Producers
-
Description:
For more information on Mateus Nicolau de Almeida, please visit Selection Massale.
Available in California.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
For more information on Meles Augustín Normil, please visit Selection Massale.
Available in California.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
For more information on Menaud Distillerie, please visit Selection Massale.
Available in California.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
In 2010, after having dedicated the previous 20 years to the recovery and maintenance of his vineyards—not to mention a lifetime to winemaking—Pedro Merayo established Bodegas y Viñedos Merayos. The Merayo family has always been strongly linked to the world of wine and they have owned one of the most important wineries (Bodegas Merayo, closed c. 1989) in the region for decades. However, in the late 1980′s, Pedro Merayo decided to take time off from winemaking to concentrate his efforts on the care and maintenance of the family vineyards. After the great changes of the late 1990′s, including the creation of new wineries and the modernization of existing ones in the context of an international market, the family decided to return to its roots.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
Leonel Hernández (Don Gil), a third generation maestro mezcalero, produces his mezcal in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, a town and municipality in Oaxaca. It is famous for being the site of the Mitla archeological ruins and is part of the Tiacolula District in the east of the Valles Centrales Region.
Mezcal Local is made with 100% agave Espadin, harvested after 10 years. The agaves are cooked underground for 3 days, ground using an Egyptian mill, and then fermented in wooden vats for 10 days. During the distillation process agave hearts, as well as a combination of fruits (apple, peach, banana and orange), are added to the still. The heart of the agave acts as a natural purifier and the fruits add a wide range of distinctive flavor notes. This mezcal is distilled twice in copper.
Mezcal Local is a vegan mezcal de pechuga (pechuga translates to breast in Spanish). This means the finished mezcal is redistilled with local fruits, grains, and nuts, and a raw chicken or turkey breast is hung over the still, cooking in the emanating vapors, supposedly adding to the spirit’s final flavor.
These mezcals are usually made in small batches according to old family recipes and served during special occasions such as harvest, weddings, funerals and festivals.Due to lack of protein, as Local only uses fruit during distillation, the CRM will not allow the Pechuga classification on the bottle.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
Andrea Mufatto and Gerardo Michelini started their winery in 2019 alongside their son Manuel Michelini. They are situated at the foot of the Andes in one of the highest elevations of the Uco Valley where the soil contains some of the richest components of calcium carbonate and granite in all of South America. This particular sub region is at the highest, most western portion of Gualtallary and goes by the name La Cautiva. At Michelini i Mufatto they strive to make some of the most unique wines of Argentina and the wines show tension, elegance and balance. They are currently working with Semillon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The trio also makes wine in Uruguay and Spain and they are the first family in Argentina to import small production wine from Europe.
This profile and tasting notes were edited from the Brazos Wine website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: Brazos.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
The Michelini family is not short of terroirs to explore in their native Argentina, and brothers Gerardo, Matias, and Juan Pablo continue to amaze with the amount and quality of the projects they get involved with in South America. Zorzal, Gen del Alma, Passionate Wines are just some of the labels they are associated with, and that have helped change and shape the current viticultural landscape of their native country. Now the family has gone a step further and taken its craft and vision to Spain, where they have set a firm foot in Bierzo, as well as Rioja.
It was through their friendship with César Marqués that the Michelinis got to know Bierzo so well. The Bierzo native Marques introduced them to some of the most prized vineyards in the area, and instigated the Argentinians to produce wines from there.
After having learned a thing or two from him about Mencia, Doña Blanca, Palomino and the local grapes from the area, the family went out on their own. They now have their own winery in Toral de Merayo, a two centuries-old building made of the stones that shape the mountainous landscape, and here they parked some old foudres, and even some amphorae made by the master of clay, Juan Padilla.
They farm their very old vines organically (soils in the region are mostly clay with slate and quartz) and the range of wines includes a village level with fruit from different plots, a couple of paraje (lieu-dit) wines, and prized crus such as Encinado, and Encrucijada.
Manu Michelini is the young winemaker, and he takes a traditional as well as an experimental approach: the reds are foot-stomped in the amphorae, sometimes with whole bunches, and they also ferment in clay. The aging is done in a mix of vessels, amphorae as well as used oak and chestnut barrels, and the wines see short macerations of less than 20 days, followed by aging in neutral French and American oak barrels.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
Rioja has been for a while now at a threshold, a place that sooner or later all of the most celebrated wine regions find themselves.The traditional and familiar wineries that defined its style are firmly established, producing some of the finest wines in the world, while on the other side of the gate young growers and winemakers are working to find their place, refining - and sometimes indeed redefining - the style of the wines made in the region. What the new generation of winemakers and bodegas share is an emphasis on place, not in the cellar. Instead of making wines that represent the region as a whole, with a marked house style, they focus on sites and vineyards, hoping that their wines reflect the different terroirs and landscapes found in the region. Miguel Merino Jr is the perfect example of someone making the best of this moment, with a solid foundation in the style that made Rioja’s most emblematic and venerated wines, while at the same time creating something new.
His father paved the way, when after a successful career as a wine exporter he decided to start a small bodega, choosing Briones as their focal point, a small and historic village where old vines abound, and are mostly planted in steep slopes, with varying soil-types of sand, clay, and limestone, and markedly Atlantic influenced climate. Merino Jr. worked on and off with him and in other wineries, and he and his wife Erika joined full-time in 2017, bringing contemporary ideas to the production (such as the emphasis on single-vineyards, the creation of a monovarietal Garnacha and a white wine, as well as a stronger focus on farming.) Today he owns 7 hectares of vineyards, and farms another 6, distributed among 24 different plots, all located in Briones. The oldest of his vines were planted in 1929, many in the 60’s and 70’s, and the younger ones planted in 2001.
His portfolio is now made of the first wines created by his father, still conforming to the traditional standards of the region, labeled Reserva, and Gran Reserva, as well as new wines named after the vineyards Merino Jr chose to focus on. The style on both lines is decidedly elegant, and what stands out after the judicious work in the vineyards - all done by hand, without the use of herbicides or fertilizers - and the soft approach in the cellar is balance, his main goal.
The still tiny production - just under 60,000 bottles - is growing as his work keeps getting discovered and praised, and some of his work and wines become references for the new Rioja, such as the single-vineyards La Loma (Tempranillo with a bit of Garnacha), and La Quinta Cruz (100% Mazuelo or Carignan.)
Image:
Region: -
Description:
Domaine Gerard Millet is in the village of Bué in Sancerre, which is considered one of the very best villages in the appellation. The winery is currently run by Steve Millet. He oversees their 19 hectares in Sancerre and six hectares in Menetou-Salon (a notably smaller and less famous appellation compared to Sancerre). The main soil is Kimmeridgian marl and flint.
Millet’s farming is sustainable and both the vineyards and the winery are certified HVE3. Millet does not use insecticides, herbicides or anti-botrytis treatments. In the cellar, fermentations are mainly in stainless steel; the exceptions are for the single-vineyard wines, which are spontaneously fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels of 400 to 600 liters.
There are three white Sancerre wines, including two single-vineyard ones; they are all quite impressive in their crystalline precision. There is a compelling red Sancerre as well a single-vineyard. Millet also makes both colors of Menetou, with the same care devoted to their Sancerre. Steve explains that Menetou tends to be a bit warmer than Sancerre, but his family’s vines are in a cooler part (the villages of Morogues and Aubinges), thus allowing those wines to maintain great tension. The Menetou wines are in fact quite serious, with great texture, juicy fruit and a mineral backbone providing structure.
With the demand for Sancerre outstripping supply, there are a lot of mediocre examples in the market because the name itself sells. We are so excited to connect with a winegrower who is wholeheartedly committed to making wines of distinctive character from this historic appellation as well as its lesser-known neighbor. Bowler represents Millet in a dozen markets in the United States. Please inquire about availability in yours.
Available in PA and NAT.
Image:
Region: -
Description:
Of the 175 wine growers in Vacqueyras; only 45 are bottling their own wines and selling direct from the domaine, with the rest selling to the co-op or to one of the three négociants in town. The Vache family of Domaine la Monardière falls amongst the growers. The Vache family bought their domaine in 1987 from the Monarde family, and immediately got to work revitalizing the vineyards, building a new winemaking facility. They began by selling the wines from the domaine's door. The Vaches also harvest all of their vineyards by hand, which is not a requirement of AOC Vacqueyras, nor is it a common practice. They have been working organically in the vineyards since 2000, but only began the certification process in 2007, and have now been certified since 2010.
They have 22 hectares total, 18 hectares in Vacqueyras and 4 hectares in Vaucluse. They never purchase any fruit or must. Monardiere has a lot of sandy soil and so they make a significant amount of rose and white - the total for both in the appelation is only 5%, but 15% of Monardiere's wine is rose and another 15% is white. Sixty percent of the appellation is on a plateau with a lot of stones and a clay subsoil. For all of the wines, they work with lower yields than the 36hl/ha that are allowed. They normally average 30-32hl/ha, but recent vintages have been hit hard 22 hl/ha in 2012 and 18hl/ha in 2013!
Since they practice organic viticulture, it only follows that they should vinify with as little intervention in the cellar as possible, to produce authentic wines that are true to their origin. After harvest, the grapes are sorted and mostly destemmed, and then put into cement vats; the indigenous yeasts found on the grapes start the fermentation naturally. They pump-over the wine daily for a gentle extraction. The Syrah and some of the Grenache vats are punched down manually, and maceration takes place for two to three weeks. The wines are then aged in vats or used barrels throughout the winter and then bottled without fining or filtration and a low amout of sulfur. The Monardiere wines offer an incredibly pure expression of Vacqueyras. www.monardiere.fr
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 4 | January 2022: HVE – Qu’est-ce que c’est?
Image:
Region:
