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| Noel Diaz, an erstwhile sommelier turned winemaker, runs a winemaking co-op out of an anonymous, mixed-use development in the city of Richmond, across the bay from San Francisco. The facility may be nondescript, but there is nothing bland about the man nor the wines he makes there under the Purity label. Noel’s folks were farmers, but his trajectory took him elsewhere: first to film school, and then for nearly two decades, restaurants. At some point, he became a serious student of wine, and the Sirens of wine began to call to him: at first quietly and then ever more insistently. Noel dreamt of how he might make the move from talking to people about wine on the floor to making this thing for which he had fallen for so deeply. His first vintage was in 2013, and I have enjoyed getting to know the man—who I find to be delightfully open-minded, non-douchey, and a turned-on soul—as much as I have enjoyed watching him dial it in. From purchasing all his grapes to now farming some of them, Noel is a moving target, a man who lives a life of danger, and it is impossible to predict what each new vintage will bring. Frank Cornelissen once mentioned to me that as a winemaker, it takes ten years to figure out what the fuck you’re doing (considerably longer than Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule), another ten years to understand if you’re any good at it, and then if you’re fortunate a few more years to do your thing. With seven vintages behind him, Noel seems to be ahead of the curve and is already doing his thing. We have sold through several of Noel’s current vintage wines because they are well-priced and gosh darn it, people like them. Here is what we have from Noel in stock. |