Club Big House - February

Contadino – Frank Cornelissen (2014)

Winemaker: Frank Cornelissen
Soil: Volcanic
Age of Vines: 40+ yrs
Grape Variety(s): Mainly Nerello Mascalese
Style: Dry Red
Region: Mt. Etna, Sicily
Frank Cornelissen is the owner of 12 hectares of vines rather high up on Mount Etna. Uniquely, he has been involved in wine his entire life. As the son of a wine broker in Belgium, he had the opportunity to be immersed in wine on a professional level from a very young age. Frank went on to produce his first wine in 2001 when he started with only 1.5 hectares of vines.

Zev Rovine says, "Frank is obsessive over details in an effort to make wines that truly express terroir with perspective. He is a meticulous vineyard worker and keeps an extremely clean and organized cellar. The evolution in his wines are intriguing as well. Earlier vintages were linear, angular, precise, and full of minerality. He has often said that in the early days his goal was to create liquid stone. His wines have softened with time now striking balance between fruit and dynamic minerality."

"Our farming philosophy is based on our acceptance of the fact that man will never be able to
understand nature s full complexity and interactions. We therefore choose to concentrate on observing and learning the movements of Mother Earth in her various energetic and cosmic passages and prefer to follow her indications as to what to do, instead of deciding and imposing ourselves. Consequently this has taken us to avoiding all possible interventions on the land we cultivate, including any treatments, whether chemical, organic, or biodynamic, as these are all a mere reflection of the inability of man to accept nature as she is and will be." – Frank Cornellisen

Carignan – Broc Cellars (2014)

Winemaker: Chris Broc
Soil: Sand
Age of Vines: 120 yrs
Grape Variety(s): Carignan
Style: Dry Red
Region: Alexander Valley, California

The grapes for this wine come from a very special vineyard site. Chris is proud to say that he saved this vineyard from “Cabernetification” by preventing the now 120 year old Carignan vines on the site from being ripped up. These are vines that are planted on their original root stock – a true rarity as the majority of vines in the world today have been grafted due to phylloxera.