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Weingut Materne & Schmitt, on the Mosel river in the town of Winningen, is a harbinger of change in the tradition-bound Mosel. The winery was founded in 2012 by Rebecca Materne and Janina Schmitt. Neither woman came from a winemaking region or family, but both pursued their passion for wine by earning degrees in viticulture and oenology at Geisenheim and mastering their craft at wineries in South Africa, Napa Valley, Provence, Austria, the Rhine and the middle Mosel. In 2012 the friends united to share the position of cellar master for the legendary Heymann-Löwenstein in the Terrassen Mosel, located in the steepest, wildest, northern-most precinct of the river. While there, they plotted for their future by leasing vineyard sites and making their own wine from the nearby villages of Winningen, Kobern, and Lehmen. In 2014 the decision was made to go full time with their own estate, now totaling more than 3.5ha distributed over about 40 different sites. As of this writing, they have moved into their own winery in Winningen. The glory days of this estate have begun.
Materne & Schmitt make Riesling exclusively from steep sloped or terraced slate vineyards, with all work done by hand. They allow no manipulation in their wine. All grapes are hand-selected at extremely low yields (around 20 to 35 hl/ha), macerated on the skins without sulphur, gently pressed, and gravity-run into the cellar. All wines are spontaneously fermented and often go still during winter and begin again in the spring. No additions, reductions or fining of any kind occur. Total sulphur never exceeds 60ppm. All wines are vinified completely dry and bottled 11 months after harvest.
The Materne & Schmitt wines unerringly express the distinct differences in terroir that change rapidly along the twists and turns of the Mosel between Winningen, Kobern, and Lehmen. The wines are seriously structured and exemplary Terrassen Moselers: richly textured, living, breathing, at-times-Burgundian seeming wines, organically vinified with crystalline clarity. Their balanced intensity derives from neither acidity (6-7ish) nor alcohol (11-11.5ish) which are surprisingly modest. Rather, it is the slate expression of the vineyards that etches the wines and renders them with such precision. With their methods worthy of study, Rieslings to pair with great cuisine, and powerful women to admire, we welcome Materne & Schmitt into our portfolio with eagerness and excitement.
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 1 | Q4 2020: Learning and Relearning German Wine
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 4 | January 2022: A Community in the Terrassenmosel
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In 2010, after having dedicated the previous 20 years to the recovery and maintenance of his vineyards—not to mention a lifetime to winemaking—Pedro Merayo established Bodegas y Viñedos Merayos. The Merayo family has always been strongly linked to the world of wine and they have owned one of the most important wineries (Bodegas Merayo, closed c. 1989) in the region for decades. However, in the late 1980′s, Pedro Merayo decided to take time off from winemaking to concentrate his efforts on the care and maintenance of the family vineyards. After the great changes of the late 1990′s, including the creation of new wineries and the modernization of existing ones in the context of an international market, the family decided to return to its roots.
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Nothing has changed at Mestres since they produced their first Cava bottle, and you can taste the respect for their terroir and authenticity in their wines. The first records of the family as vinegrowers and négociants date back to 1312. In the 1600’s they began construction of the actual winery in San Sadurni d’Anoia, Penedes, Spain, which was finished in 1861. They bottled their first sparkling wine in 1925, and opened their first bottle to celebrate Christmas in 1928. They were the first producer to register the word cava in 1959, a word chosen to convey that this was a sparkling wine aged in a cellar.
They have always used the traditional grapes of their terroir: Xarel-lo, Parellada and Macabeu, all of them hand harvested on their 74 acres of vineyards, situated at 690 feet above sea level. These are some of the oldest vineyards in the area. To protect their patrimony, no insecticides or herbicides are used at the vineyard, and pruning is carried out to reduce their vigor, therefore producing grapes of greater ripeness and intensity.
Today, they still use traditional methods taught by their ancestors including, long aging in caves. The youngest of their wines is aged 2 years in the cellar, making all of their bottlings either Reserva or Gran Reserva. In order to achieve wines that are full and rich, aging is never rushed- the wines undergo a natural stabilization process during their long aging, so that the crystals which form can then be dégorged along with the yeasts. All of their production is aged under cork, and for all bottles riddling and dégorge is done by hand.
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Leonel Hernández (Don Gil), a third generation maestro mezcalero, produces his mezcal in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, a town and municipality in Oaxaca. It is famous for being the site of the Mitla archeological ruins and is part of the Tiacolula District in the east of the Valles Centrales Region.
Mezcal Local is made with 100% agave Espadin, harvested after 10 years. The agaves are cooked underground for 3 days, ground using an Egyptian mill, and then fermented in wooden vats for 10 days. During the distillation process agave hearts, as well as a combination of fruits (apple, peach, banana and orange), are added to the still. The heart of the agave acts as a natural purifier and the fruits add a wide range of distinctive flavor notes. This mezcal is distilled twice in copper.
Mezcal Local is a vegan mezcal de pechuga (pechuga translates to breast in Spanish). This means the finished mezcal is redistilled with local fruits, grains, and nuts, and a raw chicken or turkey breast is hung over the still, cooking in the emanating vapors, supposedly adding to the spirit’s final flavor.
These mezcals are usually made in small batches according to old family recipes and served during special occasions such as harvest, weddings, funerals and festivals.Due to lack of protein, as Local only uses fruit during distillation, the CRM will not allow the Pechuga classification on the bottle.
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Andrea Mufatto and Gerardo Michelini started their winery in 2019 alongside their son Manuel Michelini. They are situated at the foot of the Andes in one of the highest elevations of the Uco Valley where the soil contains some of the richest components of calcium carbonate and granite in all of South America. This particular sub region is at the highest, most western portion of Gualtallary and goes by the name La Cautiva. At Michelini i Mufatto they strive to make some of the most unique wines of Argentina and the wines show tension, elegance and balance. They are currently working with Semillon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The trio also makes wine in Uruguay and Spain and they are the first family in Argentina to import small production wine from Europe.
This profile and tasting notes were edited from the Brazos Wine website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: Brazos.
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The Michelini family is not short of terroirs to explore in their native Argentina, and brothers Gerardo, Matias, and Juan Pablo continue to amaze with the amount and quality of the projects they get involved with in South America. Zorzal, Gen del Alma, Passionate Wines are just some of the labels they are associated with, and that have helped change and shape the current viticultural landscape of their native country. Now the family has gone a step further and taken its craft and vision to Spain, where they have set a firm foot in Bierzo, as well as Rioja.
It was through their friendship with César Marqués that the Michelinis got to know Bierzo so well. The Bierzo native Marques introduced them to some of the most prized vineyards in the area, and instigated the Argentinians to produce wines from there.
After having learned a thing or two from him about Mencia, Doña Blanca, Palomino and the local grapes from the area, the family went out on their own. They now have their own winery in Toral de Merayo, a two centuries-old building made of the stones that shape the mountainous landscape, and here they parked some old foudres, and even some amphorae made by the master of clay, Juan Padilla.
They farm their very old vines organically (soils in the region are mostly clay with slate and quartz) and the range of wines includes a village level with fruit from different plots, a couple of paraje (lieu-dit) wines, and prized crus such as Encinado, and Encrucijada.
Manu Michelini is the young winemaker, and he takes a traditional as well as an experimental approach: the reds are foot-stomped in the amphorae, sometimes with whole bunches, and they also ferment in clay. The aging is done in a mix of vessels, amphorae as well as used oak and chestnut barrels, and the wines see short macerations of less than 20 days, followed by aging in neutral French and American oak barrels.
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Of the 175 wine growers in Vacqueyras; only 45 are bottling their own wines and selling direct from the domaine, with the rest selling to the co-op or to one of the three négociants in town. The Vache family of Domaine la Monardière falls amongst the growers. The Vache family bought their domaine in 1987 from the Monarde family, and immediately got to work revitalizing the vineyards, building a new winemaking facility. They began by selling the wines from the domaine's door. The Vaches also harvest all of their vineyards by hand, which is not a requirement of AOC Vacqueyras, nor is it a common practice. They have been working organically in the vineyards since 2000, but only began the certification process in 2007, and have now been certified since 2010.
They have 22 hectares total, 18 hectares in Vacqueyras and 4 hectares in Vaucluse. They never purchase any fruit or must. Monardiere has a lot of sandy soil and so they make a significant amount of rose and white - the total for both in the appelation is only 5%, but 15% of Monardiere's wine is rose and another 15% is white. Sixty percent of the appellation is on a plateau with a lot of stones and a clay subsoil. For all of the wines, they work with lower yields than the 36hl/ha that are allowed. They normally average 30-32hl/ha, but recent vintages have been hit hard 22 hl/ha in 2012 and 18hl/ha in 2013!
Since they practice organic viticulture, it only follows that they should vinify with as little intervention in the cellar as possible, to produce authentic wines that are true to their origin. After harvest, the grapes are sorted and mostly destemmed, and then put into cement vats; the indigenous yeasts found on the grapes start the fermentation naturally. They pump-over the wine daily for a gentle extraction. The Syrah and some of the Grenache vats are punched down manually, and maceration takes place for two to three weeks. The wines are then aged in vats or used barrels throughout the winter and then bottled without fining or filtration and a low amout of sulfur. The Monardiere wines offer an incredibly pure expression of Vacqueyras. www.monardiere.fr
BOWLER E-Zine Issue 4 | January 2022: HVE – Qu’est-ce que c’est?
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Back in 2016, this small, family-owned, nature-oriented producer of “real Prosecco” absolutely blew us away in a massive blind tasting divided by category (col fondo, brut, extra dry, etc), outclassing a number of other producers—some more respected, others more famous—in every flight. Knowing that moments like these don’t happen often, we contacted them right away and found the people to be as genuine as the wines.
The Mongarda story began in 1978, when Bruno Tormena decided to dedicate himself full-time to the career of vignaiolo. As a youngster he learned the art of vine cultivation while working with his grandfather in family vineyards in the locality of Mongarda, from which the estate takes its name. Bruno transmitted his passion to his son, Martino, who has run the estate since 2011. Martino is a recent graduate of the enology school in Conegliano and he has intensified his family’s commitment to their land and the quality of their wines.
Today, Mongarda has 5 hectares of woods and 12.5 hectares of vines, spread between the villages of Col San Martino, Farra di Soligo, Miane, and Valdobbiadene. This is the heart of the Valdobbiadene-Conegliano Prosecco Superiore zone. Mongarda’s vineyards are on extreme slopes with old vines and poor, rocky soils, a situation which forces them to be worked manually. The main variety is, of course, Glera, but the Tormena family has also kept the local heirlooms of Perera, Verdiso, Bianchetta, and Boschera, which are interspersed through the parcels and co-harvested and co-fermented with the Glera.
The vines, some dating back to 1950, are pampered: no weedkillers (undesired plants are mowed or removed by hand) and no synthetic fertilizers (instead, a biodynamic compost of grape skins, vine cuttings, and manure from grass-fed cows is made in-house). While Martino has set organic certification as a goal, he is also concerned with elevated use of copper, whose toxicity is perhaps the ‘elephant’ in the organic viticulture room, especially in wet, cool, climates. He includes natural extracts from stingle nettles and horsetail.
In the cellar, the objective is to let the vintage and vineyards speak. Grapes are pressed whole cluster, softly enough to avoid extracting bitterness. All primary fermentations are spontaneous. The use of dosage is not formulaic, but is adjusted according to each vintage and disgorgement. Total production is 30,000 bottles.
Take a look at this beautiful five-minute video!
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Montagnette is produced at Les Vignerons D'Estezargues, a small Southern Rhone Cooperative located in the Gard Departement, west of Villeneuve-Les-Avignon. They are a unique co-op because each vineyard is farmed sustainably and the wines are bottled separately for each estate. The yields in the vineyards are not high because the soil is very arid in this particular region. The co-op's commitment to environmentally-respectful viticulture and to non-interventionist winemaking made it possible to follow the "Terra Vitis" charter: no cultured yeasts, no filtration, no fining, no enzymes, no SO2 on the grapes at harvest (or during the vinification), only a little bit for bottling.
Domaine La Montagnette is owned by Jean-Marie Granier, aka the Gentleman Farmer of Estézargues! He bought his first plots when he was 16, became the city’s mayor at 24, and the vice-president of the co-op back in 1990. He’s been with the co-op for the past 50 years. Following the path of his father, who farmed about 30 hectares of vineyards, Jean-Marie increased the vineyard to its current size of 60 hectares and his son, Jean-Laurent, has been caring for seven hectares since 2003.
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Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this producer profile:
(Click here for more on Monte Dall'Ora on Louis/Dressner's website and here for the winery's own website)
Located in the center of Valpolicella on one of the five ridges that descend the valley (which resemble the fingers of a hand), Monte Dall'Ora is the creation of Carlo Venturini and his wife Alessandra Zantedeschi. Both are from vignaioli families, but decided to start fresh with their own estate in 1995. At the time, the purchased terraces were in terrible condition and everything had to be rebuilt.
Vines are either selection massale or grafted on American rootstock. Carlo has chosen to work with (and in some cases, replant) the region's traditional varietals: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, and Oseleta (a lost indigenous grape). The estate was worked organically until 2006, when the couple converted to biodynamic agriculture. The soils are unique to their particular ridge and are composed of limestone with a reddish hue. The first 15 meters are very soft and porous, permitting the vines' roots to penetrate deep in the subsoil.
The vines are all trained in the pergola style. Carlo thought about training the vines in Guyot, but quickly changed his mind for reasons of climate and quality control. In many regions, growers continue to use pergola because this vine tending system produces very high yields; while often inconsequential to the health of the grapes, the widespread justification is that is necessary to protect the fruit from the sun. In Valpolicella's case, this is actually true: Corvina and Corvinone are both very susceptible to sunlight. They are also very vigorous varietals: with guyot, bunches would get too big and become prone to illness. Pergola creates more air and space between clusters; the plants are more separated, which results in smaller and more concentrated bunches.
Instead of worrying about lower yields for higher concentration (an easy goal with but very hard to accomplish with pergola), Carlo prefers focusing his energy on balance in the vineyard: this essentially means promoting agricultural and natural biodiversity instead of just vine tending. Grass grows free, with cherry and olive trees complimenting the entirety of the vineyard. This work philosophy continues through the winemaking: "Finding the equilibrium in the vineyard brings balance in the cellar."
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