Bora Tier
Paras Balta Indigena Garnacha
Pares Balta has been a family owned winery since 1790 in one form or another. However the tiny revolutions that made it what it is today began in the early 20th century.
Now truly a family operation, Pares Balta is devoted to the health of the soil, the health of the vines, the health of the wines in the bottle and the health of their expanding family and estate.
'Indigena' is made from a native Penedes garnacha varietal. Sourced from young vines planted at 615 meters at the Les Torres estate in the mountains of Pontons, the juice is fermented for 4 weeks at 20ºC in stainless steel tanks. The must is pumped over 3 times daily. Aging occurs in new and 2nd use French oak barrels.
This bright garnet wine offers a nose of wild red fruits complemented by subtle toasted nuances from a brief oak aging, with the palate reflecting the prominence of its fruit, delivering elegance, smoothness, and a personality that beckons for another sip.
Stirm Calcite 2023
Calcite is the predominate geologic parent material of the soils found in the Cienega Valley. It is an ancient type of limestone which is extremely rare in California. This wine represents the typicity of this region’s alkaline soils and the dynamic of the warm day/cold night diurnal shift climate that allow the grapes to ripen and retain freshness. It is made from the two most widely planted white varieties in the Cienega Valley from vines ranging in age from 25 to 60 years old.
Riesling: Wirz Vineyard, Cienega Valley (44%)
Chardonnay: Cienega Road Vineyard, Cienega Valley (47%)
Chardonnay: Gimelli Vineyard, Cienega Valley (9%)
The grapes were picked by hand over several passes between three different vineyards. At the winery the grapes were given 24 hours of whole cluster maceration to extract tannins, aroma, and flavor compounds in the skins (Riesling) and direct press (Chardonnay). No sulfur was added to allow the juice to oxidize. After a 36 hour cold settle in tank, the clean juice was racked off the solids to another barrels for spontaneous fermentation. The wine was sulfured post completion of secondary fermentation with elevage in barrel on fine lees. Racked off fine lees a month prior to bottling. Unfined and lightly filtered (2 microns, not sterile). 32 ppm free sulfur at bottling. Bottled June 17th, 2023. 538 cases produced. From the winemaker, Ryan Stirm:
It's our belief that authentic wine is a direct reflection of the specific patch of earth it comes from. This ethos drives us to work with the most unique and rugged vineyards found on the central coast. These special sites have a story to tell unlike any other. We have two simple goals that direct every operation above all else: to present the narrative of the growing season in a delicious and transparent format, and to craft a wine with a strong foundation intended to age for decades. The fundamentals that we follow are old-school; dry-farmed, organic viticulture . We spend the majority of our time working in the vineyards, with our harvest season spent between monitoring natural fermentations to picking grapes and the overtime hours dedicated to fixing broken gear. Every year is unique, so the vineyard and cellar practices evolve annually to adapt to the changes each season brings forth. These simple methods require thoughtful, timely decision making, detailed work, and the patience to allow the wine to evolve at its own pace. The results are singular, authentic wines that represent a region, a site, and are a piece of living California history.
La Mistral Tier Reka Koncz
Annamária Réka Koncz had her winemaking academic start with a degree in Horticultural Engineering in Hungary and then a Masters in Agriculture, specializing in microbiology and yeast evaluation in Denmark. After graduating, she spent years traveling and working across wineries in Slovenia, Italy, and France, when she realized it was her home in Hungary that she was meant to plant real roots. Upon her return, she immediately purchased 3 hectares of old vines in the northeast village of Barabás, which is technically a part of the Bükk region. Since her first release in 2016, she’s the only producer in this once highly regarded but since forgotten region of Hungary. Truly a wine like none of us have ever had. This Kékfrankos grape from the Mátra region comes from 12-15-year-old vines in the volcanic Nagyréde wine district, with grapes sourced from a collaboration partner. The vineyard benefits from organic farming practices and volcanic soils. The winemaking process involves two distinct methods: half of the production undergoes gentle crushing and a 4-5 day maceration, while the other half macerates for 14 days with a mix of crushed, destemmed, and whole uncrushed berries, followed by basket pressing before blending. The vines are aged 40-60 years, and the harvest is done by hand, ensuring careful, quality-focused production.
Florez, Kind of Orange
This Viognier from James Jelks of Florèz Wines (Santa Cruz, Cali) is crafted using a unique carbonic maceration process with handpicked grapes from gravelly loam soils. The fermentation includes CO2 from an active fermentation rather than a commercial cylinder, and later shifts to submerged cap maceration, extracting structure from skin and stem tannins. Aged for 10 months in neutral French oak, this orange wine is dry, tannic, and complex, with notes of peach, mandarin, guava, and lychee. James, who founded Florèz Wines in 2017, emphasizes organic and sustainable farming, minimal intervention, and a focus on native yeasts. Lammidia Pink Hand Lammidia is a natural winery in the Abruzzo region of Italy known for its incredibly energetic, low-intervention wines. The winery was founded in 2013 by lifelong friends Davide Gentile and Marco Giuliani. Like many other winemakers, it started with a passion for drinking natural wines but soon evolved into the two abandoning their former jobs to make wine full-time. The winemaking began in Davide’s grandmother Antonia’s house, and in fact it was grandma Antonia who gave the winery its name when a fermentation failed to start and she performed a folk ritual to drive away “l’ammidia”, the evil eye! Pink Hand is a refreshing, textured, zesty bubbly from Italy’s Abruzzo with pomelo bitterness and hints of strawberry, black cherry, pomegranate and creamy, round mouthfeel.
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