Wednesday 7/3
6-8 pm no reservations needed
$15 + 10% off wines tasted

We’ve put together a tasting of six wines that we believe might find a happy place at your July 4^th celebrations. Whether you’re plant-based or planning a long-and-low BBQ meat feast, we have at least a wine or two that will fit right in.

We’re starting with Silvio Messana’s fizzy sangiovese, which is not a pét-nat, as he makes it fizzy not by conserving bubbles from the primary fermentation but by reserving a bit of sweet must during harvest and then adding that back in when it’s time to go. The dormant yeast wakes up in the spring and feasts upon the natural grape sugars, producing just the right amount of carbonation to animate the wine and make it extra-refreshing during a sweltering afternoon. Next, a short-macerated orange wine from the northwest of Greece made in part from the semi-aromatic grape, malagousia. When I visited Dimitrios Kioutsoukis a few years ago he saw that I, as an Angeleno, was impressed by the modest, freshwater reservoirs he’s constructed on his property. He explained that he captures water during the rainy season and then uses it sparingly to deficit irrigate his vines, but also as a handy cold plunge—whenever he’s sweaty and nearing heat exhaustion (our visit was in May, but it was already in the 90s at that point) he jumps into a reservoir to cool off. If I had the opportunity to redesign my shop, I might consider installing a small reservoir there (as well as a small dog park and children’s play space), and you’d be welcome to jump in whenever you wanted. We’ve been on a bit of a Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo kick and have recently poured two quite different expressions of the wine that’s neither a rosé nor a red, but something in-between, and so we’re pouring yet another Cerasuolo, this one with an iridescent ruby hue. To finish, three red wines: one is a grolleau-based wine from the Loire that is, light, dry, and with a plangent savoriness; another is an Etna rosso that sees a bit of carbonic maceration, rendering a medium-bodied, dry, fresh, juicy wine; to finish, a delightful red from the Douro, made as wines are traditionally made in Portugal, from a complex mix of various autochthonous red varieties.