Dauntless & Daring
Be bold. Be reckless. Be Dauntless & Daring! From France to Washington to Spain and Paso, this flight takes you everywhere you want to be.
Chateau du Petit Thouars ‘Les Georges’
Grapes: 100% Cabernet Franc
Place: Chinon - France
Process: Les Georges wines are all about the freshness and flavour of the aromas. These summer wines elaborated from the "vin de goutte" (free run juice) are matured up to 6 months in stainless steel tanks. These wines are good to drink now but can be kept 3 to 5 years.
Family: When Yves and Marguerite du Petit Thouars married in 1974, they couldn’t imagine 35 years later they would be managing a 16-hectare vineyard with a fully equipped winery nestled in corridors of natural limestone caves.
Everything started when they found charts in the archives of the family castle (bought in 1636 on the advice on the Cardinal de Richelieu and which has passed in a direct line from father to son to the present generation) showing there had been a vineyard for centuries. True to the spirit of the times and the adventurous nature of their ancestors, they planted new vines, developing the estate and making each new vintage better than the previous one. Marguerite du Petit Thouars even became a highly respected wine writer, collaborating with Cuisine et Vins de France, Le Figaro Magazine, and l’Amateur de Bordeaux.
Bottle: $31 | Glass: $14
Latta Wines
Kind Stranger Cab
Grapes: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec
Place: Columbia Valley, Washington
Process: Washington Cabernet vines grown in basalt derived gravel on the shoulders of Red Mountain give excellent depth, intense fruit and ample structure from this awesome site. The Weinbau Vineyard's 30 year old Malbec vines pile on the concentration and spice notes. Fermented whole berry with indigenous yeasts, then macerated an average of 28 days between the lots. Basket pressed to barrel for 20 months, 15% new French oak mostly 500L.
Family: Latta Wines puts uncommon varietals from the most unique vineyards in Washington State on center stage. Years of scouring the geologically diverse soils of Eastern Washington led to an initial release of two very special wines, then four and so on. The extremely small production, mostly Rhone offerings are put forward from sustainable vineyard sites after fermentation with native yeast and aging in mostly neutral french barrique and puncheon.
Latta Wines was founded in 2011 by winemaker and owner Andrew Latta. It is the product of years of sweat equity, a gamut from cellar hand to winemaker at a Washington winery of note. Andrew is now proud to share his personal wines. He was born and raised in Kentucky, the restaurant world his path to wine. A similar trajectory up from the basement as a busser to a Sommelier working in Thailand exposed him to the wines of world. While developing award-winning wine programs, Washington State stood out among all the emerging and traditional wine-growing regions. So, sight unseen, fifteen years ago he jumped into his first harvest in Walla Walla and year after year Washington still delivers.
Bottle: $25 | Glass: $11
Martue
Grapes: 19% Syrah 22% Cabernet Sauvignon 28% Petit Verdot 8% Malbec 11% Merlot
Place: Pago Campo la Guardia - Castilla la Mancha - Spain
Process: Alcoholic fermentations are spontaneous with indigenous yeasts. The goal is to make wines with maximum character. All of the different grape varieties are handled separately, and great care is taken at harvest to pick each grape variety within its optimal maturation window with balance in mind. When the time is right for each variety, they are harvested at night as quickly as possible. As all of the vineyards closely surround the winery, the grapes are crushed and begin fermentation immediately. This process is a testament to the great care taken by the team and the results are felt in the quality of the finished wines, which are fresh, balanced, and delicious.
Family: Martúe was the dream of Fausto Gonzalez, who planted vines at the estate in 1990, as he realized the untouched potential of a microclimate at 850m near La Guardia de Toledo, just southeast of the city of Toledo. This area is interesting due to its extreme diurnal shift between day and night temperatures and the complexity of its poor limestone-rich soils.
Bottle: $25 | Glass: $11
Eberle Zinfandel
Grapes: 100% Zinfandel
Place: Paso Robles, California
Process: This is a diverse blend from all over Paso. There are eight different lots of Zin from six different Paso Robles districts. Some of the heavy regions we sourced from Adelaida, Willow Creek, Templeton Gap, & Geneseo District. Aged in 20% new American Oak for 10 months.
Family: Gary Eberle grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and went to Penn State on a football scholarship. After graduating with a Bachelor's of Science in biology, he attended Louisiana State University (LSU) where he continued his graduate work studying cellular genetics. While attending LSU, Gary developed an appreciation for wine and changed his academic path to become a winemaker. Gary launched his career as a winemaker and as the “Pioneer” of Paso Robles Wine Region by helping to establish his family's Estrella River Winery & Vineyards. In the late 70’s, he decided to pursue his own project and acquired nearly 64 acres just down the road from Estrella River Winery. Shortly thereafter, Gary released his first Eberle wine, the 1979 Cabernet Sauvignon debuting the iconic boar logo, depicting the German origin of the name Eberle, meaning “small boar.”
Bottle: $29 | Glass: $13