Club Little House - May

Rossore – Iuli (2012) 

Grape Variety(s): Barbera
Style: Dry Red
Region: Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy
Winemaker: Fabrizio Iuli Soil: Calcarious Clay
Age of Vines: 20 – 40 yrs

The blend of hospitality learned and inherited from his mother and 40 years in the family restaurant, combined with his love of agriculture and the land fed by his father and grandfather – finished with the touch of his artistic hand, Fabrizio Iuli alone along with some help from Dad driving the tractor, creates wines that are like he is; warm and intelligent, easy going, a friend everyone wants to have, and that do not cease to invoke a smile!
The winery is located in a small little town called Montaldo which is in the somewhat undiscovered region of Monferrato in Piedmont. To name only a few of the many varieties, Monferrato is home to Moscato, Fresia, Grignolino, Dolcetto and of course Barbera. Fabrizio calls himself a “barberista,” for his love, focus, and dedication to the Barbera grape. In addition to the mixed and poor soil type in the vineyards (which helps the strength and vigor of his vines), there is more importantly a vein of limestone that runs directly through his property – which gives an amazing acidity and special character to his wines.
Aged as long as it needs to in used barrel, Fabrizio lets the wine tell him when it’s ‘done.’ Natural yeasts, and Fabrizio has also recently stopped topping the barrels as much, letting the wine go into slight reduction which he believes adds to the complexity in the finished wine. No recipe to aging time, each vintage is different and hence each ‘child’ will be given the time he needs.

Rosé – Bodegas Vega de Tera (2015)

Grape Variety(s): Prieto Picudo Style: Dry Rosé
Region: Castilla y Leon, Spain
Winemaker: Xavier Iturria Soil: Sand and Clay
Age of Vines: 80 yrs

A fairly new project from a Spanish engineer and his father-in-law, Miguel Rigil has set out on a mission to make affordable quality, organic and biodynamic wines in central Spain.
The vineyards are located in Toro and Brime of Urz. The origin of Toro wine is said to be pre-Roman, with references in several literary works, including by Góngora, Quevedo, and the Archpriest of Hita. As they were spared from phylloxera, the old vineyards have been preserved and Vega de Tera is able to work with ungrafted plants, making the wines true to type.
The 2015 Rosé is made with local variety, Prieto Picudo, and sees 4 days on the skins and a few months aging in Stainless Steel. Save it for a hot day!