Joe's Winos Wine Club june 2016

ILLAHE

VIOGNIER 2015

We're very excited to bring you a wine from Illahe. This tiny producer maintains the age-old techniques of wine-making one might see in the 17th century. 
Everything is hand harvesting, horse-powered, basket-pressed, with some lots never seeing electricity or artificial light. Those lots are brought by bike, canoe, or horse-drawn carriage to their Portland distributor. There are no enzymes or additives used in the vineyards and the winery is certified sustainable. Sure, you might think all this could be a gimmick but we'd reply with: just try this wine! Illahe's 2015 Viognier offers a beautiful bouquet of white flowers, honeysuckle, lychee, banana leaf and persimmon. The palate is juicy and round but not too rich with plenty of papaya, mango and white button mushroom. A lovely touch of chalky mineral and acid bring this perfectly balanced wine to a mouthwatering finish.

Pairings:

Asian dumpings, pork belly sticky bun, grilled octopus

COTO DE HAYAS

"CENTENARIA" GARNACHA 2014

Truly old-vine wines are hard to find. Laws that define what is "old vine" in the US usually dictate that a certain percentage of a wine must be from 30+ year old vines to be labeled as such. This results in plenty of inexpensive wines labeled "old vine" that simply don't show the characteristics of true old vine fruit. As vines age, they produce less fruit. With fewer clusters, the remaining grapes are more concentrated and expressive of terroir. The tannins also become very fine, almost powdery. This Garnacha Centenaria is entirely sourced from 100+ year old vines and shows those characteristics in abundance. The nose is big and rich with blackberry pie, tobacco, cranberry, rhubarb and Hoisin. The velvety, full palate is filled with blackberry, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon and powdery tannins. This is a beautiful old vine grenache at a price you can't beat!

PAIRINGS:

Grilled lamb, grilled sausage, stuffed mushrooms with pancetta, shallots & sage