Winter Bluster Busters: Heart and Toe Warming Reds
L to R: Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan, Where's Linus red Petit Syrah, Chateau Massereau Graves
As a child of December, warming reds are no stranger to our entourage. Coming up on our year-one anniversary it is comforting to reflect on how the heartiest reds of our wine catalog have kept our lights on, paid the wifi bill, and kept a notable percent of our regular neighborhood customers very happy, sated and cozy.
Enter stage right - Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan from AVA Redwood Valley. Many who have sat for a few minutes under a giant California Sequoia can offer a helpful flashback or kaleidoscopic musing, and this wine leaves no path unmarked regarding its sense of place and origin. There is a piney-ness of mint, rosemary, undefinable green-notes and hard herbs like thyme and curry leaf which underlie the sea of fruit and supple blue and black berry parameters along with some pomegranate, pacific salt, mushroom and black cherry notes. As Carignan naturally conveys a strong stem & wood-like presence, this 1948 plot of vines is the perfect cohort in creating a sense of place in a liquid representation of the Redwoods locale. It is understandable and exciting to watch this wine become a new standard for California "cult". Martha Stoumen is a wine icon who is not afraid of taking their time to do things the way they feel is right, and properly aligned with their meta-set of visions. This is one of many reasons why we are always psyched to stock Stoumen's bottles.
In cavalcade and all things Cali, another producer who is on their way to the West Coast hall of legend - Where's Linus Red 2021, a Petit Syrah (69%) and Zinfandel blend, from Chris Christensen. As an African American vintner, Chris promotes diversity and inclusion in the wine industry, including apprenticeships.. Drinking now through 2030's to quote the winemaker, this bottle is both ambitious and accessible. Considering the grape is synonymous with Durif ( notably inky and when gown of France quite rustic) , Christensen is offering us a transparent example of wine structure and no BS. Tannin and acid and acid and tannin, enveloping and woven though fruit qualities. Pair it with brisket, mushroom, tapenade, root vegetables... get gastronomic. Even more magical is the price point, which will send some folks reeling back, but leaves more for the rest of us. Can you believe this bottle lands on our shelves at under $20 ? Drop by for a taste and check it for yourself - the work of an innovator and trendsetting winemaker, at bistro prices and savvy aesthetics.
An aria at centerstage - Chateau Massereau Graves 2012. It is no mystery that vineyard workers and vintners in Bordeaux have been suffering from health issues for recorded decades due to pesticide and herbicide pervasive agriculture. For this reason we take a stance at Waterbury to only support those Bordelaise winemakers who earnestly convert to organic and/or biodynamic winemaking practices. Massereau Graves can shelve for another 15 or 20 years and emerge elegant and fresh as its own birthday. The wines of Massereau are organic in both the vineyard and cellar, and are minimal-interventionist masterworks. Nothing is added and very little taken away. The bulk of work is done in the vineyard to produce fruit by fully organic means and these wines stand on the bar with the greatest chateaux of Bordeaux, in terms of ageability, verve and relevance. The Chateau Massereau wines are mammoth... and they dont stay on the shelves for too long, so embrace a few bottles while they last.
