Winery notes: 2020 Rose of Pinot Noir began with fruit hand-harvested during the coolness of the night, from Rosé vineyards at an average of 21 Brix. We immediately whole cluster press this cold fruit, separating the juice & skins in a classic Vin Gris style resulting in a pale, salmon color.
Lichen Estate’s innovative Les Pinots Noir & Gris 2013 offers an unorthodox blend of red and white grapes (60% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Gris). Aromas of grapefruit and white peach in the nose are matched by citrus gripping the mouth from lips to throat. Sweet Tarts brush dangerously close to Angostura bitters without touching, wrapped by a hint of effervescence. Les Pinots offers a density in the mid-palate balanced by a dancing rhubarb edge that tempts one’s tongue to swab the cheeks. Enjoy the long, savory, almost briny finish.
Hock is Field Recording’s take on an Edelzwicker, an easy-drinkable, aromatic white wine blend that is very common in the Alsace region of France, across the Rhine from the Pfalz wine region in Germany. Winemaker Andrew Jones: “My favorite table wines are Alsatian Blends and it’s one of my favorite old world wine regions. This wine is pretty much dry, with just a touch of residual singular in it to balance the acidity.”
Between Fableist, Wonderwall, Neverland, Fiction, and Field Recordings, we carry more wines made by Andrew Jones than any other winemaker – over 20 SKUs and growing. Why? His wines are varietally correct, reflect a sense of place, follow sustainable farming practices, and punch well above their weight class in the value department.
The wine world is a wonderful place, but sometimes the name of a grape in one place is different than in another. Take Portugal’s Bastardo grape for example – it’s much better known (to wine geeks anyways) as Trousseau, one of the two black-skinned grapes that dominate in the Jura region of eastern France.
Bastardo not an uncommon grape in the Douro region – in fact, it was once the most widely planted grape variety in the Douro but it is now a relative rarity. The Douro is best known as the home of Port wines, and like Port, the grapes were crushed by foot in traditional granite lagares (large, low-sided, open-topped grape crushing and fermentation vessels), with no destemming and no added yeast or SO2. Once the alcoholic fermentation is complete the wine is racked in stainless steel tanks.
Borell-Diehl Pinot Noir (practicing Organic and Vegan)
It is famously difficult to find great Pinot Noir on a budget. The finesse and elegance we expect from great Pinot just can’t often be found for under twenty bucks. And if you’re looking for something farmed organically? Even harder yet. That is, except this rare gem that checks all our boxes. It is unapologetically simple yet sublime for its crunchy red fruits, tempting floral notes, and earthy aromatics. You simply can’t get better Pinot at this price point anywhere.
Work this into your regular rotation. You won’t regret it.
Tony Cartlidge is one of my favorite California Wine personalities. He’s a British transplant with an outsize personality, a memory like a steel trap, and a kind word for everyone.
He founded Associated Distributors in the ’80s and was the first one to bring in Jorge Ordoñez’s imported Spanish wines into California. He founded Cartlidge and Brown winery around the same time, gaining placements in nearly every independent wine retailer and fine dining restaurant in Northern California. (We carried his Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for many, many years). Associated was sold to a larger house, and eventually Cartlidge and Brown collapsed – the name survives, but it’s not the same stuff.
Founded in 1927, Domaine Isle Saint Pierre is located on a small island in the Rhône River. It is run today by fourth generation vigneron Julien Henry. The proximity to the water provides a cooling influence that allows the wines to retain great freshness even in the far south of France, and deep well-draining sedimentary soils comprised of sand and silt. Because of the terroir and temperature, they are able to grow varietals that thrive in a Continental climate, such as Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon.
