I haven't posted much in the past couple of years, spending most of the pandemic drinking a lot less and working out a lot more. I had an unfortunate medical check-up before the start of the pandemic in which my doctor basically told me to lose weight or prepare to be pre-diabetic. Call me properly scared straight.
After two years of tee-totaling, yoga, rock climbing, and power-lifting, I'm 35 pounds lighter, able to run a couple of miles without collapsing, and generally more upbeat about my health. So, what better time to fall off the wagon and get back into wine?
Bar Part Time
This place opened up recently, right across the street from my building, with lines going up the block on some weekends. I didn't think much about it until I saw an article in the SF Chronicle about it being a natural wine bar that also doubles as a nightclub. I believe their opening weekend they had James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem (thus the long line).
I started going semi-regularly a couple of weeks ago, checking out their retail section (where they have bottles from Radikon, Ca da Noci, Octavin, and a lot of other natural wine producers, many I never heard of before seeing them on the shelves). Buying wine by the glass, I generally have been enjoying what I have been served.
In the back, they have a dance floor with a mirror ball and a state of the art sound system where the DJs can spin their records. Gets pretty crowded during the weekends, with 20-somethings sharing bottles within their friend groups. However, Gen Z can be surprisingly generous about sharing their wine and I’ve managed to get my fair share of free drinks back there.
I didn’t keep track of most of what I drank, but two wines I happened to remember:
2018 Le Mazel (Gerald Oustric) “Vin de Soif”
It tastes carbonic! Big, broad red fruit. Nice acid. Silky texture. Quite tasty on the first sip, but a little too big and one note for me after the tenth. Pleasant enough and quaffable nonetheless. I think others would like this a lot more than I did (just not my style).
From the Ardeche. Blend of grenache and carignan. Carbonic maceration.
Found a post about this producer on Wine Terroirs: https://www.wineterroirs.com/2019/07/gerald_oustric_le_mazel.html
2019 Ranchelle “Le Millocchio Bianco”
Skin-contact white. Color is a golden hue. Has supple tannins that gently coat the mouth, stonefruit on the nose and palate (reminded me of peaches) with nice, crisp minerality underneath. Opened up and got better and better with air. I really loved this.
Blend of Ansonica, Clairette, Procanico/Trebbiano, and Malvasia. From 60+ year old vines in Maremma, Tuscany (Le Millocchio being the name of the vineyard).
Ruby Wine
A well-established natural wine store up in Potrero Hill. It is a bit of a hike to get up there (the incline is no joke), but when you “summit,” it feels like you are in this peaceful, residential oasis with beautiful views of the SF skyline and Bay unfolding before you.
Ruby Wine is a fairly small store, basically just a room with a big table in the middle, shelves on the walls displaying the wines on sale, and a counter in the back where they serve a small selection of wine for $12 a glass. I selected a Chenin Blanc (TN below), walked out, and found a table in the large parklet out front, sipping the wine and enjoying the beautiful spring day.
Next door is Alimentari Aurora where you can get charcuterie, cheese, canned seafood, and a pillowy soft focaccia that’s baked fresh around 5:30pm every Saturday. I talked to the owner and he said it was his grandma’s recipe. He’s an interesting guy apparently he was a researcher and lab director at UCSF studying 3D cancer models before deciding to change careers. Great food and even better owner. I’ll be back.
2020 Vignobles Le Temps d’Aimer (Francois Maudet) “Sorcellerie”
Lush, green fruit up front with plenty of fresh acidity and nice minerality on the finish. Hints of the classic lanolin/wooly notes on the nose that you get from clean, pure, classic Chenin Blanc. Perfect for a sunny afternoon.
100% Chenin Blanc. From Rablay-sur-Layon. Declassified as a VdF. Vinified dry. I believe the AOC where the grapes are grown is a Coteaux-du-Layon village.
Punchdown
Punchdown is in downtown Oakland, about a 2 minute walk from my office. It has a nice retail section where most of the bottles are stored in an enclosed, temp-controlled room, but the bar is the most prominent fixture in this establishment. I met up with a friend there for happy hour, where we ordered burrata, boquerones, and a selection of conservas (Galician octopus in an escabeche sauce was fabulous) with plenty of Acme epi baguette.
The bar has an extensive wine-by-the-glass program, and I ordered the “blind flight” where you have to guess the wines guess correctly and you get it for free. I was 0/3. But the wines were delicious.
2020 Fresh Wines (Eric Clouse) “Fire Fuego”
Skin-contact white, but no pronounced tannins at all. Fruit forward, tropical, juicy, with good acid. Rich and full-bodied. My buddy liked this one a lot.
100% Sauvignon Blanc. Fermented 9 day whole-cluster in tank. Elevage 4 months in neutral French oak barrel. Underwent malo and some lees stirring. From Sonoma County.
2020 Vino Martville “Orbelian Ojaleshi Rose”
Earthy, elegant rose with a fresh, red-fruited aroma. Nothing particularly quirky or out-there about this wine. But, enjoyable in an easy-going way. Would be great for bringing along for a picnic in summertime. My first Georgian wine.
100% Ojaleshi (according to the wine list description; may actually be Orbeluri Ojaleshi). From Western Georgia. Fermented and aged in qvevri.
2020 Garo’vin (Cedric Garreau) “Lulu Berlue”
An initial hint of earthy funk on the nose, but blows off with an aroma of dark brambly fruit. Fairly light and elegant on the palate, dark fruited, tart. An easy-drinking carbonic red wine. Tasty.
A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Grolleau. All varieties co-fermented whole bunch for three weeks. Cold carbonic. From around Beaulieu-sur-Layon.
After two years of tee-totaling, yoga, rock climbing, and power-lifting, I'm 35 pounds lighter, able to run a couple of miles without collapsing, and generally more upbeat about my health. So, what better time to fall off the wagon and get back into wine?
Bar Part Time
This place opened up recently, right across the street from my building, with lines going up the block on some weekends. I didn't think much about it until I saw an article in the SF Chronicle about it being a natural wine bar that also doubles as a nightclub. I believe their opening weekend they had James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem (thus the long line).
I started going semi-regularly a couple of weeks ago, checking out their retail section (where they have bottles from Radikon, Ca da Noci, Octavin, and a lot of other natural wine producers, many I never heard of before seeing them on the shelves). Buying wine by the glass, I generally have been enjoying what I have been served.
In the back, they have a dance floor with a mirror ball and a state of the art sound system where the DJs can spin their records. Gets pretty crowded during the weekends, with 20-somethings sharing bottles within their friend groups. However, Gen Z can be surprisingly generous about sharing their wine and I’ve managed to get my fair share of free drinks back there.
I didn’t keep track of most of what I drank, but two wines I happened to remember:
2018 Le Mazel (Gerald Oustric) “Vin de Soif”
It tastes carbonic! Big, broad red fruit. Nice acid. Silky texture. Quite tasty on the first sip, but a little too big and one note for me after the tenth. Pleasant enough and quaffable nonetheless. I think others would like this a lot more than I did (just not my style).
From the Ardeche. Blend of grenache and carignan. Carbonic maceration.
Found a post about this producer on Wine Terroirs: https://www.wineterroirs.com/2019/07/gerald_oustric_le_mazel.html
2019 Ranchelle “Le Millocchio Bianco”
Skin-contact white. Color is a golden hue. Has supple tannins that gently coat the mouth, stonefruit on the nose and palate (reminded me of peaches) with nice, crisp minerality underneath. Opened up and got better and better with air. I really loved this.
Blend of Ansonica, Clairette, Procanico/Trebbiano, and Malvasia. From 60+ year old vines in Maremma, Tuscany (Le Millocchio being the name of the vineyard).
Ruby Wine
A well-established natural wine store up in Potrero Hill. It is a bit of a hike to get up there (the incline is no joke), but when you “summit,” it feels like you are in this peaceful, residential oasis with beautiful views of the SF skyline and Bay unfolding before you.
Ruby Wine is a fairly small store, basically just a room with a big table in the middle, shelves on the walls displaying the wines on sale, and a counter in the back where they serve a small selection of wine for $12 a glass. I selected a Chenin Blanc (TN below), walked out, and found a table in the large parklet out front, sipping the wine and enjoying the beautiful spring day.
Next door is Alimentari Aurora where you can get charcuterie, cheese, canned seafood, and a pillowy soft focaccia that’s baked fresh around 5:30pm every Saturday. I talked to the owner and he said it was his grandma’s recipe. He’s an interesting guy apparently he was a researcher and lab director at UCSF studying 3D cancer models before deciding to change careers. Great food and even better owner. I’ll be back.
2020 Vignobles Le Temps d’Aimer (Francois Maudet) “Sorcellerie”
Lush, green fruit up front with plenty of fresh acidity and nice minerality on the finish. Hints of the classic lanolin/wooly notes on the nose that you get from clean, pure, classic Chenin Blanc. Perfect for a sunny afternoon.
100% Chenin Blanc. From Rablay-sur-Layon. Declassified as a VdF. Vinified dry. I believe the AOC where the grapes are grown is a Coteaux-du-Layon village.
Punchdown
Punchdown is in downtown Oakland, about a 2 minute walk from my office. It has a nice retail section where most of the bottles are stored in an enclosed, temp-controlled room, but the bar is the most prominent fixture in this establishment. I met up with a friend there for happy hour, where we ordered burrata, boquerones, and a selection of conservas (Galician octopus in an escabeche sauce was fabulous) with plenty of Acme epi baguette.
The bar has an extensive wine-by-the-glass program, and I ordered the “blind flight” where you have to guess the wines guess correctly and you get it for free. I was 0/3. But the wines were delicious.
2020 Fresh Wines (Eric Clouse) “Fire Fuego”
Skin-contact white, but no pronounced tannins at all. Fruit forward, tropical, juicy, with good acid. Rich and full-bodied. My buddy liked this one a lot.
100% Sauvignon Blanc. Fermented 9 day whole-cluster in tank. Elevage 4 months in neutral French oak barrel. Underwent malo and some lees stirring. From Sonoma County.
2020 Vino Martville “Orbelian Ojaleshi Rose”
Earthy, elegant rose with a fresh, red-fruited aroma. Nothing particularly quirky or out-there about this wine. But, enjoyable in an easy-going way. Would be great for bringing along for a picnic in summertime. My first Georgian wine.
100% Ojaleshi (according to the wine list description; may actually be Orbeluri Ojaleshi). From Western Georgia. Fermented and aged in qvevri.
2020 Garo’vin (Cedric Garreau) “Lulu Berlue”
An initial hint of earthy funk on the nose, but blows off with an aroma of dark brambly fruit. Fairly light and elegant on the palate, dark fruited, tart. An easy-drinking carbonic red wine. Tasty.
A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Grolleau. All varieties co-fermented whole bunch for three weeks. Cold carbonic. From around Beaulieu-sur-Layon.