Tag Archives: Organic Wine

Cider, Wine

New Ciders and Wines from Vermont’s Fable Farm Fermentory!

The Fable Farm Fermentory brothers have released their latest creations into the world, and we’re thrilled to have secured a little bit of these limited, lovely creatures for our customers!

Along with new vintages of Fable’s still & sparkling apple ciders, vinous ciders and honey wine, there is a brand-new perry (sparkling pear-based cider), and a wine made from 100% St. Croix grapes found in a 10-year old Vermont vineyard that had been previously abandoned.

Read about each bottling below, and then pop into the Bevie to pick up these delightful, surprising, all-natural Vermont-made liquids!

Fable Farm Fermentory Ciders and Wines at the Beverage Warehouse Vermont

Emanation
2018
5.98% ABV
189 cases made
Ingredients: foraged + cultivated cider apples, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

Our 2018 vintage of Emanation is a dry sparkling cider made in the ancestral method from the juice of both foraged and organically cultivated cider apples. Vermont’s Walden Heights Nursery & Orchard, whence the cultivated fruit was grown, is a magical place where orchardist Todd Parlo shepherds a rich diversity of alpine fruit and nursery stock on a village hillside terraced by hand.  The apple trees are sculpturally pruned and allowed to grow to their fullest potential amidst a polyculture of companion plantings. This rendition of Emanation is delightfully fresh, crisp, and tart, emanating a sessionable innocence.

750mL | $17.99

Fluxion  Batch IV
2016 + 17
6.99% ABV
199 cases made
Ingredients: foraged cider apples, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

With faith in flow, we merged multiple vintages of cider aged in an assortment of wood barrels to create our fourth iteration of Fluxion that awaits you. Made in  the traditional method, maple syrup was added to kick-start a secondary fermentation in bottle. This cultured blend of cider is the sparkling counterpart to Stillpoint. Dry, with refreshing acidity.

750mL | $18.99

Stillpoint
2016 + 2017
6.95% ABV
56 cases made
Ingredients: foraged cider apples, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

Stillpoint is an aged blend of cider, cultured in an assortment of wood barrels before bottling still, and from which our sparkling cider, Fluxion, arose.  This prolonged aging in our fleet of barrels tends to give the cider smooth, buttery, and peppery qualities. We are excited for more people to explore the wonder, simplicity, and solemnity of still cider.

750mL | $18.99

Apple – Grape Wine

Vinous Venus 
2017
7.68 % ABV
156 cases made
Ingredients: foraged cider apples, red grape pomace, wild cultures  of yeast + bacteria

A favorite with Fable Farm Fermentory fans, Vinous Venus is a pink-hued, apple-grape wine created in the traditional method.  Macerated red grape pomace and fresh red grape clusters containing residual sugars post pressing were co-fermented with a blend of foraged apple juice. The wine was then pressed off and sent down to the cellar to age in cultured wood barrels for a year, before bottling as a sparkling apple-grape wine. Vinous Venus celebrates the integration of foraged apples and grapes with its dry sparkle and refreshing acidity.

750mL | $19.99

Leela
2015/16
9.91% ABV
119 cases made
Ingredients: white grapes, foraged apples, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

Herein awaits an amber-hued, apple-grape wine made by merging 40% Vermont-grown grapes and 60% foraged cider apples. In 2016 we purchased destemmed white grapes from our friends at Lincoln Peak Vineyard of New Haven, VT. We placed half the berries into an open-top vessel to macerate and  pressed the other half immediately. This wine contains both of these fermentations blended with a medley of multi-vintage cider barrels. Half of the final blend was used for our previously released sparkling wine, Leo, while its sister, Leela, was allowed to age for 6 months in barrel and another year in bottle.

750mL | $19.99

Koan 
2015
6.42% ABV
111 cases made
Ingredients: red and black currants, aronia berries, concord grapes, foraged apples, wild cultures of yeast and bacteria

[Koh ahn], a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, is used in Zen Buddhism to provoke enlightenment and demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning. We love sour things. Sour stimulates digestion, opening the palate to experience a medley of flavor, while also inspiring the mind to open up to puzzling tastes. This sparkling apple wine was barrel aged for 3 years and then steeped with a mixed medley of berries before bottling with a dose of honey in the traditional method.

500mL |  $14.99

Perry (NEW!)

Pyrus
2015 + 2016 + 2017
32 cases made
5.84% ABV
Ingredients: foraged pears and apples, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

It’s a rare treat to discover the bulbous pearl of pears when foraging for apples; but when we do, we jump for joy!  This still perry was barrel-aged for 2 years before bottling, and contains a blend of apples and pears from three different seasons. Residual sugars remained in barrel for over a year, and we hoped that fermentation would jumpstart in bottle to create a sparkling wine. Instead we received a beautiful still wine, expressing a refreshing interplay between volatile acidity and sweet appley-pear notes.

500mL | $15.99

Honey Wine

Betula
Batch II: 2017
9.79% ABV
Ingredients: raw birch sap, raw honey, foraged sumac berries, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

Filtered through the roots and vascular tissues of Birch trees, each Spring living sap-water seeps out of tapped trunks as an elixir of life — long harvested as a tonic beverage of northern climes. Raw honey from Mcfarline Apiaries of Benson, VT was dissolved into raw birch water and left to ferment with whole clusters of foraged sumac berries. Bottled in the traditional method, honey was  added a second time to create a sparkling dry wine with earthy notes and a robust acidity.

500mL | $14.99

Grape Wine (NEW!)

St. Croix
2017
7.08% ABV
13 cases made
Ingredients: St. Croix grapes, wild cultures of yeast + bacteria

Our farm and fermentory lies on a branched road that was once used as the main thoroughfare from Boston to Montreal. Now known as the Royalton Turnpike, this graveled pathway winds through a pastoral landscape of lush fields and forests, and speaks to a time when horse and buggy brought passers-by from city to country. In 2016, we discovered a 10-year-old vineyard 25 minutes north, just off the beaten path from this historic road. In 2017 we were guided by the weather and our overall circumstance to harvest the St. Croix a bit underipe. Red-skinned St. Croix normally produces red wine, but in this iteration, all of the red pigments dropped out of solution over the course of a year of aging in glass demijohns. The resulting low alcohol wine is white, light and refreshingly tart.

750mL | $23.99

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Wines We’re Drinking: Madloba

Skin contact can be a magical thing. Especially when it comes to a particular wine made in the most natural of ancient methods, in a tiny corner of France. That wine is MADLOBA, and it’s what we’re drinking this week.

Domaine des Miquettes | Madloba | $50.99

Let’s get one thing clear. Madloba could be called an orange, an amber, or a skin-contact wine. Yeah ok, I know – that doesn’t seem all that clear! The wine is *literally* a little hazy…and it’s in a category that seems to defy definition.

This beautiful golden liquid from Domaine des Miquettes is made from the white grape varietals Marsanne and Viognier. The deep copper color comes from the grape skins and seeds, which are left in contact with the pressed juice for an extended time (6 months!). The fermented juice is then aged a further 6 months in clay amphorae buried in the cool ground. This ancient winemaking technique produces a liquid gold with the texture, body and tannin of a light red wine plus the fruit and minerality of a white wine. Stylistically unique, with a savory, richly textured mouthfeel, this is a special bottle worth trying – especially if you’re new to skin-contact wines.

The name “Madloba” is Georgian, and it means “thanks”. If your New Year’s resolution is to expand your wine knowledge, or just to try new things, check this one out! You’ll thank yourself.

Madloba - Domaine des Miquettes Orange Wine
Photo by Paul Varricchione @varricc

In the glass, Madloba catches the light and glints like pennies; like the last rays of sunlight angling across a shadowed beach. It smells like an escape to a warm summer afternoon in a Mediterranean grove. You’re surrounded by nectarines, yellow plums, apricots and oranges, plus swirls of ginger, quince and almond blossom. The first sip startles your palate, flooding your tongue with tart orange pith, snapping your head up with snappy acidity that’s like a plunge into a cold pool after a sauna, leaving a lingering texture of fine chalk baked in the sun. As the wine warms slightly, the scent takes me back to early mornings in my mom’s garden, when I would wander through the flowers and stick my nose deep into the glowing orange-throated yellow “Charles Darwin” old English roses.

My husband, who is very particular about the wines he likes, couldn’t stop drinking this stuff. It’s a treat, but oh man…what a treat!

Terracotta amphorae at Domaine des Miquettes, These are tinajas, imported from Spain, but they are buried in the Georgian-style in a sand-filled pit near the domaine (image credit: vortexdugosier.blogspot.com)

Domaine des Miquettes was created by Paul Estève and Chrystelle Vareille in 2003 in Cheminas, a small village located on a high plateau in the northern Rhône. Paul and Chrystelle took over the farm from Paul’s family and turned one of the small farm buildings into a cramped and low-tech wine-making facility.  In total, the domaine consists of five hectares.

At an altitude of around 350 meters, the vineyards are planted on a steep hillside with soils of granite mixed with mica & schist and an east/southeast exposure. Both of the Domaine des Miquettes vineyards are certified as organic farms. The vineyard rows are worked throughout the year with either a tractor or horse drawn plough, which is used on the more difficult terrains.

All harvesting is done by hand and the fermentations occur with natural yeasts and little or no temperature adjustments. All of the wines are made sans soufre – without the addition of sulfur.

During a visit to the republic of Georgia years ago, Paul and Chrystelle were inspired to make wine in the ancient tradition, using clay amphorae buried in the earth. They built a “chai” dedicated to these buried clay jars, and use them for the vinification and maturation of the red and orange wines they call Madloba.

Oh! And the fun label? That comes from a trip to Georgia as well, when Paul got INTO an amphorae and had to be pulled out. He and Chrystelle have truly immersed themselves in making this style of wine, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been able to try their wine here in frozen Vermont this winter. If you come into the Bevie, ask for Kate or Jason and we’ll direct you to this orange gem!

Cheers & happy imbibing,                                                                                                                                     Kate

Read more about Domaine des Miquettes.

Learn more about skin-contact wines

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Slovenian Wine Review | Slavček Sivi Pinot & Rojac Refošk | Outstanding Flavor & Value

 

Slovenian wines have been extraordinarily popular this year, and for good reason!

Multifactorial, responsibly made wines, bursting with unique characteristics at everyday prices from a place not everyone is familiar with are inspiring us to buy every drop available in Vermont.

 

 

Today, we highlight two Slovenian wines (which both happen to be vegan) – Rojac Refošk (red) and Slavček Sivi Pinot (white/semi-orange).

Slavček Sivi Pinot – A slightly extended skin contact white (semi-orange) wine that primarily inspired us to create our ‘Native & Natural’ wine section. Semi-dry, medium bodied white that is not too acidic or oaky – very crowd pleasing for an eclectic wine.

Rojac Refošk – A robust, very food friendly wine (think BBQ, roast beef, game, Bolognese, anything rich!) bursting with old-world rusticness, deep earthiness, tannins, and a little acidity for balance.

 

 

If you haven’t taken a journey to Slovenia, Rojac Refošk and Slavček Sivi Pinot can take your primary senses away on ‘liquid trip’.

Na zdravje! (cheers)

 

 

Winery, and varietal information below compiled from slavcek.si & indiewineries.com

 

Slavček: Sivi Pinot –

  • Winery: Slavček
  • Wine Maker: Franc Vodopivec
  • Location: Dornberk, Slovenia
  • Appellation:  Vipavska Dolina
  • Altitude: 260’–560′
  • Soil:  Lime rich marlstone
  • Winery Process: Practicing Organic
  • Grape Varietal(s): 100% Sivi Pinot (a.k.a. Pinot Grigio / Pinot Gris)
  • Vintage: 2017
  • Fermentation Vessel(s): 50 % oak barrel (10 years old), 50 % stainless steel
  • Yeasts: Natural
  • Maceration: 24 hours
  • Malolactic: Spontaneously during fermentation
  • Aging: 25% in the old acacia barrels (200 L), 25% in old foudres (200 L), 50% in foudres (1000 L, 1500 L & 2000L)
  • Aged For: 3 months of lying on sediments
  • Clarification/Filtration: After a month in a stainless tank, where the wine is exposed to ambient low temperature to become stable and ready for bottling by racking
  • Vegan: Yes
  • Alcohol Content: 13.5% vol.

 

 

About Slavček –
Slavcek is a family winery with a history of over two centuries in the Vipava Valley. It’s currently helmed by Franc Vodopivec. The historic winery runs as a traditional agrotourismo and inn. The Slavcek winery and inn only serve what has been grown on the land, everything prepared with centuries-old traditions, including the wine. The oldest records of the farm, from 1769, indicate that it was called “Slavčevih” (Nightingale).

In Vipava, the reputation of Slavcek is centuries deep for high quality wine, but only under Franc’s stewardship has the winery become world renowned for traditional Slovenian wine.

 

“Today’s task is to raise the quality of growth, to better express terroir, tradition and the essence of our family cultural values through the winemaking techniques of our forefathers.”

The vineyards are planted with environmentally friendly methods and with consideration and respect of the biodynamic force. All grapes are hand-picked and carefully selected. No pesticides or herbicides of any sort are used.

 

Even the barrels are local, made from acacia and oak that grow in the nearby forests. The lands are dutifully maintained. Just as much as much as the wines are the family legacy, so are the lands that surrounds them.

 

 

 

Slavcek’s wines are produced according to ancient Slovenian traditions with exteneded maceration for many bottlings which develops a richer taste and deeper color. Natural stabilization occurs at ambient temperatures, with racking only just before bottling.

 

 

 

Winery and varietal information below compiled from: rojac.eu &  indiewineries.com

Rojac Refošk –

  • Winery: Rojac
  • Winemaker: Uroš Rojac
  • Location: Gažon, Slovenia
  • Appellation: Slovenian Istra
  • Altitude: 650’–820′
  • Soil: Sandy Soil (Flysch)
  • Winery Process: Certified Organic
  • Grape Varietal(s): 100% Refošk
  • Vintage: 2015
  • Fermentation Vessel(s): Open Vats
  • Yeasts: Natural
  • Maceration: 10-15 Days
  • Malolactic: Spontaneously
  • Aging: 18 Months (Oak) + 6 Months (Stainless Steel)
  • Clarification/Filtration: None
  • Vegan: Yes
  • Alcohol Content: 14% vol.

 

 

Rojac Wine –

Uroš is the vivacious heir to one of the pioneering families in traditional honest winemaking on the Slovenian coast. Rojac has been making wine in Slokenska Istria since the 19th century. Uroš is considered the wild child of famed wine maker, Bruno Rojac. He’s known for playful antics and a free spirit, and has made a proud and enthusiastic protégée for his father. He rode (and sometimes crashed) motorcycles to school at the Bio-technical Faculty at the University of Ljubljana where he stirred controversy with his thesis about his native grape Refošk.

 

 

“There was a time when there was no wine industry. People just grew grapes and made wine…. We do all we can to make drinkable and ultimately healthy wine.”

What promised to be a dynamic father son team came to an unfortunate halt in 2005 with the untimely passing of Bruno at the peak of his career. Reeling from the heard news and pain, many assumed that Uroš would abandon his dreams of running the ancestral winery. Instead Uroš came back stronger than ever running the vineyard, making the wine and becoming one of the youngest and most notable winemakers in the region.

 

 

Channeling his energy and passion, he perfected the craft of his forefathers, and started a family of his own. Rather than capitalizing on his success through globalizing his wines, Uroš remained true to his fathers traditional wine methods and continued his approach in the vineyards and the cellar. His is the greatest comeback story in the region, and he’s earned himself the title: King of Refošk.

 

 

The Refošk Grape –

Indigenous grape varietal to the region.

Historical records show that the Roman Empress Livija Drussila who lived to the enviable age of 86 years (at that time) presumably by many references to her enjoyment of this “black grape” from river Timavo (Triest river from sea).

This came from a “rocky hill” which produced very little yields to fill only a few amphorae. These vineyard positions can be none other than the great refošk vineyards of the current Rojac Family Estate.

The grape was frequently referenced in Roman times for its health qualities.

The hills of Gažon give the great acidity and elegance for growing refošk, due to the poor soil, altitude, and positioning to
the sea.