Atlantic Wine Project

 I first noticed it during an extensive tasting of rieslings from Terry Theise portfolio.  Most of the wines (grower champagnes included) were either organic or biodynamic and there was a similarity among all of them...vibrance, lift and a clear presence of high tones.  There was just something "lively" about them. One  of the most recent wines in the Row 95 portfolio to go Organic is the Campos de Risca.  Though from the "Campos" group, the wine is from a small family estate in Jumilla run by the third generation, Elena Pacheco.  Risca are large broken limestone rocks of which their vineyard is entirely comprised.  These suckers aren't the smooth rounded boulders of Chateauneuf, they are rough cut, jagged and virtually impossible to walk on.  Nothing else lives there,...weeds, bugs,  and frankly I don't know why anything would want to. Mourvedre, however, loves it...the heat, those stones, no competition from pesky weeds,  as Goldilocks...

What on earth is Lacrima di Morro d'Alba?  Is it like Lacrima Christi?   Is it from Alba?...No and, er, no.  Lacrima di Morro (let's just shorten it a bit to make it more user-friendly shall we) is the name of a rare grape variety found almost exclusively in the Province of Ancona, in the Marches region of Italy.  Lacrima, meaning "tear" in Italian is a reference to both the shape of the grape and to the thinness of it's skin which can, at times, allow tears of juice to weep from the grape.  The "Morro d'Alba" part is a reference to a Castle which bears that name in the region. So now that we have all of the typical Italian confusion sorted out, let's begin talking about the wine.  The DOC was created in 1985 and the wine is made by only a handful of producers.  Scant few of those wines make it to this part of the country.  Fortunately, one of the best representations of this remarkable wine is available here via a producer named Velenosi, locate...

The beauty of good Verdicchio is in its steadfastness.  Alongside the dramatic flavors of garlic and basil often a wine built on a foundation of minerals will pair seamlessly.  The Velenosi from the Castelli di Jesi is just such a wine.  Terry Theise once said that drinking great Mosel riesling was like shaking hands with a mountain, if that's the case then drinking great Verdicchio is like shaking hands with the beach.  The sandy soils of Angela Velenosi's vineyards hallmark for the region, make for a wine with terrific structure.  In the hands winemaker Attilio Pagli the restrained white flower, almond and delicate fruit tones are revealed in perfect balance. With the myriad of intense Italian flavors set against the neutrality of pasta, great Verdicchio is one which provides the mouth-watering counterpoint...just about perfectly.  Of those, Velenosi is the real sleeper...restrained, subtly filigreed but, above all, steadfast.

  Time spent with Ales Kristancic, owner of Movia is always special.  Despite the fact that english is not his first language, his ability to articulate the essence of winegrowing remains unmatched.   According to Ales, wine happens only when the passions of the plant kingdom meet the passions of the animal kingdom. By contrast, he states that water was already present on earth when man arrived, it was a given.  Wine is only here because vines need animals to proliferate and animals need the fruit of the vine in order to survive.  The magic truly happens when the fungi living on the skins of the fruit are introduced to the sugars within thanks to the "passions" of man.  Too often, this "Botany of Desire" as Michael Pollan calls it, or "Divine Gift" as Ales calls it, goes completely unnoticed and unappreciated.   For Ales, hailing from the family that has owned Movia for over 6 generations, it is a way of daily conversation, reflection, philos...

In 1889, the same year the Eiffel tower is built, Fernand Moureaux decides to create a unique aperitif using yellow gentian and other herbs. Gentiana lutea is an herbaceous perennial plant, native to the mountains of central and southern Europe. Sometimes referred to as ‘Yellow Gentian’, ‘Bitter Root’, ‘Bitterwort’, ‘Centiyane’, ‘Genciana’, and “The Devil’s Taint.” It is remarkable for the intensely bitter properties resulting from secoiridoid, glycosides, amarogentin, and gentiopicrin contained within.  Gentian root has a long history of use as a herbal bitter in the treatment of digestive disorders and is an ingredient in many medicines. In fact, the name is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king who was thought to have discovered that herbs had tonic properties. It was also used in the Middle Ages as an antidote to poison. Moureaux was an ambitious promoter and Suze eventually weaves it's way into French culture.  In 1912 a bottle of Suze makes its way into a Picasso Painti...

Mitchell Pressman, former owner of the Chesapeake Wine Company, once said that great wine comes from beautiful places.  Perhaps no vineyard setting in the world of wine is more picturesque than the Val D'Aosta in the Italian alps.  It is in this region where the Charrere family run the Les Cretes estate.  They grow indigenous and cultivated vinifera varietals using natural methods.   Here you can find Petit Arvine,  and Tourette which are native to the region in addition to stunning examples of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They are true wines of place...pristine and pure while also showing great length and complexity.  Here are some pictures to prove the point: Coteaux La Tour...Winter Autumn with Alps in the distance. The Charrere Family The best wines are those which give a sense of where they are born.  In all of Val D'Aosta the wines of Les Cretes do that the best.  Look again at the place, there is a freshness, vibrance and purity to it...I pro...