Domaine de Cristia was established in 1942, with only two hectares of vines; at that time, all grapes were sold to négociants. When Baptiste Grangeon inherited the vineyards from his father in 1999, he was the first to bottle as Domaine de Cristia. Today, Baptiste manages the winery with his sister, Dominique, and they have gradually added vineyards over the years, to a total of 20 hectares of vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Ninety percent of their holdings are in the lieu-dit Cristia, with the remaining ten percent spread over three different areas. These parcels are comprised of varying soil-types, including sand, clay, limestone, and galets, and benefit from a cool, fresh north-easterly exposition which allows the grapes and wines to develop supple, elegant tannins. Their Syrah and Mourvèdre vines average 55 years old and the oldest Grenache is over 100 years old.

The domaine follows organic agriculture for all work in the vineyards and has been certified from the 2008 vintage. No chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides are used to treat the soils or the vines. Ploughing and weeding are practiced according to the blocks and the yields desired. Vines are treated with copper sulphate and sulphur occasionally blended with a nettle infusion/tea (four to five times a year). Only organic fertilizer (i.e., sheep manure) is used.

The grapes are selected in the vineyard and then destemmed before being put into vats. Three weeks of fermentation and maceration in concrete vats follow, with the use of indigenous yeasts. Temperatures are kept low in order to produce aromatic wines. They do not insist on any massive extraction, but prefer the ‘matière’ to express itself. Due to the work in the vineyards, the grapes possess enough concentration. The pressed juice and free-run juice are blended together according to the vintage. Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are aged in concrete vats and barrels for a minimum of 18 months, while Côtes-du-Rhône and Vin de Pays are aged only in concrete vats for eight to 12 months.  All of their wines are noteworthy for their finesse and elegance.

Da Cruz e Teles is a partnership between two of the most brilliant vignerons/ winemakers from Portugal, Tiago Teles (Gilda, RAIZ) and Antonio Marques-da Cruz (Quinta da Serradinha).

The idea of working together started in 2015 when they approached the family of the late Jose Mendonça about working their vineyard in Figueira da Foz, a village north of Lisbon. This place was the main source of the grapes of Quinta dos Cozinheiros, the producer of a wine that became a reference point for the new generation of winemakers in Portugal, and which unfortunately came to an end with the tragic and untimely death of Mendonça. The vineyard, located just 5 miles from the Atlantic, proved ideal for the wines of Teles and Marques-da-Cruz. Its 50-year-old vines of Baga and slightly younger vines of Maria Gomes and Arinto are co-planted on clay-limestone soils and farmed organically. The proximity to the coast keeps the heat at bay and the grapes find great balance between ripeness and minerality.

Spurred by the success of their first vineyard, Tiago and Antonio purchased a 2-hectare vineyard in the Serra de Montejunto, a mountain range also in the region of Lisbon. This 35 year-old vineyard is planted on clay-limestone soils with Vital, a white varietal. Here too the farming is organic. They are not stopping here and are in the process of acquiring another vineyard in Lisbon planted with old vines of Baga.

With the introduction of the PoP labels, Tiago and Antonio are making slightly softer wines, with the reds fermenting whole cluster and shorter macerations. Tiago describes their philosophy perfectly here:

"Our objective with COZs is to make 'geographic wines' that express where they're from and age with dignity. We are not following trends, and don't want to make French, or Italian wines (however if pressed we'd say our wines are more of an Italian nature...)  That is why we don't do carbonic wines, for instance. Portugal is a beautiful country but it is not perfect. I think that showing who we are is a nice way of doing things."

BOWLER E-Zine Issue 4 | January 2022: COZs, a Partnership of Two Brilliant Portuguese Winemakers

In 2006 Brianne Day sold everything she owned and began traveling through wine regions all over the world. Over the following eight years she visited around 80 different regions, working at wineries in Burgundy, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. During this time, she re-established her home base in Oregon and worked at a number of wineries including The Eyrie Vineyards and Brooks.

From starting her own winery and releasing the first vintage of Day Wines in 2012, Brianne Day continues to produce a wide array of artisanal bottlings made from fruit sourced exclusively from a small group of Oregon growers who utilize Biodynamic, Organic, and/or Sustainable vineyard practices.

Day Wines are crafted with an attention to detail that allows for a minimum level of intervention in the winery - producing exceptional Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah, as well as working with under-appreciated varieties such as Malvasia, Tannat, and Aligoté.

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this profile of De Bartoli: 

(Click here for much more on De Bartoli on Louis/Dressners's website or here for De Bartoli's own website)

Marsala production dates back to the 1770's, when the Englishman John Woodhouse accidentally stumbled across the local wine made in a method called il perpetuum, basically a fortified wine. He immediately shipped it back to England, where it was successfully received. In the following decades more British-born merchants arrived, production increased, a harbor and nearby warehouse was built for ease of transport (based on the Oporto model) and most importantly the solera system was imported from Madeira and  Sherry. This prosperity continued through the next century and beyond 1860, when the Italian states unified (Garibaldi landed his unifying army of exiles in the port of Marsala - the rest is history). At that point, an important business man named Vincenzo Florio started bottling Marsala independently and under his own name. The wine steadily rose in popularity over the years, and by the early 1900's there were a 100+ wineries in the city of Marsala, most located right on the coast for easy exporting.
By the 1960's, local wine cooperatives had grown considerably and production started focusing on quantity instead of quality. Instead of using the indigenous and traditional Grillo, co-ops started blending all types of white grapes indiscriminately. Furthermore, fortification, chaptalisation and the addition of caramel food coloring or cooked must to give the illusion of advanced oxidation became commonplace. Predictably, the increasingly poor quality of Marsala slowly killed off the reputation of what was once highly distinguished wine. Even today, many still consider Marsala little more than cheap cooking wine for the staple recipes of Italian-American restaurants.

Enter Marco de Bartoli. In his youth, Marco had worked with his father on his family farm near the town of Marsala. But his obsession with cars and a need for speed proved too strong, leading to a first career as a professional race car driver. Towards the end of this career, however, Marco was ready to turn a new leaf. Thinking back on his youth, he felt a deep sadness that the once proud tradition of Marsala had sunken so low. He decided he wanted to change this.

First, Marco reconstructed his family's old cellar on his mother's farm in the contrada of Samperi. Then he searched high and wide for old solera barrels of Grillo from local contadini. Much to his surprise, many were eager to part with these ancient relics, some even happy to give them to him for free! Next came the vines, planted progressively and exclusively in Grillo, which in Marco's eyes was and is THE ONLY grape to make Marsala due to its high acidity, ability to reach high degrees of alcohol and aging potential. Finally the wines: "Vecchio Samperi" represented the unfortified, traditional style of Marsala while the "Superiore" line was fortified with mistella (sweet must and eau de vie) as a statement that the cantina was not only rooted in the past, but well versed in the present and future.

In 1984, Marco started a new project on the island of Pantelleria, originally producing only a Passito. By the early 1990's, his had garnered a stellar reputation for being alone in making truly stunning expressions of Marsala  terroir.

But the story doesn't end there. By the mid 1990's, Marco's children Renato, Sebastiano and Giusippina had all joined him in this work. Youthful energy led to new experiments, most notably dry white wines from Grillo and later Zibibbo from Pantelleria. While chemicals had never been used in the vineyards and the Grillo for the Marsala was never yeasted, conventional yeasts were used on the dry whites until 2006. Sebastiano elaborates on working organically and using native yeast fermentations:

"Our idea was always to make wine as a product of the land so we have always eschewed systemic chemicals. I do not remember a particular date we followed this course (organic), but I can tell you that about ten years ago I personally began to follow this campaign and have been sure of it ever since. I distinctly remember that even before then my father did not want to do intensive agriculture and prevented the farmer who worked our lands from using fertilizers, herbicides and so on...

Up to now we did not seek organic certification because it did not seem a serious approach and my father's point of view was never to have "organic" be a selling point for his work. But my dad was extreme and today organics seem to be a more serious issue. We understand the need for people to have the certification, so we are now seeking it.

For the indigenous yeasts, the key was the production of the "Integer" in 2006. I am not reneging the selected yeast used in the 90's because it allowed us to understand an innovative form of Grillo and Zibibbo. But with the experiments of the Integer we understood the potential of the land was far more important than so many other things, knowing also that it was more risky.  It may not always be the same for the tastes and aromas of the wine, but it certainly enhances the territorial typicity."