Brunch Wine? Lunch Wine, Dinner Wine?! And Holidays Are Looking Bright! (Dec 2021)
Harvest Club - December 2021
It's that time of year again!! And its also that time for more new and interesting wines from some of the best natural and holistic wine makers in the world! This month we meet a unique winemaker from Bairrada, Portugal, Maria Pato of João Pato aka Duckman. She makes such fun, fresh, and fabulously funky natural wines from the coasts of Portugal using the indigenous varietals of Fernão Pires and Bical.
We zip our way across Europe to the ancient town of Pornassio, Italy in Liguria perched high within the maritime Alps. Here we find Azienda Vitivinicola Guglierame, helmed by brothers Agostino and Raffaele along with their sister Elisa. It is also here where the rare varietal of Ormeasco thrives; an ancient sub-variety of Dolcetto. Ideally suited for the harsh climate of the mountains.
Just east long the Alps, high in the hills above Verona, in the heart of Valpolicella, is the home of Società Agricola Il Sasso. They ascribe to the belief that great wine is made in the vineyard, not in the cellar. Their pristine organic vineyards produce an utterly exquisite expression of this iconic Italian red wine.
Our last stop takes us home to California, and one of my most favorite towns, Sebastopol. It is here where we find a couple of wine "rock stars", Patrick Cappiello and Pax Mahle of Monte Rio Cellars. Their winery focuses on low intervention, handcrafted wines- in the spirit of old school California. Monte Rio Cellars love their red wines served a little chilly. Don't be afraid to dunk these in an ice bucket or your fridge before you pull the cork!
What a year for opening our minds, and palettes to the wonderful world of wine. So many new, and interesting styles. But rest assured....we're just getting started! Here's to 2022! Cheers!
Featured Wines
Such a fun, fresh and interesting white blend. Stone fruit, white flowers, white tea, complex citrus. Definitely "glou glou" yet comlex.
Try it with: Chilled seafood, cod fish tacos, or grilled artichokes!
A refreshing mix of tropical fruit and citrus, with a slight flinty minerality, and a nice velvety mousse. Cheers!
Try it with: Brunch, brunch, brunch! Herb goat cheese, smoked salmon, oysters, or rosemary chicken!
Azienda Vitivinicola Guglierame | 2020 Ormeasco di Pornassio Sciac-tra Rosato | Pornassio, Liguria, Italy | Organic Farming Practices, Natural Winemaking
This drinks more like a light bodied red than a rose. Under-ripe strawberry, brambly red and dark red fruits, fall spices, and a well integrated bitterness with a touch of tannin. No need to serve this one ice cold. Its more of a light red than a light rose. Basically, a unicorn wine, from a very unique growing region!
Try it with: Grilled veggies, steak tartare, or baked salmon!
A delicious red filled with flavors of red and dark cherry, earthy, spiced undergrowth, and a fresh peppery finish.
Try it with: Filet mignon au poivre, seafood stew, sausage pizza, or grilled portobello mushrooms!
Deep and rich, yet light on its feet! Such a delightful red with all kinds of lavender, plum blossom, violet, with dark, dark fruit tones. The tannins are integrated very well.
Try it with: BBQ brisket, carne asada tacos, or pastrami sandwiches!
Bone dry, yet zesty, mouthwatering, silky and smooth. Stellar food wine!
Try it with: Pizzas, pastas, arroz con pollo, chicken caccitore, almost anything!
MARIA PATO 
PORNASSIO, ITALY 
IL SASSO 
PAX MAHLE & PATRICK CAPPIELLO 
GUGLIERAME
About the Producers:
João Pato aka Duckman | Bairrada, Portugal | @joao_pato_aka_duckman
The Duckman wines express the true character of Bairrada’s indigenous varietals and its exceptional maritime influence. There are no indications of the region on the labels, done intentionally to demonstrate an acute sense of place and varietal typicity through minimal intervention in the cellar. Maria Pato, the daughter of Luis Pato, created this project because of her love of the region and varietals, so much so that she felt constrained by the standards of Bairrada wine making. For both of them only the indigenous varietals can be Bairrada wine, not imports that want to claim it as their own identity. Luis and Maria work from two main vineyards, Amoreira da Gândara which is composed of mostly sandy soils, and Óis do Bairro which is composed of mostly chalky-clay soils. Here they grow both red and white varietals: Baga, Bical, Cercial, and Fernão Pires (a.k.a. Maria Gomes).
Azienda Vitivinicola Guglierame | Pornassio, Liguria, Italy | @ormeascoguglierame
High in the Maritime Alps of interior Liguria, nestled just 10 kilometers from France and a stones throw from southern Piedmont, is the tiny village of Pornassio, home to the Guglierame family and their unique, historic wines. Pornassio is an ancient village, a gateway passage in the high Alps that has been home to the cultivation of the indigenous Ormeasco grape variety since at least 1299. Descendants of the historic Marquisate-Scarella clans, the Guglierame family is the oldest in this mountain region. Brothers Agostino and Raffaele along with their sister Elisa have been making these wines their entire lives. Their first bottling was in 1958.
The village is perched on steep, terraced hillsides, up to and well over 550 meters above sea level. Ormeasco is a rare sub-variety of Dolcetto, with a morphology that is unique and has adapted to the harsh Alpine growing conditions. The berries are much larger and the harvest is almost an entire month later then the Dolcetto found growing in the Langhe. The soils are a complex blend of calcium rich clay as well as schist and blue marne. The combination of these qualities lend the wines to being elegant, less tannic and also long lived.
The Guglierame family holds just 2.5 hectares of estate vines, yet they are the "largest" producer in the region (there are 3, including Guglierame and the local Cantina Sociale). They make two versions of wine, both 100% Ormeasco; a classic and elegant red wine, aged in 25 hL old oak barrels and the rare and exciting Sciac-tra`, which translates to 'direct-press' and is an amazing rosato expression of the grape. The vineyards are tended organically and the wines are naturally fermented, basket pressed and aged in the family's historic cantina.
Beyond the technical aspects of these wines, the true beauty of the wines of the Guglierame family is just that, the family. Agostino and his brother have quite literally been making these wines their entire lives, planting the vines with their father and grandfather before that. We talk about a sense of place often in wine, here, high in the mountains, in a tiny, desolate village of 130 inhabitants, we peer into the past and discover wines of an entirely different ilk then found in the modern world. Andrea, Agostino's son, has too been by his fathers side since he was a boy helping the harvest the grapes, make the wine…he will one day take up the mantle of the family estate and bring it to the next generations. These wines mean much more to me then simply what's in the bottle. I urge you to seek them out, however difficult they may be to find from time to time (contact us if you'd like to find them of course). They are ethereal and truly special and it is a great honor to work with such an amazing family that is the Guglierames.
Società Agricola Il Sasso | Veneto, Valpolicella, Italy | @societaagricolailsasso
"We are an organic Valpolicella producer from Negrar, Verona. The vineyard is where everything begins, 10 hectares of strong vocation inside the Valpolicella Storica region, 300 meters of altitude, our vines of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella are raised Guyot style on hilly terracings facing south. We have a true-to-terroir vinification approach, fermentation is totally natural and triggered only with a pied-de-cuve of the same grapes with its indigenous yeasts. No chemical substances are used in the fining or in the filtering process. Our wines are made in the vineyard, not in the cellar." (Winery)
Monte Rio Cellars | Sebastopol, CA | @monteriocellars
Mr. Cappiello got his start in restaurants, starting his wine career in 2002 as a Sommelier at Tribeca Grill. As time progressed his roles changed to Wine Director and restaurant owner over the next 15 years. Through connections with countless winemakers and after meeting his current business partner Pax Mahle, the transition to Winemaker was a natural progression for Cappiello. He still serves as Wine Director of Walnut Street Café in Philadelphia. He is Food & Wine host for Playboy and founding member of Winemakers & Sommeliers for California Wildfire Relief.
His 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry, and Sommelier career has given him access to four of the worlds greatest wine cellars. All have been recipients of Wine Spectators "Grand Award"; TriBeCa Grill, Veritas, GILT, and Pearl & Ash. Mr. Cappiello was named "Sommelier of the Year 2014" by Food & Wine Magazine, "Wine Person of the Year 2014" by Imbibe Magazine, and "Sommelier of the Year 2015" by Eater National.
Pax and Pam Mahle moved to wine country in 1997 to pursue careers in wine. After a few years of tasting wine from all over California for Dean & Deluca, Pax decided to start his own brand from a vineyard with which he felt a kismet connection. That vineyard was Alder Springs, and after finding an investor to help realize the dream, Pax Wine Cellars was launched in 2000.
Harvest Club $180/month
We offer four monthly wine club subscriptions covering a range of interests and budgets. Our offerings include high quality, hand-selected wines at each level, including the option to customize. Perks include huge savings with each selection and 10% off anytime you shop. Not a members? Join today.