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Founded in 2006, Sedella is owned and run by Lauren Rosillo, an innovative, young Spanish winemaker who worked on projects in Rioja, Rueda and La Mancha before falling in love with the Axarquia region in Malaga. There he found a 2.5-hectare vineyard located in Sedella a quaint town of 400 people, with slate-strewn soil that he could not allow to pass him by. Located at Appellation d’Origine Sierras de Malaga, its high elevation (2461 feet), ancient field blended Romé, Jaén and Garnacha vines (100+ years old) and proximity to the Mediterranean Sea all enhance the personality of Lauren’s wines.
Many of Lauren’s innovations as a winemaker are in fact agricultural innovations. He uses Roman plows and horses rather than tractors to avoid compressing the soil. At its steepest, the slopes are at a 45% grade, but Lauren maneuvers the horses adeptly on the hillsides. The vineyards are organically farmed and certified. Production here is tiny – about 400 cases total.
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Their history started in the year of 1896 when the firm Senior & Co, founded by Haim Mendes Chumaceiro ( also known as Shon Inchi) and his business partner Edgar Senior, operated a drugstore on Curaçao called ‘Botika Excelsior’. The walls of that botika witnessed the beginning of it all when Chumaceiro started producing an “aperitif” or “digestive”, using the recipe of his family and naming it Senior’s Curaçao Tonic. They quickly changed the name to Senior’s Curaçao Liqueur.By the year 1900, After the passing of Chumaceiro, his widow continued his legacy at her home but in modest quantities. It was not until 1945 that the company started getting its shape. The present firm of Senior & Co. was incorporated, and the descendants of the Senior and Chumaceiro families, plus several of the larger business enterprises on the island held its shares. At the same time, the new company purchased the recipe from the widow Chumaceiro.
So, what’s the difference between Curaçao Liqueur and Triple Sec? Or is it all just Orange Liqueur? Basically, we are talking about Orange Liqueur as a group name. These are liqueurs, where citrus orange peels are used as a base ingredient in the distillation process. Between the different brands, there are differences in types of oranges used, the combination of different oranges, what kind of alcohol is used, and of course all the other ingredients (sugar, herbs, spices etc.). All these factors play a role that ultimately comprise a recipe for an orange liqueur.
In 1896, Senior & Co. started producing Curaçao Liqueur with the Laraha orange peel.
Shortly after the conquest of the island in 1499, the Spaniards planned for the agricultural development of Curaçao. One of the plants they carried with care on their long sea voyages from Spain was the so-called “Valencia” orange. Historical records show that someone named Pérez Maestre brought the first seeds from Hispaniola in 1527. When the Dutch arrived, they found small groves in some areas of the island. The sizzling sun and arid climate, however, were too much for the colorful sweet oranges, and this once juicy fruit then turned into a kind of bitter, almost inedible product.
The project was forgotten and the “misfits” of the once proud Valencia oranges grew wild and abandoned. Not even our infamous goats would touch them. But this was a blessing in disguise because decades later (the exact date is lost in history), planters discovered that the peels of this unique Laraha orange, thoroughly dried by the sun, contained etheric oils with an extraordinary pleasing fragrance. In order to not let the crop go to waste they started developing their own recipe to share with friends and family. The unique Laraha orange had found a new purpose.
Distilling their world-famous liqueur is a craft that they have mastered in every step of the way.
Located in the Eastern part of Curaçao. each Laraha tree on the plantation produces between 150 to 200 fruits, which result in 25 to 35 kilograms (55 to 77 pounds) of dried peels. The trees are harvested twice a year. The Laraha trees are 3 meters (9 feet) talll and taking one fruit requires a special technique.
When the Laraha orange is green, right before ripening, our farmers take a tall ladder to take the fruit from the trees. Each Laraha orange is pulled with a piece of the sprig of the tree. This is because pulling only the fruit would cause the knot to dry up and make it impossible to yield more fruit.
They hand-cut the peel of each Laraha orange into 4 sections, which are roughly triangular. The rest of the fruit itself is used as food for the Kabritunan (goats).
After cutting the fruit, the Laraha peels are then dried in sunlight for 5 days. This is done on a large concrete floor. Under no circumstance can the peels become wet, so great care must be taken to cover the peels at night or if it’s raining.
The distillation & bottling process is completely done by hand and takes about 17 days. The peels are put in a gunny bag, spices are added and then hung in a heated copper still with 250 liters (66 gallons) of 96% pure and Kosher alcohol (derived from sugar cane) for 3 days at 150 degrees Celsius (302 Fahrenheit).
After 1-day cooling, the gunny bags are removed from the kettle, water is added, and distillation takes place for another 3 days at a constant temperature of 250 degrees Celsius (482 Fahrenheit).
With 1 distillation, 208 liters (55 gallons) of distillate are produced. Then, we add 400 kg (828 pounds) of sugar and more water. The product is then filtered for 3 days to produce the clear Curaçao liqueur. To create their colored liqueurs, they add certified coloring.
When speaking of an official Curaçao Liqueur, the liqueur has to be made with the dried peels of the unique Laraha orange. To this day, Senior & Co. is the only brand in the world that uses the dried peels of the unique Laraha orange to produce a Curaçao Liqueur.
For a Curaçao Liqueur to be named “Curaçao” it does not have to be distilled on our island, unlike other drinks such as Champagne or Tequila, but we are proud of our island and proud to be the only Curaçao of Curaçao.
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When husband-and-wife team Fiona and David Boyd-Armstrong founded Shortcross in 2012, they started with a mission to redefine what an Irish gin could be, becoming the first gin to be distilled in Northern Ireland.
The gin is distilled in their local village of Crossgar (in Gaelic, Crossgar means ‘the Short Cross’) at the Rademon Estate Distillery which is nestled within the heart of the historic 500-acre estate in County Down. The estate is dense and lush and includes a playground of botanicals providing the Boyd-Armstrongs with wild clover, elderflowers, elderberries, and apples which they forage themselves.
The original still is a 450L copper pot still with two seven plate enrichment columns. The enrichment columns are key to the unique flavors and aromas in Shortcross Gin. It allows the vapour flow to encounter the liquid, helping to separate and pronounce the desired botanicals. In early 2018, to help increase their whiskey production, they installed a new 1,071L copper pot still.
Of course, whiskey is also very important to Shortcross. Their Irish Poitin is created from a unique mash bill using 100% Irish cereals. Shortcross Rye and Malt Irish Whiskey is produced with a mash bill of 100% Irish malted rye and malted barley. Additionally, Shortcross Irish Whiskey Bonding Co. Grafter (Non-Peated) and Shortcross Irish Whiskey Bonding Co. Chancer (Peated) are two of their fine blended Irish Whiskies.
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High up in the foothills of the Sierra de Toloño, in Rioja Alavesa, Sandra Bravo works in some of the oldest, and highest altitude vineyards in Rioja, growing Garnacha, Tempranillo, Viura and some Graciano. In her small winery in Villabuena de Álava, where she works with steel, anforas, and old wood, this young winemaker translates the mountainous landscape into pure and expressive wines. She harvests multiple varieties from micro-terroirs over many small plots that together form a fresh, beautiful image of the area. In her own words: “I was studying Engineering and Enology in Rioja and then I was working in wineries of Bordeaux, Tuscany, New Zealand and California. When I came back to Spain, I spent 7 years in Priorat. All that experience gave me an open point of view to make different wines here in Rioja (where I come from). I have to say Priorat really influenced me to make artisanal wines, and to understand that the most important is the vineyard, the vineyard with soul.
When I came back to Rioja in 2012, I decided to make wines respecting what the vineyard give and always looking for freshness. I was in love with this area in Rioja Alavesa, calcareous soil, small plots, Mediterranean herbs and always North wind with high altitude (right in the mountain that gives my name’s project: Sierra de Toloño)... it was perfect! Because all of this my wines are really mineral.
The wines are fresh and not too oaky, I try to do minimal intervention in the cellar, then I can keep wines alive in bottle. In Rivas de Tereso (650m altitude) I have the vineyards of Sierra de Toloño (Red and White) and two more serious wines made with Tempranillo and Garnacha.
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 2 | Q1 2021: Regenerative Farming: Scratching at the Surface
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Silver Springs Sweet Rye hails from Kentucky and Tennessee.
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Silver Springs Rye Whiskey was produced in Chattanooga by one of the post-Civil War distilleries. Production ran from about 1906 until 1919. Keeper Quest is excited to bring it back!
Silver Springs Sweet Rye Whiskey has corn in the mash bill for added sweetness. Silver Springs was distilled in Kentucky. The rye is housed in charred #3 oak barrels for a minimum of four years. It is finished and bottled in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
This Cask strength Rye’s mash bill is 65% Rye 15% Corn and 20% Malted Barley coming to you at 113pf.Tasting Notes:
The nose is molasses, burnt sugar, and toffee. The palette is caramel, nougat and hot cinnamon candy.
The finish is spicy rye with a long dry finish.Image:
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Skull Wine Company is a collaboration between longtime friends Patrick Cappiello and Pax Mahle.
The philosophy at Skull Wines is to make hand-crafted wines in the spirit of old California - working with family owned, organically farmed vineyards and simple winemaking. Spontaneous fermentations take place with whole cluster grapes in stainless steel and concrete, and aging takes place in neutral oak barrels. The goal is to make moderate alcohol, higher acid, fresh wines, naturally.
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Since 1973, Sky Vineyards has been producing some of the most unique mountain Zinfandels and Syrahs to be found anywhere. Owner Lore Olds got his start in wine in 1971 working for such producers as Beaulieu and Mayacamas Vineyards before purchasing his own patch of land on top of Mount Veeder. Planted in red volcanic soil at 2100 feet, Sky is the highest vineyard on the mountain and produces wines of unmistakable character.
Originally planted with 14 acres of Zinfandel, Lore has since added a small amount of Syrah. The vineyards are dry farmed and naturally tended using organic fertilizers, cover crops, birds, and beneficial insects. The winery itself runs on a single solar panel powering a single light bulb. In the cellar things are just as stripped down; grapes are pressed with an old wooden basket press, punched down by hand, aged in old French oak, and bottled by hand. Even the label is designed by Lore Olds with a new one for each wine and vintage.
Now approaching Sky’s thirtieth year, there is no danger of Lore changing his tune. He still makes incredible wines that reflect the vintage and terroir and are capable of aging for a decade or more. These wines simply could not have come from anywhere else and there’s no point in comparing them to any others; they can only be described as Sky.
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In 2020, Alwin and Stef Jurtschitsch teamed up with three other certified organic growers in the Kamptal, Susi Hahn, Michael Gerbing, and Thomas Janka to make the first vintage of Sonnhof Social Club. The Jurtschitsch family had a long tradition of bottling liter and doppler (two liter) bottles and with the new partnership, the tradition is being revived. The growers are bonded together by their dedication to organic farming in the Kamptal. All of the grapes are harvested by hand and come from the four growers certified organic vineyards. The wine is made at the Jurtschitsch winery in stainless steel tanks with spontaneous fermentations.
The Sonnhof Social Club label is based off of an old traditional loop-style label of the Jurtschitsch family winery that used to be on the doppler bottles. Sonnhof is the old name of the domaine and is still found on the walls of the Jurtschitsch winery.
The one liter bottle is very strongly linked to Austrian wine culture. Sharing a liter bottle was a special time to bring friends and family together. According to Jurtschitsch, when “you put a liter bottle on the table, you had to finish it before it became warm. When wine became more prestigious and chichi it was not cool any more to serve this size of a bottle. But I like this tradition as it reflects the old school honest “grower wines”. Many of the grape growers who do not sell wine anymore still produce at least some small barrels for themselves and their families and friends and still bottle them in one liter. It is a wine made for drinking with family and friends.”
2019 was the first vintage made and in 2020, the Club expanded and the fruit will come from seven growers total, all organic of course. Less than 1,000 cases were made of the 2019 vintage.
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Amélie and Charles Sparr are Alsatian through and through; both come from winegrowing families. The Sparr family has been in the region since 1634, making Charles the 12th generation. Pierre Sparr, a famous and respected negociant, was Charles's great grandfather and father. The company was sold in 2007 to a local co-op and the vineyards the family owned were split up among the cousins and Charles's uncle. Charles always knew that he wanted to be a winemaker and when he was 16 years-old, he saved up his money and bought his first vineyard. In 2010, Charles bought more vineyards from his family. Immediately, he converted everything to organic agriculture and in 2013, Charles, with his wife Amélie, launched their eponymous winery. They sold to négociants for a few years and started to bottle under the Domaine Amélie and Charles Sparr in the 2017 vintage. Amélie's family owns Vignobles des Deux Lunes, which has been organic since 1997 and biodynamic since 2003. Amélie and Charles’ winery is in Wettolsheim, just south of Colmar. They now own eighteen hectares coming from both sides of the family, in the heart of southern Alsace where the best vineyards are located. They are lucky to own eight hectares of Grand Cru, including Mambourg, which has been the Sparr family’s most prized vineyard for generations.
Amélie and Charles have imagined and created a new vision for what Alsatian wine can be. They experiment, dream, and push boundaries and in the process they are redefining what we can expect from Alsace. All of their farming is biodynamic, certified by Demeter as of the 2019 vintage. Most of their wines are classic in style, but they play around too. They have planted some Syrah in Mambourg, which will disqualify that parcel from being declared as grand cru in the future! They also make an orange wine called “Liberté” which comes from grand cru vineyards, the name is self explanatory.
The heart and soul of their work takes place in the vineyards. They work with a high canopy, allowing for more photosynthesis, and thereby more energy can be transmitted to the fruit. This is a theory that I first heard espoused by Charles Lachaux in Burgundy, who is a good friend of theirs. Sometimes they do not hedge the vines at all, in order to not cut off the energy of the plant. They work with a lot of plants for treatments as well: nettle, chamomile, dandelion, and horsetail. If a treatment for mildew is needed, then they work with copper and sulfur. Different infusions help with different maladies. Harvest is done entirely by hand in small bins so that the grapes don’t get crushed before they get to the winery.
In the cellar, they work with whole clusters and use a slow and gentle press, which lasts about twelve hours. They leave the juice to settle for two days before racking. Fermentations happen spontaneously and normally last for three weeks, although it varies year to year and from one variety to the next. The wines stay on the fine lees for eight to ten months. No sulfur is used until bottling and so all wines go through malolactic fermentation. Their Rieslings are made in stainless steel and everything else is fermented and aged in oak barrels (225L and 600L). All of the barrels are made by Stockinger in Austria, which the couple prefers because they find that the impact is not too oaky.
They mainly grow Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer, about 20% of each, followed by 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Blanc. The remaining 10% is a mix of Muscat and Pinot Auxerrois. 2017 was the first vintage bottled as Charles and Amélie Sparr. Charles and Amélie studied in Burgundy and I have to say, their Pinot Noir, “Jardin d’Eden” is one of the best I’ve ever had from Alsace. It comes from an exceptional limestone plot in Sigolsheim. It’s made with whole clusters and is aged for twelve months in oak. They make a Muscat from Grand Cru Brand and they work with a carbonic maceration. The “Cerisier en Fleur” is a multi-vintage blend of Riesling, Muscat, and Pinot Blanc from 2018, 2019, and 2020. It’s a touch floral, but very dry with only 2g/L residual sugar. The Riesling gives a great acidity. It’s made in stainless steel, so very fresh, and the final alcohol is 12.5%.
We had a chance to discuss the impressions of the first few vintages that Sparr has made. Charles said the 2017 was very challenging with low yields, only 30hl/ha because of spring frost, followed by hail later in the year, and then the summer was very dry. Despite the challenges, Charles is happy with the quality of the wines. 2018 was quite warm with 60hl/ha yields; lower acidity than 2017 but nice structure and balance. 2019, also a warm year but with even more structure and power because the maturity was higher. 2020 is similar in style to 2017, something fresher with more acidity. For warm vintages, they are not hedging to keep shadows and they are not cutting the grass to keep humidity in the soil, in an effort to keep freshness. In 2020, they started harvest on August 20th.
There is plenty to discover here in both the classic and ‘new’ style. It’s great to see the young generation bring a creative energy to Alsace, revitalizing interest in this often overlooked region.
-Michele Peters
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 3 | July 2021: Amélie and Charles Sparr: Looking Forward in Alsace
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Staffelter Hof first appears in texts from in 862 AD. At almost 1,200 years old, it is one of the oldest companies of any kind in the world. The vineyard holdings span 11.5ha (10.2ha planted) of diverse vineyards such as Paradies, Kirchlay, Letterlay, Steffensberg, and as far south as the Dhroner Hofberg. The winery itself is located in Kröv, a village in the heart of the middle Mosel on a sweeping 180⁰ curve of the river between the old, quiet winemaking villages of Wolf and Kinheim. This is not a hotbed of avant-garde creativity. Yet Jan Matthias Klein, a 7th generation winemaker at this estate, is doing something extraordinary here, crafting naturweine the likes of which have rarely been seen in the history of the Mosel.
Jan is a vital member of the Klitzekleine Ring, a group of about a dozen winemakers around Traben-Trarbach dedicated to saving steep slope Mosel vineyards that would otherwise be abandoned. In that sense, he is a conservationist. However, he is also a powerful innovator. After stages in France, New Zealand, and Australia, Jan came home and steered his family’s winery into quixotic efforts of viticulture being explored by the younger generation in the Mosel. His experimentations with non-German grape varieties (piwis, e.g.), alternative energy and water management at the winery, and other groundbreaking techniques to combat the inevitability of climate change, mark him as a visionary leader in the progressive German wine movement.
Jan’s farming on the steep slate hills of the area is strictly organic—practicing since 2011 and certified since 2014—which is a very hard and expensive commitment to make. It is far easier to spray pesticides from a helicopter, for instance, than to scramble up and down 60-70⁰ gradient slopes placing natural insect repellants on each and every vine. The hard work is an intrinsic part of the winery’s founding legend, however. Centuries ago, a donkey was originally the laborer of the steep slopes in Kröv until a wolf killed it. Legend has it that the monks caught the wolf and made it do the vineyard work after it killed the donkey. Wolf “Magnus” is still the mascot of the winery today (hence the labels and names).
It cannot be emphasized enough: these are not normal Mosel wines. They would be exceptional in ANY of the world’s winemaking regions, actually. Klein makes classic Rieslings under the Staffelter Hof label, but works with ZERO SULPHUR on this line of wines. They are unfined, unfiltered, hand-bottled, and contain varying levels of palate-tingling residual CO2. The variety of grapes is kaleidoscopic, featuring cuvees from Frühburgunder, Germany’s ruddy, blue/black-skinned “early Burgundy,” a.k.a. Pinot Noir Précoce, Sauvignon Blanc, Müller-Thurgau, Muscat, and a bewildering assortment of Portuguese grapes.
So… the wines are “out there.” But are they good?
Yes, they are rivetingly good; fresh in character, light on their feet (under 11%), joyful to drink if you don’t want to ponder too much about them and fascinating if you do. For those who think the pleasures of “glou-glou” and farm-to-bottle wines do not exist in Germany, these wines are a wake-up call and invitation.
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 1 | Q4 2020: Learning and Relearning German Wine
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 2 | Q1 2021: Conversation with Cellar Master, Yamile Abad - Weingut Staffelter Hof - Mosel, Germany
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