Fall shipment 2023

IKEWEN

FIELD NOTES
If Envínate’s reds can be compared to Syrah from Cornas, Carmelo’s ‘Ikewen’ bottling would be the Canaries version of Pineau d’Aunis, an ultra-pepper laden, fresh offering that belies its desert climate. Spicy, feral and rustic, this needs several years of cellaring before it will show its stuff.

RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW 
Drink 2025 – 2030+

SEASONAL PAIRING
Proteins with vinegar-based sauces welcome. Roasted veggies with big flavor (think BBQ)

Read more about Ikewen here.

**PODERI COLLA**

**FIELD NOTES**
This wine from our previous collaboration is the product of years of trust-building with the inimitable Colla clan. As in years past, a submerged cap vinification produced an elegant wine with soft tannins, and an even darker color than you may have seen before. Pietro Colla found that the wine opens up beautifully after a few hours of decanting, though if you don’t have the time, swirling can unlock some of the aromatics as well. 2020 is a classic Barbaresco vintage and with ultra clean fruit, it was the perfect harvest for the Colla family to embrace their first zero sulfur bottling from start to finish.

**RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW** 
Best 2025-2040+

**SEASONAL PAIRING**
Braised meats, mushroom rice, stewed tomato soup with barley and fish, eggplant parmesan

FIELD NOTES

2020 CHENIN BLANC SAUMUR: Along with Poderi Colla, the 2020 Lambert Chenin debuts our first ever zero-sulfur bottling from the Loire Valley. Another long term yearly collaboration has carved a new pathway as Domaine Arnaud Lambert puts forth – in the excited whatsApp’ed words of Arnaud himself – “my best Viticole Chenin I think!!” Arnaud is a gem of a human, always willing to ask himself the hard questions about farming, organics, biodynamics, and address how he fits into that world in an unflinching way. Where others of his ilk (the dedicated, detail-oriented Cezanne-esque perfectionists) might balk at gradually moving farming into a regenerative place or bottling wine with zero sulfur and minimal intervention, with Viticole bottlings, Arnaud consistently takes the more interesting path of discovery.

2019 CHENIN BLANC SAUMUR: The scroll is rolled back even further for Saumur Chenin as Arnaud elects not to add any sulfur at bottling, in addition to no fining or filtration. Next year’s bottling will be completely sulfur free from start to finish, but the results of Arnaud’s walk on the wild side are already apparent here as this cuvée retains plenty of natural CO2. It is all at once linear and salt-tinged.

2018 CHENIN BLANC SAUMUR: Arnaud and I have done this on many occasions, often with extremely natural wines, some finding favor with Arnaud and others leaving him cold. Among the wines we see eye to eye on, we have found a direction we both want to go for both the Chenin Blanc grape and Cabernet Franc. Our 2018 bottlings are the most dramatic step yet on this vineyard-to-bottle journey.

2018 CABERNET FRANC: 2018 was a warm vintage, so this is a more forward style for Cab Franc that does not sacrifice the grape's telltale, earthy components. For those who like fruit, 2018 was the vintage for Loire Valley Cab Franc. For those who prefer those more herbal components, I’d give this one a few years yet. The blending of key sites helped achieve balance in the final bottling.

RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW 
2020 CHENIN: Drink now - 2034+
2019 CHENIN: Drink now – 2037+
2018 CHENIN: Drink now – 2035+
2018 CAB FRANC: Drink now – 2040+

SEASONAL PAIRING
2020 CHENIN: Go all out and make the famous Troisgros ‘Poisson à l’oseille’ recipe! Simple if you have all the ingredients; good wild pink-fleshed fish, vermouth, fresh sorrel, shallots, and good crème fraîche.
2019 CHENIN: Roasted river fish, dal-chawal, braised endives, soft shell crab, pheasant with herbs and potatoes.
2018 CHENIN: Jambon persillé, cold chicken terrine, Waldorf salad, nordic shrimp, fish with béarnaise.
2018 CAB FRANC: Lean duck roast with “sauce aux olives,” lamb gyro, blue cheese, charred cauliflower with tahini, roasted river fish.

FIELD NOTES

2017 MIGAN LA HABANERA: Savory pepper and fine herbs are coiled underneath dark fruit. Tasted and assembled from large foudres in April 2018. Patience rewarded!

2018 BENJE LAS ARENAS: The freshness of this site just continues to impress. This is a less oxidative version of 2017 with nervy acidity and a seamless, salt-tinged texture.

2018 MIGAN TIO LUIS: A more Gamay-esque, pepper-endowed site that plays a lovely foil to the formidable La Habanera. Affable, ultra-fresh red fruit gives way to smoky/savory notes. Lovely freshness and elegance in 2018 and a new level reached!

2018 MIGAN LA HABANERA: Formidable is right. Intensely reductive, brooding and primal at this stage. Expect 5 years of unwinding and you will not be disappointed when it does, and all that peppery, light-socket energy will course right through you.

2019 LOUSAS RED LABEL: 2019 was the year Envínate took the full plunge down the natural rabbit hole. Fitting, as the paradise river valley, known as Ribeira Sacra, might as well have been carved by the gods. No additives of any kind saw their way into those Galician field blends of mainly Mencía. The red label is defined by its fruit character at this stage with light earth and spice notes, hinting at what will turn up in spades as the years roll by.

2020 BENJE BLANCO CUVEE VITICOLE: This is perhaps our finest white wine collab with Envínate to date. With pure Canary Island vibes, Listan Blanco finds powerful energy on the volcanic plateau of Santiago Del Teide. Zero additives were used during elevage. This is flinty and salt-kissed, brimming with vibrancy.

RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW 
2017 HABANERA: Drink now – 2035+
2018 BENJE: Drink now – 2029+
2018 TIO LUIS: Drink now – 2040+
2018 HABANERA: Accessible now, best 2025 - 2045+
2019 RED LABEL: Drink now – 2040+
2020 BENJE BLANCO: Drink now – 2033+

SEASONAL PAIRING
17/18 HABANERA & TIO LUIS: For Listan Negro, proteins in vinegar-based sauces rule: marinated pork, bbq etc. Vegetarian dishes with big flavor like Indian are also welcome.
2018 BENJE: Shellfish, light fowl, soft mild cheese.
2019 RED LABEL: Rabbit paella, chickpea stew, strong cheeses, squid in red wine.
2020 BENJE BLANCO: Cheese borek, good anchovies and good bread, dried shrimp stir-fry, grilled sardines.

2018 DOMAINE GANEVAT BLANC AGITE orange wine

FIELD NOTES
A blend of Jura’s two white grapes: Chardonnay and Savagnin. This saw a few weeks of skin contact which adds texture and exotic fruits and florals to what would otherwise be a citrus and sea salt laser beam.

RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW:
Drink now – 2034+

SEASONAL PAIRING:
Skin contact is a vegetarian’s dream. This should handle all the fall and winter veggies admirably along with lighter game dishes like fowl and pork.

FIELD NOTES

2018 GRUNER VELTLINER SPITZER GRABEN: Crisp, pure and dangerously easy to love. Citrus and peach notes are folded underneath spicy, savory, herbaceous joy. Remarkably fresh.

2018 GRUNER VELTLINER SPITZER GRABEN EXTENDED ELEVAGE: All the spicy, smoky, lentil-y signatures of Austria’s mother white: Grüner Veltliner. A harmonious textured version that saw 20 months in tank on its lees.

2015-17 GRUNER VELTLINER SPITZER GRABEN: All three vintages of Grüner Veltliner are variations of a similar theme. 2016 was the coolest year bringing out the light elderflower florals and spicy notes that are hallmarks of the grape. All three wines are crisp, pure and dangerously easy to love. Citrus and peach notes are folded underneath spicy, savory, herbaceous joy. Bottling under screw cap lends itself to remarkable freshness…

RECOMMENDED DRINK WINDOW 
2018: Now – 2026+
2018 EXTEND: Drink now – 2032+
2015-17: Now – 2025+

SEASONAL PAIRING
Heirloom tomatoes, lentils, fresh greens...also beautiful with seafood like Nordic shrimp, smoked oysters and scallops...