Splash of Spice
Vera Estenas
the place
Utiel-Requena, Spain
the grapes
Bobal
the process
The Bobal grapes were harvested by hand, and the wine was fermented in concrete tanks with native yeast, then raised half in concrete and half in used American oak barrels for 8 months. It is medium bodied, ripe, with bright acidity and shows notes of damson plums, spice, and earth.
the price
Bottle: $20 | Glass: $9
San Martino Aglianico del Vulture DOC "Siir"
the place
Basilicata, Italy
the grapes
100% Aglianico
the process
The farming has been organic from the start (certified), made easier than in most regions by the intense sun and drying effect of constant winds from three coasts; the harvest in Vulture is generally later than anywhere else in Italy. The Siir bottling generally contains the fruit of the “younger” (up to 30-40 years old) vines. The fruit is harvested by hand into small bins and carefully sorted and destemmed. The different parcels are vinified separately. Fermentation occurs spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and a tiny amount of sulfur in steel tanks. Maceration is 10-14 days with only an occasional pump-over (4-5 times maximum) followed by a gentle pressing: owner/winemaker Lorenzo Piccin thinks in terms of infusion rather than extraction, a necessary approach to bring out elegance of aromatics and tannins in this naturally structured grape. The aging regime varies year to year with the nature of the vintage but involves a mix of used wood in the form of tonneaux and 5000-liter botti for a year. The Siir blend generally sees the shortest aging and a lower proportion of wood vs. Arberesko or Kamai. Bottling is without fining or filtering. "Siir" means “father” or “owner” in the local Albanian-influenced dialect.
the price
Bottle: $30 | Glass: $13
JC Vizcarra
the place
Ribera del Duero, Spain
the grapes
100% Tempranillo
the process
After selecting the best bunches, then the best berries, the grapes are de-stemmed and crushed. Maceration lasts 12-15 days during and after fermentation. Fermentation is carried out in stainless steel tanks and malolactic fermentation takes place in barrels. The wine is aged for six months in French and American oak barrels that are two years old. Relatively short ageing in used barrels allows the wine to oxygenate and become softer and rounder without the added wood tannins of new barrels. This method lets the wine retain its fresh, youthful fruit characters.
the price
Bottle: $29 | Glass: $13
Big Basin
the place
Santa Cruz Mountains, California
the grapes
100% Syrah
the process
2017 was a beautiful vintage for our estate Syrah vineyard which is the primary source of fruit for this wine. Our steep hillsides are only six miles from the Pacific and located right next to a major wind gap that allows the cool coastal breezes and fog to flow over the vineyard. We saw excellent color and flavor development at lower sugar levels yielding a modest 13.8% alcohol in the final wine. Yields and quality were excellent. The grapes were fermented 46% whole cluster, which add really nice length to the finish. In short, this will be a hard wine to keeps your hands off from.
the price
Bottle: $35 | Glass: $15