Rainy Day Whites
Just because it’s getting cold outside doesn’t mean we have forgotten our white wine lovers! This flight highlights a few white wines that are perfect for a chilly season!
Martha Stoumen ‘post flirtation’
Grapes : 30% Vermentino, 27% Roussanne, 25% Marsanne, 18% Muscat blanc
Place : Sebastopol, California
Process : Muscat blanc harvested one week prior to Roussanne and Marsanne. Each lot tumbled in the press to get just a hint of skin contact before pressing, then co-fermented in stainless steel. Vermentino pressed immediately and fermented separately in stainless steel before blending with Roussanne, Marsanne, and Muscat blanc. Aged together on fine lees for 6 months before bottling. Unfined. Unfiltered. Sediment expected.
Family : After 8 years apprenticing around the world, Martha Stoumen set out as a self-funded, first generation winemaker to answer the question, “What does California taste like?” In the hot little corner of Northern California, Mediterranean grapes thrive and healthy vineyards allow us to create joyful balanced wines. Stoumen’s wines are made from unexpected varietals and offer new takes on California classics. Of the nearly two dozen wines she makes every year, blends and flavors change but the desire to share the simple pleasures of natural wine remains the same.
Bottle: $35 | Glass: $15
Casamaro
Grapes : Verdejo
Place : Rueda, Spain
Process : 100% free-run juice, fermented in stainless steel and bottled directly from the tanks.
Family : Jose Antonio Arévalo and Benicio Garcia founded Garciarevalo in 1991 with the intention of preparing wines from grapes from the centenary vineyards planted in the municipality of Matapozuelos, famous for Verdejo grapes.
Bottle: $19 | Glass: $8
Passionate ‘Del Mono Blanco’
Grapes : 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon
Place : Tupungato, Argentina
Process : Del Mono literally means, 'From the Monkey.' Here at Fermented, we’ve taken to calling the Blanco version, “Monkey White.’ The grapes come from 2 sustainably farmed vineyards in the Tupungato region of the Uco Valley. They are left one day on the skins and are then pressed and co-fermented in concrete vats before being aged for 6 months in concrete.
Family : Since renting an old abandoned bodega in Tupungato and transforming it into a collaborative winemaking facility, Matias Michelini has experimented and created wines from various terroirs, always with his characteristic imprint of pushing the envelope while holding the utmost respect and admiration for nature; he takes the freedom to innovate, looking to make pleasurable wines while exploring undiscovered terroir.
Price : $19 btl | $8 gls
Bow & Arrow ‘Time Machine White’
Grapes : Mostly Chenin with a splash or two of Chardonnay and Melon
Place : Oregon
Process : The source for B&A’s Chenin Blanc, Union School Vineyard is a part of Dieter Bohm’s impressive operation in Junction City. This warm site (by B&A’s standards) is ideal for producing the expressions of Chenin Blanc that B&A strives to make.
Soil: Bellpine
Vine age: 7 years?
Elevation: 450 feet
Family : Bow & Arrow is Scott Frank’s interpretation of the Willamette Valley’s humble terroir. The most important parts of that equation to Scott are the Willamette Valley and “humble.” The growing region is frequently approached as a grand terroir destined to produce prestigious wines with an implicit Burgundian influence, and Scott feels honored to make wine there.
Price : $29 btl | 13 gls