Harvest Moon — Fermented Wine Boutique

WINE DINNER W/COLIN MCGOWAN FEB 9TH

Harvest Moon (Orange Wines)

It's the hot new thing, and we are suckers for it! In the last two decades, viticulturists have added a whole new category to the wine world: ORANGE WINE! 

What is it? Orange wines are produced with white wine grapes but vinified as though they were red wines. This method results in skin-contact white wines, as the grapes are fermented in contact with their skins and yeast for anywhere from a few days to a few months.

PoderiCellario “E” Orange

Grapes - Nascetta, Arneis, Incrocio Manzoni. Hand-harvested into small bins. Spontaneous fermentation with 5 days skin maceration. Aged in amphora for 6 to 8 months until bottling. Bottled with minimal sulphur (~10ppm) and without filtering or fining.

Fausto and Cinzia Cellario are 3rd generation winemakers in the village of Carru` on the western outskirts of the Langhe. The family believes in only working with local, indigenous Piemontese grape varieties and fiercely defends local winemaking traditions both in the vineyard work and the cellar practices. The Cellario vineyard holdings cover some 30 ha between 5 different vineyard sites covering the southern Langhe. With holdings in Novello and Monforte, the Dogliani plot is arguably the family’s most prestigious land and I would consider them Dolcetto specialists. Vineyard work is organic (soon to be certified) and all the fermentation take place with indigenous yeasts. Sulfur is only added in tiny quantities at bottling if necessary (a practice not common with a winery in this mid-size range).

Bottle: $25 | Glass: $11

Grape Abduction Company

Blend: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling
Aging: 5 months in stainless steel

From far off in space, we observed your little blue and green planet, spinning around your great yellow sun at unimaginable speeds – well, at least they are unimaginable to you. And we realized that there was one special place on this planet with the perfect conditions to grow wine fit for the tastes of space: Stajerska, Slovenia. Grapes as diverse as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and even the hard-to-pronounce ones (we’re looking at you, Žametna Črnina) thrive in the harsh environment of these rocky hills. Made entirely by … erm, hand… and treated with the highest degrees of technology and care, we have created three wines that truly give you the taste of the cosmos. Space juice, if you will. And if you ever found yourself gazing up the sky and asking: do aliens make wine? Now, you have your answer.

Bottle: $23 | Glass: $10

Forlorn Hope “Queen of the Sierra”

“The 2021 Queen of the Sierra amber estate blend was grown on the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Calaveras County, California at 2000’ elevation, featuring soils comprised of a layer of schist over dolomite-rich limestone. Composed primarily of Verdelho, Albariño, Muscat, and Vermentino, this beautifully nuanced and irreverently elegant wine shows all of the aromatic complexity and textural presence that are the hallmarks of wines grown on the limestone of our estate.

All fruit for our estate amber blend is hand-picked; fermentation occurred in open top vessels with some fruit being destemmed and some left whole bunch. For the most part we endeavor to minimize oxidization during cap management, with one punchdown or pumpover per day the typical regimen. We did include a few experimental lots that received different treatment: Vermentino fermented in egg and left there sealed and untouched for four months after which it was drained down to barrel, and a ton of Muscat fermented carbonically. Once removed from their fermentation vessels the ferments were put down to neutral 227L barrique or blended together in stainless, and remained there until being bottled unfined and unfiltered in June of 2021. 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.”

Bottle: $27 | Glass: $12

Sassara Esotico

Is it red? Is it pink? Is it orange? Who cares?! 30% red grapes (Corvina, Rossanella, Rondinella, Molinara) and 70% white grapes (Fernanda, Moscato, Trebbianello, Trebbiano, Garganega, Tocai), all from old vines. Hand harvested and spontaneously co-fermented with 10 days of skin maceration and without temperature control. Aged in stainless steel. No filtering or fining and minimal added sulfur as necessary.

This is the passionate work of Alessia Bertaiola and her husband, Stefano, a 3rd generation winemaker whose family has had this property for more than 50 years. Alessia and Stefano represent the 4th generation to work the morainic hill of Monte Mamaor. They took over the property in 2007, and with Alessia's strong background in agricultural research and development, quickly converted each plot to biodynamic farming. They have been making certified organic wine during that time, but due to a lack of inspiration, they took the plunge into producing a more naturalistic expression of their incredible fruit and soil, greatly inspired by the likes of Danillo Marcucci and others. These are wines that represent a fight of two cultures - on the one hand the highly lucrative modernistic culture of conventional, heavily extracted, "international" wines like Amarone and Valpolicella, and on the other, the fight "for the soul and for the soil" of the region,which are wines that express the true authenticity of Bardolino's past - wines that are full of bright, juicy, joyous fruit and minerality and speak of the people that have lived (and drunk wine!) there for centuries. Welcome to the past and future of Bardolino, Italy.

Bottle: $31 | Glass: $14