020
Sparkling Cabernet Franc
90% Cabernet franc, 10% marquette
Handcrafted with minimal intervention, spontaneously fermented, unfined & unfiltered
Westminster, Maryland
Siblings: Winemaker Lisa Hinton, Farmer Drew Baker, GM Ashli Johnson

Hazy dark violet ruby natural bubbly. Let this fizz breathe and give it some space and your nose will be rewarded with strawberry, blackberry, that mellow smell of unwrapping a Jolly Rancher, and a walk through a fresh spring flower garden where someone has been digging in the dirt. Drinking in again strawberries, blackberries, and now plums (taking a big bite of the whole fruit and pit), a splash of cranberry freshness, a drop of balsamic reduction, tingle tangle fun, and as it opens more there’s a green sprout, and a pinch of dark earth, and late in the game smoke. 

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Brings more tarty to the party

This is more than a family winery, it started as empty nester winery. Jay & Virginia Baker started their family farm back in 1985, but it wasn’t till 2008, when the kids were all at college that they decided to turn it into a winery. The kids thought this was a fab idea and are now all in and in charge and their parents get to enjoy watching them work together. Note that none of this was realized overnight. The family put their heads together and carefully researched and sorted the best way to make “chasing the dream” a reality, and the first vines were planted in 2011. This is my first wine from Maryland, and what a fool I have been for not trying one before. Or maybe I’m a fool for not trying one from Old Westminster Winery, that just as the Baker’s kids, was raised with love.

@vinewinenyc @oldwestminsterwinery @cheezits #wine #bubbly #sparklingwine #fizz #vinho #vino #vin @worldbyglass #worldbyglass #needmorewine #cheezit #vinewinenyc #organic #winestagram #instawine #naturalwine #CabernetFranc #Westminster #Maryland #emptynest #emptynesters

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A Howling Story of the Land

Ca’ Lojera
Lugana DOC 2019
100% Turbiana
Organic (just not certified) and hand harvested
Rovizza di Sirmione, Brescia, Italy
Owners and winemakers: Ambra and Franco Tiraboschi

Bright yellow with some green shimmer. Reminds me of the colors of my childhood bedroom. For those of you who know me, no, I did not have a goth bedroom. Beautiful scents of pears mixed with yellow apples, white peaches, honeysuckle, honeydew, a salty breeze, and wet granite. Sipping crisp and sweet pears, golden delicious apples, light peach paired with honeydew, and a small squeeze of lemon, maybe even just a wedge on the side of your glass. There’s also that salty bit again, a lick of that clean wet granite, and in the end there’s an oomph of dried sage, thyme and smoke that waves in and out

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Boom this becomes more exotic

Now this is a house with a heritage and local tales. Back in the 13th century, it was a summertime home for the Bishop of Verona, but the more interesting story is told by the locals. Once upon a time, it was a smugglers’ hangout that was guarded by wolves. Can you imagine the intrigue? So when Ambra and Franco decided to purchase the place, Ca’ Lojera (House of the Wolf) was the perfect name. From what I’m finding, they lucked out with these 30 to 40 year old vines and then fell into winemaking when they couldn’t find a buyer for the grapes. Well, seems like a perfect happy accident to me. They certainly have honed their craft over the years, and as they say on their site, “Every day we work to differentiate ourselves, be unique and innovative in our project of producing only wines that tell the story of our land.” Let that wolf keep on creating and belting out that new beautiful part of history for years to come!

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @calojera @soilairselection @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #cheezit #whitewine @worldbyglass #needmorewine #organic #winestagram #instawine #Lugana #Turbiana #Brescia #Italy #houseofthewolf #CaLojera