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Skinner Grenache Blanc 2021
Origin: Rescue, California
Retail: $22.95 | Sale: $20.66
The legacy of Skinner Vineyards and its wine goes back more than a century and a half, but the story starts on a sunny summer day in 2006. Kevin and Kathy Skinner are young, outdoorsy people and were heading home to Santa Cruz from Lake Tahoe. Kathy is a teacher and has a thing for maps. On an old dog-eared road atlas, she saw something – a spot on the map called Skinners, CA in the low foothills next to a town called Rescue. They detoured to Rescue, stopped at a small shopping center, and asked folks in stores about the name. Many people knew the history: A Scottish miner named James Skinner had done well during the Gold Rush, bought land, planted vineyards, and started a winery and distillery at that very spot. It turned out that James was Kevin’s Great-great-great-great-great Grandfather. Passion doesn’t begin to describe Mike’s excitement about the history and the land. By the end of 2006, Mike and his wife, Carey, had bought property in “Skinners” and started planting their own vineyards. In 2007, they acquired more vineyards and land also in El Dorado County on a ridge top on the steep green hills around Fair Play. The aromatics are punchy and brilliant. The first impression is crushed limestone and white flowers, giving way to blood orange, honeysuckle and sandalwood. This wine’s clean, platinum hue and lithe aromatics only begin to tell the story of its deep, complex palate presence of weight and electric tension; a tight balance of flowers, fruit and dirt.
87% Grenache Blanc and 13% Roussanne
Lo-Fi Cabernet Franc 2021
Origin: Santa Barbara, California
Retail: $25.95 | Sale: $23.36
Lo-Fi is a partnership between two lifelong friends who believe in handcrafted honest wines that are made for everyday drinking. Wines to be enjoyed not to be collected. Easy drinking lower alcohol wines made to pair well with all types of foods, from pizza to paté. They believe in neutral barrels, native yeasts, little to no sulfur additions, and no adjustment of pH or acidity. They love whole cluster fermentation. They embrace a nothing added, nothing taken away philosophy that gives birth to wines that are young, vibrant and alive. But in all reality Lo-Fi is less about what it is and more about what it is not. It is not over manipulated. It is not over extracted. It is not over ripe and it is not over priced.
Hand harvested and organically grown; 100% whole cluster carbonic fermentation. Fermented on the native yeasts for 10 days, then pressed to tank to complete alcoholic fermentation. The mix was then split equally into concrete tanks and neutral barrels. Light-bodied, intensely peppery, and fresh with low tannic structure, this is an easy-drinking wine to quaff with friends.
100% Cabernet Franc
Fontsainte Corbieres Rouge 2021
Origin: Southwest, France
Retail: $19.95 | Sale: $17.96
The Fontsainte vineyards surround the hamlet of Boutenac in the area known as “The Golden Crescent.” This swath of land is one of the sunniest in the appellation of Corbières, enjoying south-southeast exposure, and protection from the cold, northeast winds by a large 500-hectare forest. The cooler sea breezes from the Mediterranean help this sun-soaked terroir achieve balance as well. Like many of the vignerons that we work with, Bruno believes that “great wines are made in the vineyard” and less in the cellars. He farms the land sustainably and keeps treatments to a minimum. Silica, clay, and limestone dominate the subsoil of Fontsainte’s vineyards. Many of their vines are older, especially the parcel known as La Demoiselle, which recently celebrated its hundredth year. Look for the highly affordable and supremely delicious Gris de Gris, a saignée rosé made from Grenache Gris—among the finest rosés on the planet. The Grenache and Syrah are de-stemmed by hand and the Carignan goes through carbonic maceration in temperature-controlled vats for 14 days. After fermentation the wine rests for six months before aging in French oak barrels for a final six months. The accents of herbal garrigue and vineyard stones offer just enough earthy terroir to counterbalance the chewy black fruit and mouth-coating wild brambleberry.
60% Carignan, 30% Grenache & 10% Syrah