September Wine Club
Rootdown – Es Okay White 2022
The vibe: We love an autumnal white. Whether or not you’re ready for the season of pumpkin spice Chardonnay (yes that is a real thing at Trader Joe’s) it’s a good excuse to start shifting your gaze toward bigger, textural whites. This bottle is a beautiful blend of direct press (white juice) and skin contact (orange wine) and both lean and fuller-bodied white varietals. In 2022, the winemaker stumbled upon a good amount of Organic Cortese after Pinot Gris and Chenin Blanc fruit got hit hard by frost. It’s by and large Cortese, with smaller amounts of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Chenin Blanc. The result is a kitchen-sink blend of white varietals that all comes together as a medium-bodied alternative to the usual suspects from California. A great cooler-weather white, it balances honeycomb aromatics and Meyer lemon, apricot and loquat drippy juice, and finds a beautiful harmony around a slightly fuller, oily mouthfeel and clean, lean acidity.
The winemaker: Newer to the Seattle market, Rootdown is three unique brands under the leadership of Mike Lucia. Mike started Rootdown in 2014 after working for several iconic Sonoma County wineries and the name refers to the influence of the soil on wine, particularly in organic/low intervention winemaking. Mike has always been more interested in what the vine’s roots are drinking rather than how the sun is interaction directly with the fruit. His wines tend to have low alcohol, high acid, and more delicate, brighter color.
The geeky details: 80% Cortese, 8% Chardonnay, 6% Pinot Gris skin contact, 6% Chenin Blanc in a mix of barrels and eggs.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: Fall salads, seafood, light pasta, risotto
Album pairing: Mildlife – Chorus
Leon Gold – Rosè Gold 2023
The vibe: This textural German rosè is a cheerful blend of Trollinger and Muskat-Trollinger that will blast you off to bramble town. A heckin’ liter of blood orange, zesty orange marmalade, and dusty brambleberries. Muskat-Trollinger is a black grape grown for both wine production and table consumption, which makes it a great candidate for rosè as it is juicy, sweet and not overly tannic, and lends some great color. Speaking of color, hold this up to the light for a second. This is the perfect autumnal rosè; hefty in its hue but not overly dense on the palate, restrained in its structure but doesn’t fall apart as you’re drinking it either. It might even have some slight bubbles in the glass depending on the bottle. It’s the perfect wine for both unseasonably warm fall days and wet, rainy days at home watching reruns.
The winemaker: Leon Gold was fascinated with wine from a young age, growing up next to neighbors with vines. After training in Oenology, he founded his own winery in the Swabia region of Germany, Württemberg to be exact. According to the motto "quality arises in the vineyard and not just in the cellar,” a healthy dose of idealism and perseverance is needed to produce a special quality of wine instead of "Goldgräberstimmung" (digging for gold). Knowing the importance of biological cycles and moon phases, Leon chooses to support the wild balance in the vineyard, forgoing synthetic agents and instead using specially prepared compost. In taking a step back and letting nature run its course, Leon has found his own gold. His vines are healthy and abundant, standing on layers of gypsum keuper, red sandstone, Bunte marl and pebble sandstone. These layers of terroir translate to layers of texture in the glass : the embodiment of independent, living wines.
The geeky details: A thirty-six hour maceration of Trollinger and Muskat-Trollinger from 45 year old vines. Aged in stainless steel. Sandstone and marl soils.
Serve: With a chill.
Food pairing: Blackberry strudel, Kürbissuppe pumpkin soup, currywurst?? Treat it like a light red wine rather than a rosè.
Album pairing: Melodiesinfonie – Softboi
Armour Wines – Carbo Barbo 2022
The vibe: This is the juicy, chillable, Washington-grown wine you’ve been looking for! We’re so excited to share it with you this month. You’ve probably heard our complaints about the state of natural Washington wines (practically nonexistent). Land isn’t cheap here, a lot of it is claimed by large estates with generational wealth, and it’s not a super friendly industry to scrappy upstarts. Those that can secure land face challenges with forever chemicals after years of pesticide and herbicide use, and this makes obtaining Organic certification difficult if not impossible, never mind biodynamic farming. So it’s incredible when a winery like Armour enters the scene with not only classically tasty Syrahs and incredible Gamays, but freakin’ fruit-gushers porch pounders like this. Made with one of our very favorite grapes, Barbera (swoon) this bottle is packed with rich aromas of blackberry syrup, cocoa powder, and fresh herbs. It’s juicy, with ripe blueberry and Luxardo cherry notes as you’d expect from a Barbera and finishes with a slight fizz on the tongue. Carbo Barbo is an instant classic and we’re so happy it’s here!
The winemaker: Tyler and Sarah Armour produce lo-fi wines in the Wenatchee Valley. They source grapes from select vineyards around Washington State, processing grapes mostly whole-cluster, utilizing natural yeast, and aging the wine in neutral oak barrels. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered with little-to-no sulfur added and strive to make fresh and vibrant wines. They are new to the Seattle market, and have been making wine since 2020.
The geeky details: 100% Barbera, whole cluster 2 week carbonic maceration, basket press, 6 months in neutral French Oak.
Serve: With a slight chill.
Food pairing: I want to pair this like a Lambrusco. A charcuterie spread would be right at home next to this bottle. Pizza, barbeque and light grilled foods would also go great with this.
Album pairing: High Hoops – Seasons on Planet Earth
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WHAT THE FUNK?!
Domaine Riberach – N°20 Rouge 2020
The vibe: You want funky? You got it! This Côtes Catalanes red blend is fairly typical in terms of viticulture and viniculture (farming and wine production). However, it exemplifies the best of southwest French reds that are made sans-soufre (without sulfites) in the Mèthode Nature (natural, low-intervention winemaking). Old cellars and old vines. This combo is legendary in this region when combined with low intervention winemaking for lending a distinctive feral, barnyardy and yes, sometimes manure-like nose to wines. This animalistic quality is actually what interested me (hi, it’s Nick) in natural wine in the first place! You can literally taste the livestock that have cultivated and fertilized this natural terroir for centuries. Some might be turned off by that sure, but you, dear funky wine drinker, appreciate this wild character as a product of generations of careful preservation of the land and the delicate balance of man and nature. It’s also a damn good wine!
The winemaker: Don’t go Google these guys because you’re going to end up booking a night at their estate and before you know it you’re sitting high up in the Pyrenees overlooking the sea at sunset and..UGH. Seriously this estate is gorgeous. Domaine Riberach is situated in the Pyrenees range near Perpignan, just across the border from Spain in SW France. The Bélesta cooperative cellar was founded in 1925, and abandoned when Luc Richard and his wife Karin Pühringer, both architects, fell in love with the derelict building. The former “wine cathedral” has been rehabilitated and since 2006 has been home to the Riberach Wine Estatein association with winemaker Jean-Michel Mailloles. It is a “multiculti” alliance that you can taste in a glass!
The geeky details: 45% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 25% Carignan fermented in barrel.
Serve: Cellar temp or with a slight chill.
Food pairing: Tapas, red meats, stews, chicken. Curry would also go great with this.
Album pairing: Bobbi Humphrey – Fancy Dancer
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EASYYY
Bura-Mrgudić – ‘Basina’ Bjanko 2022
The vibe: Similar to the Rootdown white wine, this is a lightly textural white blend with a touch of body, the perfect way to ease into cooler weather. This wine comes from the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia, one of the oldest regions for wine production. Dating back to 1410, this winery is also one of the longest-running in Croatia. Basina is named after a small local region in Dalmatia, within the village where the Bura family’s Tribidrag grapes are planted. The name comes from an old Illyric settlement at that location, dating back almost 3,000 years. The younger generation chose this name to emphasize that these wines showcase the truly ancient winegrowing traditions in this part of the world. A blend of all the local indigenous varietals, this wine is bright and textured, popping with sunshine, bitter herbs, dry pear and briny minerality. It’s representative of the style of wine Croatians have made for thousands of years, before there were recipes, rules or regulations. As expected, it goes down easyyyy. It’s also the last time it’ll be available in Seattle (at least for now) as the importer is packing up shop, so enjoy this one, it’s special.
The winemaker: Located on the steep 45 degree Southern slopes of Pelješac Peninsula known for its big reds, Bura vineyards produce the most unique, delicious and prestigious wine to ever come out of the Dalmatian Coast. As much as there is talk about all the different wineries and winemakers in Croatia, no other winemaker stands out more than Niko Bura and his sacred Bura Dingač. Niko Bura’s vineyards are fully organic and are the truest expression of the microclimate and land of Croatia’s southern Dalmatian coast. The Bura family has one of the longest traditions of winemaking in Dingač and Croatia as a whole, spanning over sixteen generations -- since the year 1410!
The geeky details: 70% Rukatac (aka Maraština), 20% Zlatarica, 10% Pošip. Manual harvest, slightly raisinated grapes, destemmed, naturally fermented in open vats with manual punchdowns, 3 days maceration in Stainless steel tank, coarse filtration, 6 months in bottles before release.
Serve: With a light chill.
Food pairing: Fish! Olive oil! Mediterranean fare!
Album pairing: L’indècis – Second Wind