Wine Club - June 2019

Le Pas Rouge– Domaine des Cognettes (2018)

  • Grape Variety(s): Gamay Noir, Gamay Chaudena

  • Style: Dry Red

  • Region: Clisson, Musadet, Loire Valley, France

  • Winemaker: Stéphane and Vincnet Perraud

  • Soil: Weathered Granite and Sandy Pebbles

  • Age of Vines: 30 yrs

It was pretty cool how it happened, we had visited other wineries earlier that day and had an Airbnb in the town of Clisson. We arrived at dusk...greeted by our host and when we told her we were going around visiting vineyards, especially those working naturally, she stopped and said we MUST walk over (literally next door) to her neighbor who had a winery and talk with him. It was during harvest so we really felt like we wanted to set up appointments since everyone was so busy but she insisted and went inside his tank room and he out and greeted us. We talked a bit and then offered to come in and taste through some of the
wines. Before we tasted, I was positive I'd bring start to import the othes we had tasting that day as I enjoyed the wines for sure, but it was undeniable that these “surprise wines” in my hand were superior and on par with some of the best Muscadet wines I had tasted.

6th generation Muscadet winegrowers, brothers Stephane and Vincent Perraud work together just outside of the historic, medieval town of Clisson on 28 hectares. As of 2010, they work all of their vineyard in organic agriculture, harvesting by hand and vinifying their wines naturally, with only native yeasts and minimal sulfur usage. The soils are mainly composed of weathered granite, gabbro (extremely dense and heavy volcanic rock), along with sand, clay, and quartz pepples.

Red wines from this region of France tend to be lighter in body and higher in earthy/mineral notes. The Le Pas Rouge is one of our favorites at home...really can go with anything and amazingly drinkable. The 2018s are much “bigger” than a normal vintage, with very warm weather. Higher alcohol levels this year as well. They produce the Le Pas Rouge in underground tanks with minimal extraction and very little intervention...just a bit of SO2. Enjoy!

Cantina Marilina – “Fedelie Rosato” (2018)

  • Grape Variety(s): Nero d’Avola 

  • Style: Petillant Naturel (Natural Sparkling)

  • Region: Tourraine, Sicily, Italy

  • Winemaker: Paterno Sisters

  • Soil: Clay/Limestone

  • Age of Vines: 25 yrs

Cantina Marilina is an organic wine-making company in the South East of Sicily, Noto. Founded in 2001, it is now run by the Paternó family: the two sisters Marilina and Federica, whose philosophy is based on an absolute respect for the land.

We hope you fall in love with the very loveable fizzy wine they’ve made this year. This wine style is called “Pet-Nat” or Petillant Naturel, which is a method of bottling the wine before the alcoholic fermentation finishes, which then captures the remaining residual carbon dioxide as the fermentation finishes in the closed bottle. As you’ll see in the bottle, this wine is completely unfiltered. The bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottle is just yeast and grape sediment...nothing to be afraid of- but I would recommend not pouring the last bit unless you really like yeast!

Megan MorrisComment