June 2024
- Posted on
Rock juice, Pet Nat, Balkan Rosé, Mr. Chile, Foot Stains, Ink
Welcome to the latest installment of the Streetcar Monthly Pass. If you’ve already purchased a pass, thank you! If you haven’t, here's where you should go. Below you’ll find some information about each of this month’s six Monthly Pass selections. On to the wines!
2023 Batard-Langelier "Les Prière"
variety: melon
appellation: Muscadet Sèvre & Maine
organic
Batard-Langelier is a family estate located 30 minutes south-east of Nantes. Its expanse of 24 hectares of gently sloping vineyards is emblematic of this part of the Loire and its amalgamation of ocean and rock into wine. Third generation winemaker Jérémie Batard has been at the helm since 2017, continuing to work with his parents Régine and Pascal, who share his passion to express all the richness of the melon de bourgogne and the soils of the region in his wines. The estate is fortunate to have vineyards planted on a variety of subsoils: granite, gneiss and gabbro, spread across the appellation, including the prestigious crus Château Thébaud and Monnière St Fiacre. Since 1995, the vineyard has been managed according to the principles of organic farming, with no synthetic treatments applied in the vineyard.
"Les Prières" is a sort of cross-section of the entire estate, aged on the lees for a few months before bottling. Bi-valves and crustaceans are an obvious play here, and we can imagine a refreshing, nuoc cham -infused noodle salad would also delight!
Arzilla "Garbino"
variety: biancame
appellation: Le Marche, Italy
organic
Agricola Arzilla is a natural wine project in Le Marche that began in 2020. Formed by two self-described “wacky old men and a great team of young freaks with a passion for natural wine,” they manage 3 hectares of forest, 300 olive trees and 7 hectares of organic vineyards with sangiovese, biancame, fiano and montepulciano grapes along the Adriatic Sea. Additionally, the team curates a fantastic selection of natural wines for their bottle shop Solo Buon Vino in the heart of downtown Pesaro. The farming and winemaking techniques are all in accordance with the philosophies of the Vinnatur association—you can read more here in their manifesto. “Garbino” is a pet-nat made from the biancame grape (aka greco bianco or bianchella) with light bubbles, hazy golden apple and pear fruit, and a little salty edge. Chill it down and enjoy with a big snack spread of raw veggies, cheese, olives, and a tin of smoked trout, maybe on one of these hot days when cooking seems impossible.
2023 Pikasi Rosé
variety: barbera
appellation: Vipava Valley, Slovenia
practicing organic
Pikasi is the project of Matic Rodica, a young Slovenian winemaker (and professional ballroom dancer) who, in collaboration with friend and farmer Peter Stegovic, produces naturally fermented wines from indigenous grape varietals. The vineyards are situated on the steep hills of the Vipava Valley in southwest Slovenia, just north of the Italian port city of Trieste. Matic makes a couple of wines from the Barbera grape (including this rosé) which is not something we usually see with Slovenian wine. Barbera hails from Italy and is their 3rd most planted grape so you'd think you'd see more of it in neighboring countries but Slovenia is the only other European country that seems to grow it. Matic's Barbera rosé is a fun, easy-going introduction to the region and is the perfect summer bottle to share with friends. Its refreshing combo of red berries, creamy texture and subtle salinity will pair well with a caprese salad or maybe some roasted veggies and baked fish. Also, fun fact: the label artwork is silhouette drawing inspired by photos of Matic's dancing.
2021 Clos des Fous "Mr. Chile"
variety: pais, cinsault, carignan
region: Itata, Chile
sustainable
Clos des Fous was founded in 2008 by Pedro Parra, Francois Massoc, Paco Leyton and Albert Cussen. The four friends were tired of hearing that Chilean wine was all boring, industrial, green and overripe, so they set out in search of the dark side of the moon. Francois and Pedro are longtime friends, akin to brothers, and both have spent much time abroad making wine and working vineyards in Europe. Pedro Parra has a Masters degree in precision agriculture and a Ph.D. for his work with terroir. Pedro currently consults as a terroir specialist around the globe in Argentina, Oregon, Italy, France, Spain, Georgia, Croatia and beyondm, working with world-renowned vignerons like Jean Marc Roulot. The Clos des Fous philosophy is to produce wines with tension from grapes grown in extreme terroir with minimal intervention in the winery. Clos des Fous owns and manages vineyards in Malleco, Guarilihue, Alto Cahapoal and Western Aconcagua and produce a wide variety of wines at their winery in Cauquenes, Maule. “Mr. Chile” is a light red blend composed mainly of the Chilean workhorse grape país (pie-yeese), and rounded out with some cinsault & carignan. As the snow-covered label font suggests, this is a red to drink chilled. When it’s hot and humid but you still want to drink red with dinner, this is the bottle to reach for. Its deep cherry fruit perfectly complemented burgers and a chickpea salad for us but it will pair nicely with most casual situations (food or otherwise).
Luc Lapeyre "Les Pieds Rouges"
varieties: grenache, cinsault
appellation: Languedoc-Roussillon, France
organic, no sulfur added
Domaine Luc Lapeyre is tucked away in Trausse, a sleepy little village in the Minervois that’s easy to imagine working from remotely this summer (yes, I went down an airbnb rabbit hole). Luc and his son Jean-Yves are passionate about farming organically and tuning into the biological rhythms of their vineyards. The inspiration for the “Les Pieds Rouges” cuvée comes from a family tradition of picking a few bunches of cinsault grapes to eat with Cantal cheese. Jean-Yves wanted to recreate the crunchiness of the fresh grapes in the glass and did so by foot stomping the grenache and cinsault, then fermenting in tank with a short carbonic maceration. No added yeasts or sulfur, just an honest wine with crunchy, vibrant fruit that’s juicy and refreshing. It was perfect alongside a meal of chouriço and royal corona beans, but would also be great for a picnic, bbq, or simply with a hunk of Cantal. Can take a light or heavy chill, depending on your mood.
2019 Chelti "Heritage"
variety: saperavi
appellation: Kakheti, Georgia
Chelti is a family-owned and operated winery nestled in the Caucasus mountains of Georgia. Georgi Mirianashvili, who left his banking career and the capital city of Tbilisi behind back in 2001, and moved to Shilda, the village of his wine-loving ancestors, to pursue winemaking. Mostly traditional in his approach, many of Georgi’s wines are aged in qvevri, however other wines will see oak or stainless steel. The grapes are all hand-picked, and wild yeast fermented. Not only is the farming sustainable, but the winery is planning on transitioning entirely to solar power in the near future. This particular bottling is 100% saperavi, which is a teinturier grape that has both red skins AND red flesh. Be sure to behold the incredibly deep dark color in your glass before you sip. Then perhaps be a little surprised by how relatively light on its feet this wine is (no qvevri aging here)! That said, saperavi is perhaps best paired with gamey red meats and heavier fare. But if roasted boar isn’t in your future anytime soon, maybe just bring it to the next backyard bbq?