February 2023 Rosé Club

In January, we went semi-traditional with two rosés of Pinot Noir. This month we decided to change lanes and not only find unique grapes; we are introducing you to a new and trendy category in wine; natural wines. According to latest edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, natural wine is defined as “Grapes are typically grown by small-scale, independent producers, grapes are hand-picked from sustainable, organic or biodynamic vineyards, wines are fermented with no added yeast (i.e. native yeasts), no additives are included in fermentation, and little to no sulfites are added.” However, there is not an true regulated definition of what natural wine is, so open to interpretation and what works best for the individual winemaker.

Our first rosé is from California and is 100% Gamay.  Since 2002, The Folk Machine has been a family owned and independently operated winery based in the historic Roseland neighborhood of Santa Rosa. Stylistically, The Folk Machine makes artisanally crafted wines of integrity and charm that respect their role at the table. This means they are true to character and origin, generally moderate in alcohol, and noticeable in acidity.

They believe in unforced winemaking, with a goal to intervene as little as possible, but they understand that winemaking by definition is an intervention on something that doesn’t occur in nature. They let the vintage and the vineyards guide the process, dictating what is and what is not necessary. They believe in traditional winemaking as a goal, but use modern technology within ethical limits as a resource. They strive to make wines that are balanced, have a sense of place and time, tell a story, share a history, and above all else, be delicious. Our philosophy is to pay attention to each wine and it’s individual potential. Each wine is respected, considered, and thought about. Any action on the wine needs to be justified. When in doubt, let the wine be. 

Continuing their mission and pledge to cut down the carbon footprint of their wines and green their packaging, this year, they broke with convention and bottled their rosé in an Antique Green lightweight bottle instead of the flint bottle that the market has grown accustomed to. Green bottles contain a much higher percentage of recycled material and their production has a lower carbon footprint. To learn more about their principles, click here.

Our second wine is a rosé of Saperavi from the country of Georgia It’s impossible to neatly incapsulate any country’s geography, history and culture in a few sentences, but we’ll try: Georgia is about the size of Connecticut, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, south of Russia, west of Azerbaijan, north of Armenia and Turkey, with the Black Sea lapping at its western shores. It holds about 3.7 million people within its borders and has one of the most diverse and mountainous territories in Europe. Visitors can drive from a temperate rainforest (the Colchic Forest), to a glacier (the Chaladi), to the desert (the Gareja Desert) within the same day. The richness of the country’s terroir—10 major wine regions span wet and subtropical, dry and continental, and cold and alpine climates—and the challenges its recent history present are exemplified, in many ways, through the wine industry. It has, just like Georgia’s people, been through at least two major transformations in the past half-century, and is just now returning to its delicious roots, with its eyes to the future.

The most famous region (producing 70% of Georgia’s wine) is the eastern most zone of Kakheti.  This volume is slightly misleading, as most of this is sweet or semi-sweet bulk wine exported to Russia.  Abundant sunshine and favorable landscapes allow wine factories to pump out wine with only profit in mind.  Recently, independent winemakers have been bottling their authentic wines from this region, challenging the status quo. Saperavi is the big, dark king of reds in Georgia.  One of the few wines with pink juice, not imparted by the skins, but natural to the grape.  The tannins are abundant and often times harsh when over-macerated or harvested too young. When grown in cooler, higher altitudes it can maintain a fresh acidity to offset the intense tannins, but bottles vary greatly by producer. 

Think Pink,

Carrie Upson

General Manager