Score some great wines while supporting smaller winemakers
Jamie Kutch left behind a career on Wall Street to try his hand at winemaking and produced his first vintage of Pinot Noir in 2005. High quality, balanced wines, in the style of Burgundy. Wines are low in alcohol. Kutch is opening up their usually completely allocated wines for purchase to give access to wine that is traditionally allocated to restaurants. Get them while you can!
Recommended Wines:
2018 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast
2018 Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2018 Kutch Falstaff Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2017 Kutch McDougall Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Region: Sonoma, CA
Varietals: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Price: $39-$65
Winemaking, for us, is a natural extension of farming. We have both worked for many years in the sustainable agriculture and local food movement, and in 2003 we started Matthiasson Wines based on those values. Our wines are classical expressions of different grape varieties, some well-known like Chardonnay and Cabernet sauvignon, and some rare like Ribolla gialla and Refosco. The wines are refreshing, complement food, and are moderate in alcohol.
Recommended Wines:
2019 Matthiasson Rose (100% of the sales (after shipping) of this perennial favorite wine will be donated to the Independent Restaurant Coalition for their critical work fighting to save restaurants affected by COVID-19).
2018 Matthiasson Napa Valley White Wine
2016 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Dead Fred Vineyard
Live Virtual Tasting:
During this time of “social distancing" Matthiasson is offering Virtual Live Tastings. Order a TASTING PACK of SIX WINES ($249 for 6 bottles/18% discount) and schedule a private live tasting with the winemakers via Zoom Meeting. Friends from different locations can also be included.
Region: Napa, California
Varietal: Chardonnay, Cabernet sauvignon, Ribolla Gialla and Refosco.
Price: $24-$90
Lioco
Run by a husband and wife team Lioco features local wines that favor nuance over sheer power and are inspired by traditional European winegrowing practices. All of the fruit is purchased from exceptional vineyards spanning 200-miles and three counties, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Mendocino. Variatals include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Carignan from sites with older vines, interesting soil, and heritage clones. Sometimes the hunt for Pinot Noir uncovers other treasures like a coastal Syrah vineyard or a rare, mid-century planting of Valdiguie.
Recommended Wines:
Lioco Sonoma Chardonnay 2018
Lioco Estero Russian River Chardonnay 2018
Lioco Sonoma Coast Laguna Pinot Noir 2018
Region: Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Mendocino, California
Varietals: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Price: $18-$55
In 2014 Top sommelier and winery consultant for such vineyards as Rubicon and Evening Land, Larry Stone purchased 150-acre Janzen Farm, located in the Eola-Amity Hills in the Willamette Valley. Since then, Lingua Franca Estate has been farmed on low-impact, Organic and Biodynamic principles producing top quality wines.
Live Virtual Tasting
For a virtual tasting, contact hospitality@linguafranca.wine to schedule a time to talk with a member of the Lingua Franca team.
Recommended Wine:
2018 Avni Chardonnay
2016 Lingua Franca Estate Pinot Noir
2017 The Plow Pinot Noir
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Varietals: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Price: $40-$130
Located in the North Fork of Long Island, Croteaux makes light and crisp rosé wines in the dry Provençal-style. Made from estate grown Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc our wines combine the traditional tastes of southern France with the distinct seaside style and agrarian history of the North Fork. Easy to drink on a summer day.
Recommended Wine:
Merlot 181 Rosé
Chloe Sauvignon Blanc Rosé
Sparkling Merlot Cuvée Rosé
Region: Southold, New York
Varietals: Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc
Price: $20-$32
Massican brings the refreshing, bright style of Mediterranean white wines to California winemaking.
They focus on six white wine grape varieties in and around Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Four of the grape varieties trace their origins to Italy – Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Pinot Bianco and Greco. Two of the grape varieties, although no strangers to Italy, are more widely known throughout the world – Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. From these California grapes we make four distinct wines, each channeling the Italian style of refreshing Mediterranean white wines.
Region: Napa Valley & Sonoma, California
Varietals: White blends, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay
Price: $30-$50
Sandhi is a small production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. Sandhi was founded in 2010 by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Michael Mina Restaurants, and winemaker, Sashi Moorman.
Using the unique landscape of the Santa Rita Hills, Sandhi uses neutral barrel and concrete vessels and along with a small amount of new French oak.
Sandhi is dedicated to making wines of finesse, minerality, acidity, structure and balance. Wine achieves power and beauty through the seamless integration of these qualities, and this is the inspiration for Sandhi. Wines exhibiting extreme ripeness, alcohol, oak, and other discordant exaggerations cannot truly express a specific vineyards terroir.
Region: Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, CA
Varietal: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Price: $30-$45
Founded in 1975 by Harry Wetzel, the Wetzel Family Estate now spans over 700 acres, straddling Highway 128 with vineyards on both sides of the Russian River to the west and bordered by the Mayacamas mountains to the east. They grow fourteen grape varieties, on diverse sites stretching from the banks of the Russian River up onto the hillsides. Each grape variety is matched to a specific soil type and exposure.
Recommended Wines:
2019 Dry Rosé of Sangiovese
2018 Estate Chardonnay
2016 Alexander School Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2014 Cyrus
Region: Sonoma, California
Varietals: Rose, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Primitivo, Zinfandel
Price: $15-$65
Frenzy Sauvignon Blanc 2019
Intensely aromatic and lively with flavors of passion fruit and guava underpinned with aromas of fresh herbs and blackcurrant this is a great wine to enjoy as an aperitif, or match with seafood. The palate is vibrant with zingy fruit that is balanced with a long, crisp mineral finish. (Winemaker’s Notes)
Region: Marlborough, New Zealand
Varietal: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Price: $12.99
Vina Cobos Felino Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Viña Cobos is the inspired vision of Paul Hobbs, a pioneer who took on the challenge of crafting world-class wines on a level never before achieved in Argentina.Over the past twenty years, Hobbs and his team at Viña Cobos have dedicated themselves to seek out, study, and develop vineyard sites in the two premier growing regions of Mendoza: Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco. Through meticulous vineyard management and minimal intervention in the winemaking process, the wines express the true essence of their terroir with finesse, complexity, and authenticity. Since the first vintage release in 1999, Viña Cobos has pushed the boundaries of quality for malbec and for Argentina, striving to continuously set the standard for excellence in the region.
Pure varietal expressions serve as a vibrant introduction to Mendoza, sourced from rigorously selected vineyards throughout the region’s top quality growing areas - Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco - imparting distinct fruit profiles to the wines. (Winemakers Notes)
The nose shows ripe-currant, walnut and violet character. Medium to full body, firm and chewy tannins and a hazelnut undertone to the dark fruit. Always a go-to cabernet sauvignon. Drink or hold. (James Suckling - 92 points)
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Varietal: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: $19.99