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Breaking The Cycle

Gabernik 23
Pét-Nat 2020
Sparkling Wine
100% Rumeni Muškat
Sustainable, organic, vegan, hand harvested
Štajerska, Slovenia
Small family owned winery passed down from father to son
Owner: Janko Bogatic
Winemaker: Nicholas Gee

Hazy warm gold with super active white bubbles dancing on the rim. Breathe in and there’s a puff of a “big fat yeast roll” (If you’re a child of the 90s you’ll remember), limes, lemons along with a little lemon hard candy, ginger liveliness, and naturally effervescent water with a little mineral sniff. Sipping and oh all the scents are here in flavor! It’s crisp lemon lime spritzy, more of that ginger, a smidge of a bit of greenery, slivers of mango & banana, and a seltzer dry feel. Yeah, this is good, and it takes me on a refreshing vacation.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: crisp cocktail and fine but prefer without

I love how Gabernik 23 keeps bringing bottles of happiness! They’ve brought me out of my overthinking funk that last week presented me with a ridiculous writer’s block. Just like how this pét-nat coaxed me out of my hamster wheel cycle of banging my head against my desk, Janko and Nicolas finessed a dry & vivacious bubbly from Yellow Muscat. As a kid picking our muscat, I would have never have thought they could be turned into something this fresh, poppy, and crisp. Bravo! 🥂

Oh and side note…Janko, love your “Zero Fs Were Given” t-shirt…seems we are of the same mind.

#wine #PetNat #PétNat #sparklingwine #bubbly #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #RumeniMuškat #rumenimuskat #winestagram #instawine #zerofucksgiven @worldbyglass #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #organic #sustainable #Slovenia #gabernik23 @vsiwine @gabernik23 @docwineshop @docwinebar @cheezit

 

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My Kind Of Monster

Il Mostro  (Poggio Anima’s experimental project)
Longana 2020
Rosato Frizzante
Terre Di Chieti IGT
100% Montepulciano
Organic
Abruzzo, Italy
Wine team: Owners: Ronnie Sanders & Lori Simon; Winemaker: Nicola Jasci
Vineyard: Jasci & Marchesani’s Monteodorisio Vineyard

Watermelon ruby with very active bubbles. Creamy joyful start filled with spritz bubbles tickling my nose. There’s lovely watermelon, raspberries, strawberries, a pinch of blueberry, and maybe a little Frankenberry. Sipping watermelon, strawberries, pomegranates, and some very happy bubbles that lead to a little tiny blackberry bramble at the back with the very slightest white pepper.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: nope!

Ok, maybe I didn’t read the same children’s fables as the rest of y’all but I had never heard of “Longana”. What an amazing fantastical creature! Part goat, part water creature and most of all part alluring, intelligent, mysterious woman. This isn’t like a Siren that seductively calls you to your demise, even though she has been known to attract/enchant men. Her gift is the ability to communicate with the spirits of nature, which as a winemaker, I think would make a good partner. Maybe that’s why this wine is so addictive! BTW this is one bottle you’ll want to grab a few because you will plow through it and be left longing like I am now. One last thing I want to add, I just realized today how many wines I’ve tried from Vine St. Imports, and well…it’s quite a few to put it lightly. Each and every single one was unique and fabulous, so cheers and raising my glass too you! 🍷

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram  #instawine #winemaking #worldbyglass #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #italy #Abruzzo #Montepulciano #ilmostro  #PoggioAnima @vsiwine @docwineshop @docwinebar @cheezit

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Don’t Forget To Have Fun

Gabernik 23
Rose Piquette (Pikola)
Sparkling Wine
55% Blaufrankisch, 35% Riesling, 10% Pinot Noir
Sustainable, dry farmed
Štajerska, Slovenia
Small family owned winery passed down from father to son
Owner: Janko Bogatic
Winemaker: Nicholas Gee

Color electric cran-raspberry with a big pale pink poofy foam. Popping out of those bubbles are nose tickling raspberries, pomegranate, faint lemon, apricots and their blossoms, and dainty tiny roses. Tilt the glass and take a taste and it’s fresh, zippy and fun…like a last bit of summer memories. There’s watermelon juice, raspberries, those tiny roadside wild strawberries from Canada that I so love, pomegranate cocktail with a little limoncello splash, lilac, and seltzer. You’re not going to want this bottle to end.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: not bad but better solo. Let those flavors fly!

This wine is a reminder to have fun (and not to always be over thinking everything…like I can have a tendency to do), and if I could pair a painting with this wine, it would be Will Cotton’s 2010, “Cotton Candy Katy”…you know the one that was Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” album cover. I just LOVE Cotton’s confectionery dreams so c’mon join me and let’s head over to Candyfornia!

#wine #holidaywine #holidays #Piquette #rose #sparklingwine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #katyperry #snoopdogg #willcotton #winestagram #instawine @worldbyglass #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #organic #sustainable #Blaufrankisch #Riesling #PinotNoir #Slovenia #gabernik23 @vsiwine @gabernik23 @docwineshop @docwinebar @cheezit

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A Thorny Situation

Thistle & Weed
Duwweltjie 2018
100% Chenin Blanc
W.O. Paarl
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Organic and unfiltered
Viticulturist: Etienne Terblance
Winemaker: Stephanie Wild

Shimmy shimmy shiny gold. My nose is filled with an early hint of vanilla, then citrus scents of lemon. persimmon, blood orange, and light grapefruit (ie IPA). There’s also super ripe cucumber, pine, and some salty (not sexy, wiggle that moustache) thyme. Kicking back apricot, melon, pears, honeysuckle, citrus tang of lemon and mandarin orange, white pepper, and a little wax yet no wane.

Pairs w Cheez-It’s: more smooth less tang

Etienne Terblance and Stephanie Wild both come from wine in their life. Young Etienne helped out in his parents’ seaside restaurant and then took off for school and received a Masters degree in Viticulture and Oenology from Montpellier SupAgro and a PhD in Viticulture from Stellenbosch University. Stephanie’s history is little different. Her grandfather was the well known Niel Joubert, founder of the Stellenbosch Wine Route. She also holds a Masters from Stellenbosch University in Viticulture and Oenology, and everywhere I google, I see her on lists for top South African women winemakers, and top winemakers in general. Often I write about power teams like this and they are married couples but in this case, they’re friends. Their combined knowledge, experience and expertise has led them to pick the perfect spots for their vineyards, like the one for this Chenin Blanc. Duwweltjie vineyard named (fondly or maybe not so fondly) after the plant that translates to Devil’s thorns, that can puncture anything from shoes to rubber tires, etc and generally be a real pain in the ass. Just check out the label. Well, that annoyance is worth it to get to these 65 or so year old vines. I’d gladly be willing to take a wander through these plants just to get a case of these beauts.

Sidenote: as I mentioned before they are not a couple but it warms my heart to see on the site that they give shout outs to their families. Etienne is a father to Elmie (human), Ben (canine) and husband to Lizanda. Stephanie is wife to Kannas, and mother to Frances (human) and Khalessi & Khumba (canines). Reading this put a smile on my face.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @thistleandweed.co.za @vsiwine @vsilocal @StellWineRoute @cheezits #cheezit #organic #unfiltered #wine  #winestagram #instawine #whitewine #worldbyglass @worldbyglass #needmorewine #pairswithcheezits #Duwweltjie #CheninBlanc #Paarl #Stellenbosch #SouthAfrica