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A few years back, we could barely keep up with the demand for a lovely Brachetto from a producer that is no longer imported to the Bay Area. We have been looking for a good replacement ever since and think we finally may have found one in this delicious offering from Giacomo Bologna's Braida winery. Brachetto is both the name of the grape and the wine, known as Brachetto d'Acqui for the official DOCG in Piemonte. Dark pink in color, Brachetto is a super refreshing dessert wine that is highly aromatic, with vibrant scents of fresh strawberries and red berries. A good Brachetto has the right balance of sweet fruit, lush texture and a fine, silky mousse, which this beauty certainly has. According to Braida, "The most traditional association, with a dessert after the meal or mid-afternoon, is with dry pastries and with oven baked sweets, from Christmas Panettone to jam tarts. Brachetto d’Acqui is one of the few wines throughout the world which can be matched with dark chocolate." 5.5% ABV
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2022 Giacomo Bologna Braida Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG, Piemonte, Italy (750ml)
2022 Kiona Chenin Blanc, Columbia Valley, Washington (750ml)
About the Icons
John Williams and Jim Holmes became fast friends after working together at General Electric in the 1960's. Their mutual appreciation for wine led to the wild idea to plant a vineyard on an overlooked expanse of desert on the edge of town; locals thought they were nuts. In 1972, the pair bought land on Red Mountain, eventually planting their first vineyard in 1975. The rest, as they say, is history…
2022 La Cappuccina Soave DOC, Veneto, Italy (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
La Cappuccina was founded in 1890 and the fourth generation of the original Tessari family still runs the estate today, located in Costalunga di Monteforte d'Alpone in the Soave DOC zone just east of Verona. The name Cappuccina comes from the restored 16th century chapel that lies within the Tessari family villa where Capuchin Friars once worshiped, and the silhouette of that chapel makes up the company logo. The very well-educated brothers-sister team that handles the day-to-day operations includes Sisto, the agronomist who farms the 95-acres of organically certified vineyards, Pietro, the oenologist who is the winemaker and Elena, the economics and business major who is responsible for marketing and public relations. Since 1985 they have operated the entire wine production, from the vineyards to the bottling line under organic and ecological precepts, making them true pioneers of the organic movement in Italy and one of the leading such producers in the country. The vineyards are planted primarily to the main grape of Soave, Garganega (70%), along with Trebbiano di Soave, Sauvignon Blanc, Corvina, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenère and a local ancient red varietal, Oseleta.
2022 Luuma Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California (750ml)
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Lúuma Chardonnay is a collabvoration between Scribe Winery and Revel Wine Company, their local broker for wholesale accounts. It is juicy and fresh, with barely perceptible oak showing. All in all, quite a lovely Chardonnay, and every time we pour this at our Wine Bar it is a hit.
2022 Matetic ‘EQ Coastal’ Sauvignon Blanc, Viñedo Valle Hermoso, Casablanca Valley, Chile (750ml)
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Refreshing and zesty Sauvignon Blanc! Matetic is a boutique Chilean winery located in the Rosario Valley, and situated between the coastal valleys of Casablanca and San Antonio. Its vineyards were planted in 1999, on the hillsides of this privileged area, making Matetic among the pioneers of cool-climate Syrah production in Chile. Farming is organic and biodynamic.
2022 Niklas Schiava Sudtirol DOC, Alto Adige, Italy (750ml)
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Never heard of Schiava? This grape variety produces a fragrant, lighter bodied red in the alpine valleys of northern Italy. Schiava (also known locally as Vernatsch) is a great alternative to Pinot Noir, Gamay, or other light red. We have been known to serve it slightly chilled as well --
2022 Paltrinieri 'Radice' Lambrusco di Sorbara, Emilia Romagna, Italy (750ml)
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Pale pink in color, this is NOT your father's Lambrusco! It is a decidedly dry 'frizzante' or lightly sparkling wine made in the Ancestral Method in which the secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle, ending when the yeast cells deplete the supply of residual sugar. There is no dosage or sugar addition to kick-start the secondary fermentation nor is the wine disgorged to remove any remaining sediment or lees, hence the cloudy appearance of the wine.
2022 Paysan Chardonnay "Jack's Hill", Monterey, California (750ml)
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Ian Brand walks a fine line here between the oaked richness sometimes associated with California Chardonnay, and something more akin to Macon-Villages in France. His own comments follow, and as always they are helpful and interesting . . .
2022 Petra Unger 'Q' Gruner Veltliner, Kremstal DAC, Austria (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Pale yellow. Exotic aromas of guava, papaya and freshly sliced pineapple. Vibrant and focused, the palate shows flavors of starfruit, tart apple, lime zest and a hint of green bean. Tart, with mouthwatering acidity and notable, crushed rock minerality. Crisp and refreshing through the juicy finish.
2022 Pike Road Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, Oregon (750ml)
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A succulent and refreshing Pinot Gris from the practiced family and team at Elk Cove Vineyards in the Willamette Valley. Pike Road is the winery's second label. Producer Notes - "All the fruit for Pike Road Pinot Gris is hand-picked and gently pressed. The juice is then cold fermented in small stainless steel tanks to preserve its delicate aromatics and finished with a screw cap so that it tastes as fresh as the day it was bottled. Pike Road Pinot Gris is made from 100% Willamette Valley fruit. Sourced from a combination of our estate vineyards and fruit grown by our longtime, trusted partners here in the Willamette Valley. We believe this “multi-vineyard” approach results in a more complex, flavorful wine. It's a Pinot Gris with character and complexity!
2022 Pituco MST Red Blend, Jumilla, Spain (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Fruity aromas of mixed berry preserves and baked earth. The palate is pleasingly dry, with flavors of cassis, dark plum and blackberry. Displays charming, toasted oak and refined tannic structure, with juicy acidity through the softly fruited finish.
2022 Simon di Brazzan Friulano, Friuli DOC, Italy (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Delicately scented with aromas of ripe green pear and grapefruit. The palate is lightly textured with flavors of white peach, yellow nectarine, apricot and lemon pith. Soft with a graceful, mineral finish.
2022 Terranoble Sauvignon Blanc, Central Valley, Chile (750ml)
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Made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc harvested in March from various vineyards in the Central Valley of Chile. Juicy, refreshing, an ideal quaffer!
2022 Union Sacre "gewurz" Gewurztraminer, Monterey, California (750ml)
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40 days of skin contact places this solidly in the "orange wine" camp. Like Union Sacre's orange Riesling, however, it retains a purity of varietal fruit that is clear as a bell . . . Union Sacré's Orange wines, both Riesling and Gewurztraminer, are among the best we have ever tasted. The style of winemaking involving extended skin contact actually has been around for a long, long time, but seems to have caught fire here in the US only the last 5 years, and is now very much in fashion. And therein lies the rub - we have tasted many an orange (and "natural") wine in the process of curating our selection that we simply will not put on the shelves. Honoring and celebrating historic winemaking techniques is one thing. Presenting wines to our customers that are a festival of spoilage factors is quite another. Union Sacré's orange wines are DELICIOUS.
2022 Union Sacre Orange Riesling, Kick On Ranch Vineyard, Santa Barbara County, California (750ml)
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Union Sacré's Orange wines, both Riesling and Gewurztraminer, are among the best we have ever tasted. The style of winemaking involving extended skin contact actually has been around for a long, long time, but seems to have caught fire here in the US only the last 5 years, and is now very much in fashion. And therein lies the rub - we have tasted many an orange (and "natural") wine in the process of curating our selection that we simply will not put on the shelves. Honoring and celebrating historic winemaking techniques is one thing. Presenting wines to our customers that are a festival of spoilage factors is quite another. Union Sacré's orange wines are DELICIOUS.
2022 Wittmann Estate Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen, Germany (750ml)
The Wittmann Estate Riesling Trocken is harvested by hand from estate-owned vineyards around the village of Westhofen. It is fermented with native yeasts and matured in large, neutral oak casks.
2022-C Domaine du Dragon 'Grande Cuvee' Rose, Cotes de Provence, France (750ml)
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A Seasonal Rosé Wine Club Selection
Bright copper hue. Fragrant, with heady, floral aromatics. The palate is very fresh and fruit-forward, with flavors of ripe strawberry, guava and a hint of sweet herbs. Bright and juicy, this charming wine is perfectly suited for sunny, spring afternoon with friends or a quiet summer dinner al fresco.
2022-C Domaine Les Gryphees Les Balmes Cuvée Centenaire Vieilles Vignes, Beaujolais, France (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Pierre Durdilly and his wife, Cécile, have been cra–ting serious Gamay in the village of Le Bois-d'Oingt at the southern end of Beaujolais, France since 1973. Their son, Guillaume, took over the winemaking in 2007 and began expanding their vineyard holdings; seeking out older-vine, cru vineyards that were abandoned and bringing them back to the great-ness of which they are capable. Today, they farm about thirty-five acres of vineyards throughout Beaujolais. Domaine Les Gryphées is named for the fossilized seashells that crunch underfoot as one walks through the vineyards. This unique terroir, with its mineral complexity, sets its wines apart from other more rustic bottlings from the region.
2022-C Famille Bourgeois Le Vert Galant Rose, Coteaux du Vendomois, Loire Valley, France (750ml)
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A Seasonal Rosé Wine Club Selection
The Bourgeois family has been cultivating vines in the Loire Valley for eleven generations! In the 1950s, Henri Bourgeois planted five acres on the slopes of Chavignol, a hamlet in the Sancerre appellation that was fairly unknown at the time. Henri recognized the excellent potential of the land and the exceptionally diverse terroir that it offered. Joined by his sons, Jean-Marie and Rémi a decade later, the Bourgeois family became ambassadors for Sancerre, showcasing the purity of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir and the myriad of expressions that can be achieved from the mosaic of soils found throughout the Chavignol region. Today, the estate is run by Arnaud, Lionel, and Jean-Christophe Bourgeois who adhere to the original vision set forth by Henri. Each vine plot is isolated and worked with respect to its unique terroir. The vineyards are planted across 72 acres of the esteemed Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé appellations in four diverse soil types: Terres Blanches, Les Caillottes, Marnes Kimméridgiennes and Les Silex, which all contribute different qualities to the wines; each soil type is tended to and farmed differently to bring out the truest expression of the terroir.
2022-C Flor de Vetus 'Segovia' Verdejo, Rueda DO, Spain (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Bodegas Vetus was founded in 2003 with the purchase of a 20-hectare property by the Anton family, proprietors of Finca Villacreces in Ribera del Duero and Izadi in Rioja Alavesa. Winemaker Vanessa Perez and viticulturist Javier Vicente work to honor and express the true character of each varietal they farm, selecting several small plots of Verdejo planted in sandy soils at altitudes of 2,600-2,900 feet above sea level, to make this stellar Verdejo.
2022-C Fontareche Piquepoul Noir Rose, Aude Hauterive IGP, Languedoc, France (750ml)
About the Icons
A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Château Fontarèche, which takes its name from the Latin “fonte erecto” (the fountain that springs), is one of the great historic wine estates of Languedoc, dating back to the tenth century. The current domaine consists of 200 hectares surrounding an ancient fortress that was constructed in the twelfth century. It has been owned by the Comte de Lamy’s family for nine generations, including the famous painter, Pierre Mignard, director of the Royal Academy of Painting under King Louis XIV. Not only was he the portrait painter for the king and major figures at the court, but his works include the paintings which decorate the dome of the Church of the Val-de-Grâce in Paris, as well as The Virgin of the Grapes which is on display at the Louvre Museum.