Furlani Altopiano
Grapes Muller Thurgau
Place Alto Adige - Italy
Process 25 days on the skins. De-stemmed and very softly pressed (pneumatic). Spontaneous fermentation. Aged in stainless steel on the lees until April and bottled. No filtering or fining.
Family Towering over the alpine city of Trento, at some 700+ meters of altitude, are the tiny parcels of vines tended by Matteo Furlani. Matteo is the current custodian of his family plots high in the Dolomites; he is a fourth generation winemaker.
After studying agronomy, not winemaking (he learned that from his father and grandfather) Matteo set his sights on working his land in the most natural of ways. Chemicals were never a part of what Matteo's predecessors used to tend the vines yet Matteo took an even more rigorous approach, incorporating biodynamic preparations and methodologies in the vineyards today.
Bottle: $29 | Glass: $13
SFERA MACERATO
Grapes 100% Catarratto
Place Sicily - Italy
Process spontaneous fermentation with native yeast for 15 days on the skins in a stainless steel tank. Pressing and racking; 50% aged in stainless steel and 50% in cement tanks for 3 months. Bottle aging for 3 months. No clarification or filtration.
This is a very Mediterranean wine; with rosemary and sage in the aromatic sides, some delicate white peach notes in the palath and very soft and tannins. This is the Orange wine that brings us in front of the sea.
Family From the Alps to the Mediterranean, SFERA is a collaboration with small certified-organic farmers to bottle Liters in limited runs.
This wine represents the local expression of a little tidy area in in the north-east side of Sicily: Partinico. A tidy micro area, 30 km away from Palermo, 10 km from the coast and the Mediterranean Sea, indeed from the vins we can see the ocean.
The winery selected by Sfera in this area is Cossentino; their vineyards are planted in red sand and red clay in a sort of amphitheater where the wind supports the grapes all year long and especially during hot summer days. A nice cool breeze comes from the Sea in night time. The area was covered by the sea, indeed in the vineyards it is still quite common to find sea fossils; Salt is very much the best friend of this area.
Bottle: $27 | Glass: $12
Gustavshof
Grapes Chardonnay
Place Rheinhessen - Germany
Process Organic and Biodynamic Certified by Demeter. Dry farmed; rows grassed over. No chemicals used (pesticides, fertilizers, additives, etc).
Vinified like a red wine, with 8 weeks on the lees; certified vegan winemaking; spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts; no fining; aged on the lees until bottling; sulfites ≤30ml/L
Family Gustav Becker I (known in the family as GustavB) built the Gustavshof winery in 1924. Since then, the estate has been family owned and operated for 4 generations. Today, the whole family is involved in the business. In 2004, 4th generation winemaker Andreas Roll began using organic farming methods and in 2012 they received their biodynamic certification from Demeter. The vineyards are located in the heart of the rolling hills of the Rheinhessen region, at the highest altitudes in area. Bordered by the Rhine River on the east and the Nahe on the north, the vineyards enjoy dry conditions and large temperature fluctuations between day and night. Andreas Roll and his family are dedicated to caring for the environmental health of their 45 acres of vineyards. They believe that this and carefully tending to their vines is the surest path to excellent wines. The vineyards are dry farmed, without the use of any chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, additive, etc), and are grassed over in the winter. Intensive work is done by hand throughout the growing season to ensure the best grapes, which are hand harvested. Once in the winery, Andreas allows the grapes to speak for themselves, explaining, "In our wine cellar you find minimal technical equipment. We need not more than good grapes to get quality." Andreas employs spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts and no fining, producing wines with sulfite levels ≤30mg/L. The result of these efforts are fragrant, well-balanced wines that reflect that conscientious, dedicated work of the family behind Gustavshof.
Bottle: $35 | Glass: $15
Forlorn Hope Dragone Ramato
Grapes Pinot Grigio
Place Sierra Foothills - California
Process The name ‘Dragone Ramato’ contains both an indication of the style of the wine as well as a historical nod to one of the families that lived on our estate in the early 1900s. ‘Ramato’, translating to ‘copper’ from the Italian, is a traditional style of wine in the Veneto, where Pinot grigio is fermented on the skins as one would make a red wine and results in a lightly colored wine which will become more copper hued as it ages. The Dragone family lived on the western end of what is now the RHV estate where our Pinot gris is now planted, and their memory is carried on in the name that this wine bears.
The Dragone Ramato Pinot gris was hand harvested; the clusters are tiny (golf-ball sized) and intensely colored. This wine was made in the traditional Italian ramato style: Whole clusters were placed into the fermenter and given daily pigeage just like a red wine; after 14 days the fermentation was pressed into neutral 227L oak barriques. The wine was racked off its lees at 12 months and saw a total of 14 months elevage. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.
Family We love the longshots. We love the outsiders, the lost causes, the people / projects / ideas abandoned as not having a chance in the world. We love the longshots because we’re all about tenacity, we relish a challenge, and – we admit it – we love us a good tussle.
Hans Brinker, the Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dike? We’re big fans of his. Penelope – weaving all day and ripping it out all night? She’s with us. Henry V’s speech at the Battle of Agincourt? Pretty much our theme song. Taken from the Dutch ‘verloren hoop’, meaning ‘lost troop’, Forlorn Hope was the name given to the band of soldiers who volunteered to lead the charge directly into enemy defenses. The chance of success for the Forlorn Hope was always slim, but the glory and rewards granted to survivors ensured no shortage of applicants. These bottles, the first produced by Forlorn Hope Wines, were our headlong rush into the breach. Rare creatures from appellations unknown and varieties uncommon, these wines are our brave advance party, our pride and joy – our Forlorn Hope.
Matthew Rorick has been the winemaker behind the Forlorn Hope wines since the inception of the label in 2005, and tends 75 acres of organically farmed grapevines at Rorick Heritage Vineyard. In previous incarnations he has repaired submarine telescopes for the United States Navy, ridden skateboards for a living, and built electric guitars. His love of wine was fostered in him by his grandfather David Rorick Jr., who was a consummate dining partner and storyteller. His current efforts at RHV, including producing organically farmed estate wines and reconnecting with California’s pre-Prohibition viticultural traditions, are largely inspired by conversations at his grandfather’s table.
Bottle: $43 | Glass: $19