Old Friends, New Wines and...a Trip to Slovenia! Harvest Club (Oct 2021)
Harvest Club - October 2021
Happy Harvest everyone! This is the time of year when all those hardworking vineyard workers, cellar hands, cellar masters, winemakers, vineyard managers, and interns put it into overdrive and overtime to bring in all that glorious fruit to be processed, cold-soaked, pressed, and into tank for the magnificent and magical transition from being grape juice, to our all-time favorite beverage…WINE!!! And from what I hear 2021 is looking like perfection.
This month we’re going to revisit our old friends, husband and wife team Rachel and Michel Say When Wine. In my opinion, when you fall in love with a winery, its worth trying everything they have! But hey, we’ve made some new friends along the way too! Introducing Kyle and Savanna Knapp over Press Gang Cellars! And while we’re at it lets meet Beno and Monica Stewart with Catch and Release Wines up in Napa Valley. Lastly, I think we should experience a growing region that has been making wine for centuries, but had to hide behind the iron curtain for a bit…Slovenia!! Say hi to Matic Wines and Vina Sanctum, two amazing minimalist winemaking teams. Definitely gonna be an awesome trip!
Tag along for the adventure, as we continue to explore and push the boundaries of the winemaking world!
Featured Wines
The story of the wine could come from a Hollywood Rom-Com. When winemaker Rachel Silkowski first met her soon to be husband Michel, she noticed he had the initials R.S. surrounded by a rose tattooed on his arm.
"Why do you have my initials tattooed on your arm?" she asked. To which he replied: "Too soon?"
The real reason was for Michel's grandmother, Rose Stipa. This is a name that means the world to him and is the namesake and the inspiration behind the Stipa Rosé.
Juicy and bursting with strawberry and cranberry, balanced by herbal notes and a touch of tannin.
Try it with: BBQ Pulled Pork, Grilled Salmon, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Chocolate Desserts.
Extremely aromatic in the glass, with notes of apricot, orange, and dried mango initially that mellow out sweetly to crème brûlée with candied ginger spice.
Try it with: Carnitas tacos, Hawaiian Seabass, and Banana's Foster!
Press Gang Cellars | 2018 Syrah | Kimsey Vineyard, Ballard Canyon, CA Organic Farming Practices
Aromas of boysenberry, tart blackberry jam, and tobacco smoke. The wine coats your tongue in deep dark fruit, then moves on to green peppercorn, sour plum, and graphite. This wine takes your senses on a rollercoaster of pleasure • hitting all the senses with rich deep fruit, acid, and earth. Perfect to drink with BBQ or around a campfire.
Try it with: Marinated tri-tip, roasted mushrooms, Cajun Salmon, Chocolate Pot de Creme!
A co-ferment of Barbera and Sangiovese that showcases great fruit depth, and drinkability. The palate is laden with bing cherry, plum, and silky smooth tannins.
Try it with: Seared Filet mignon, mushroom risotto, or chicken pumpkin curry!
The Rizling undergoes a selective hand-harvest in the early morning so that grapes are cold and preserve their aromas. The juice is aged for 22 days on the skins in a clay Amfora before being bottled. The grapes are then pressed, the sediment is allowed to settle, and then the juice is transferred to tanks. Fermentation begins spontaneously with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks, and is then moved from tank to bottle, by gravity. Fermentation continues in the bottle where the wine is capped. Unfined & Unfiltered.
Aromas of spiced apple, pear, blood orange. Hachiya Persimmon, and more spiced fruits, apricot, yellow apple, Bosc Pear on the palate with just the right amount apple cider.
Try it with: Roasted Butternut squash, Pasta in a Pumpkin Brown Butter Sauce, and Peach Cobbler with Homemade Whipped Cream!
Sanctum | Stix & Bugs Red Piquette | Štajerska, Slovenia, Sustainable Farming
Fun, casual, with forest berry aromas, this low alcohol piquette is an amazing naturally sparkling quaffable refreshment for any occasion.
Try it with: Manchego and Gouda Cheese, Jalapeno poppers, Al Pastor Tacos, Spicy Pad Thai!
SAY WHEN WINES 
PRESS GANG CELLARS 
MATIC WINES 
CATCH & RELEASE WINES 
VINA SANCTUM
About the Producers:
Say When Wines | Central Coast, CA
Say When is made up of husband and wife team Rachel and Michel. Working with small family farms from Santa Barbara County to Paso Robles allows them to source a wide range of varietals and that continues to challenge and push their winemaking in new directions. From Piquette and carbonic fermentation to classic California Pinot Noir, each wine is given a unique identity to reflect the personality within the bottle. Between harvests you'll find Rachel and Michel in Los Angeles, where they balance their lives between the city and the winery.
Press Gang Cellars | Santa Barbara County, CA
Since 2010, Kyle and Savanna Knapp have been creating small batches of exciting wines from interesting Santa Barbara County vineyards. Press Gang fruit is hand picked, hand sorted and fermented with native yeast. Growing up in Lompoc, CA Kyle was always surrounded by winemaking but he was truly hooked after working his first harvest in 2005. Like many of us working in wine, he fell in love with the arduous and rewarding work. Since that first harvest he has worked with Beckman Vineyards in Ballard Canyon, spent time honing his craft in Australia, and for the last 6 years has held the position of head winemaker for Stolpman Vineyards. Inspired by the song “Press Gang” by The Murder City Devils, he knew, that he wanted to create something different, against the grain so to speak, to represent his winemaking style. Kyle’s focus has been on Grenache, Syrah, and Roussanne, all sourced from top vineyards in Ballard Canyon, Santa Ynez Valley and Sta. Rita Hills AVAs. His wines are made in extremely limited quantities and beautifully capture the terroir and character of the region.
Catch & Release Wines | Napa Valley, CA
Started in 2018 by a couple of New York transplants, Catch & Release is a project centered around community and enjoyment. We place an emphasis on high quality fruit to allow for low intervention practices within the cellar, and a more nuanced final result. We’ve distilled these practices down to what we refer to as “the baseline.” Which consists of, rganic or biodynamic farming practices, hand harvested fruit, native yeast ferments, no additives aside from minimal sulfur, and bottled unfined & unfiltered.
Matic Wines | Štajerska, Slovenia
Matija Zerjav (Matic) is a third-generation vigneron who has been managing the family’s 8.5
hectares of 20-50 year old vines since 2011. He is dedicated to organic farming, and all vineyard work is done by hand.
He utilizes rainwater catchment, estate wood for biomass heating, and Demeter-model compost. The minimal cellar
work takes place in the family cellar, which was built in 1852. All wines are wild yeast fermented, with no chemicals or
fining agents. Stainless steel tanks, clay amphora and oak barrels age and store the wines.
Vina Sanctum | Štajerska, Slovenia
In the mid-12th century French Carthusian monks settled in this northeast region of Slovenia and planted it with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. The Podkubovšek family, starting with Vlado and his son, Marko, has always cherished and been proud of this local heritage, hence the fact that all of their wines are made in a traditional style, where the vines and the microclimate speak for themselves. All of the grapes are strictly hand-picked on steep marl-rich slopes of up to 45°, and vinified with minimal intervention in the winemaking process.
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.