Joe's Winos Wine Club Selections May 2021

Can Sumoi

Perfum 2020

Pepe Raventos is a 21st generation winemaker and hails from a family that has been growing wine since 1497. Raventos i Blanc defined sparkling wine in Spain, but it is Pepe’s passion project, Can Sumoi, that we’re here for today. Born from a bike ride and a dedication to biosynergy, Can Sumoi (pronounced Sue-Moy) is a nearly 1,000 acre farm founded in 1645 with 10 acres of old vine plantings. At 2000 feet elevation, It is now home to sheep, goats, bees, and matanza pigs, overlooking the Mediterranean with an occasional sunrise view of Mallorca.

You can’t blame Pepe for wanting to express the terroir of such a beautiful Penedes estate outside of Barcelona, one which he narrowly saved from becoming a chicken farm. His passion to express the sense of this special place was also instilled in him after working with Loire legend Didier Dagueneau in 2004.

Perfum was originally made as a still wine by Pepe at Raventos i Blanc in 1999 to raise money for a cash strapped family business. The newest incarnation of this wine is a fresh natural white made from a blend of Malvasía de Sitges, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, Parellada & Macabeo. It has powerful floral notes that invoke the name of the wine and a farm overgrown with wildflowers that was Can Sumoi. This is also joined by honeysuckle and, ironically, fresh cut bermuda. The fruit is not quite ripe peach, japanese plum, honeycrisp apple, and pear. There is a nice crisp salinity throughout, finishing with wet stone and a lingering almond note.

Pairings:

Fresh oysters, clams, seafood paella, smoked salmon, foie gras, and at 10.5% ABV, it is a perfect aperitif.

Easton

'Zinster' Zinfandel 2018

Ready to drink, Serve with a slight chill

Zinfandel was my original favorite varietal. I went on my first business trip to California for my twenty first birthday, though I was 20 for most of the trip, just don’t tell. I remember loving the ripe fruit and power of these wines. They were not known for their restraint, but neither was I at the time.

Bill Easton makes plenty of Zin in the Eastern California Sierra Foothills. There Bill makes a new style of Amador County Zinfandel, that is actually an homage to the past. Ilya Shchukin of Vinum Imports educated us on that past last night during a Croatian-themed virtual wine dinner with Restaurant Iris. Shchukin spoke of the DNA testing done on Zinfandel linking it to Crljenak, a native grape of the Dalmatian Coast (think Dubrovnik and the Adriatic Sea).

This grape made its way to California in 1852 as Zeinfandall, and Easton is shooting to replicate this O.G. Cali Zin style. They’re doing this by combining grapes hand-harvested from dry-farmed organic vineyards with the techniques of whole cluster fermentation and carbonic maceration. The result is a wine that is instantly drinkable with ripe red fruit in the form of raspberries and cherries, floral lavender, and violets. Balsamic and bubblegum are part of the freshness and acidity. The dry herbs are there for sure; Easton calls it sage and yerba buena, and we get some prickly pear. There is some soft powdery tannin that has very pleasant chocolate tones that are more prominent the longer the wine is open.

PAIRINGS:

Flank Steak or Carne Assada, “Peka” - a slow roasted lamb and potato dish from Croatia. Keep in a cooler next to the grill, and enjoy with hamburgers all summer, or in Tom Lee Park for Memphis in May BBQ Fest.