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October 2022: A tribute to the Gang of Four and ancient wine growing regions

  • Posted on
  • By Kevin Nguyen
  • Posted in Wine Share
October 2022: A tribute to the Gang of Four and ancient wine growing regions

Hey Stranger!

For the month of October, we paid tribute to the ancient wine growing regions of Greece and Croatia as well as the Gang of Four Beaujolais producers who started the modern natural winemaking revolution.

The October 2022 Deluxe “Not a Stranger” Share:

Cue “The Boys Are Back In Town” by Thin Lizzy because this month, we are featuring the Beaujolais Gang of Four! The Gang of Four is a name given to four producers - Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton - who are not only credited for elevating the region out of its “nouveau” phase, but also for laying the viticultural and vinicultural groundwork for the global natural wine movement.

Beaujolais has always been a region with a renegade reputation. In the 13th century, it rescued the Gamay Noir grape from banishment after the Duke of Burgundy deemed the variety too lowbrow for golden slopes of Burgundy known as the Côte d’Or. And in the 19th century, it became the rebellious drink of choice among young French wine drinkers who found themselves priced out of Burgundy and wanting to drink something different than their parents. So it's not surprising that Beaujolais would serve as the home for the natural wine revolution pioneers who championed organic, low-intervention practices in the face of overly-industrialized farming and winemaking in the 1980s.

 

We’ve been drinking these wines for 15+ years and they continue to serve as an inspiration for us today. So with that, we hope you enjoy your October 2022 Deluxe “Not a Stranger” share:

 

2021 Marcel Lapierre “Le Beaujolais”

Marcel Lapierre took over his family estate in the 1970s but it wasn’t until he met Jules Chauvet, the Burgundian father of natural winemaking, in 1981 that the winery really found its stride. Located in the heart of Morgon, one of the 10 crus of Beaujolais, the wines of Lapierre are known for striking the perfect balance of beauty, brawn, finesse, and flirtiness. “Le Beaujolais” is a brand new cuvee from the Lapierre winery and is an adult-version of their famed “Raisin Gaulois” cuvee. Like a “mini Morgon”, it has notes of dark cherries, red flowers, and soft spice. 

 

2020 Guy Breton, Morgon, “P'tit Max”

Guy Breton is a small but fierce winery located north of the village of Villié-Morgon. Before he took over his grandfather's domaine in 1986, the family had been selling their fruit to large cooperatives. Inspired by Jules, he shifted focus to low-intervention practices for his own bottlings. His wines are known for their spiciness yet low-tannin quaffability.  “P’tit Max” is sourced from the domaine’s oldest vines in a plot called Les Charmes. This bottling is aged a little bit longer than his other Morgon cuvee in slightly newer barrels. It tastes like you’re bathing in spiced pomegranate juice with floating rose petals .

 

2020 Jean Foillard, Morgon “Côte du Py”

Jean and Agnès Foillard have been farming 14 hectares of vines centered around Morgon’s famed Côte du Py slope since 1980. Foillard’s wines are known for its deep and structured complexity. We find his wines to be the most intense and velvety of the four. The “Côte du Py” cuvee is named after the famous slope in which the grape are sourced from - like a grand cru vineyard if you will. It sees whole cluster fermentation and is aged for 6-9 months in used oak barrels. A textbook expression of Cru Beaujolais, it feels like you’re being fed chocolate covered strawberries in a silk robe by the fireplace. 

 

 

The October 2022 Standard “Stranger” Share:

For this month’s wine club, we’re featuring two red wines: one from Greece and one from Croatia! Now what do these countries have in common, besides having breathtaking coastal views that flooded our social media feeds this past summer? From a wine perspective, they both have ancient winemaking histories yet they are considered emerging wine regions in the global wine market. It’s a fascinating paradox that makes more sense if you look at it not necessarily from the perspective of how long a country has had a wine making culture, but more so how recently their wines can be found all over the world. 

 

It’s only in the past 15 years or so that the non-Mediterranean world has really gotten to see the beauty of Greek wines. And for Croatia, a country that gained independence as recently as 1991, we believe its reputation as a top-tier wine country is still being discovered today! Both countries have a certain conviction and confidence in their indigenous grapes and traditions that make them irresistible, in our opinion. So without further ado, here is your October 2022 Standard “Stranger” Share:

 

2007 Domaine Tatsis “Goumenissa”

Periklis and Stergios Tatsis come from a long lineage of winemakers and have become famous for being part of a small group of original natural winemakers - no more than 3 or 4 - in Greece to pop up in the 1990s, at a time when international varieties, commercial yeasts, and new oak was the norm in the rest of the country. They are located in Goumenissa, a small appellation in Greece's Northern Macedonia, known for grape varieties like Xinomavro and Negoska.

 

The “Goumenissa” is a blend of the two aforementioned grape varieties and is a wine fit for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. With 15 years of age, this bottle is incredibly mature and yet still alive with notes of black plum, fig jam, sun-dried tomato, tobacco, leather, and dried orange peel. Drink this roasted lamb, mushroom risotto, or after a cold-wet day. 

 

2019 Podrum Franjo “Muz”

Podrum Franjo is the project of Croatian New Yorker Kreso Petrekovic. Kreso is a familiar face to anyone involved in the New York natural wine scene. But before his wine career as a sommelier and wine rep, Kreso grew up watching his family create farmer-style wines for family consumption. In March 2020, Kreso found himself in Croatia during the lockdown and it was then when he decided to make it his mission to showcase the rich winemaking traditions of Croatia to the world, highlighting indigenous grapes in a pure form. Now Kreso splits his time selling wine in New York and making wine in Croatia!

 

“Muz” is a co-ferment of Blaüer Kolner, Blaufränkisch, and Pinot Gris, sourced from 100+ year-old vines from the lower Styria region of Croatia. With nothing added or taken away from this wine, this wine expresses the unique terroir of this coastal wine region. The wine is incredibly fresh yet complex with notes of brambleberry and savory herbs. Drink with grilled beef skewers or with pizza.

 

We hope you enjoy. Don’t be a Stranger and join our wine share here!