WINE CLUB | CHEESE CLUB

How are rising temperatures and unstable weather patterns changing the future of winemaking? This month, let's discuss sustainability, biodynamics, low water utilization, and regenerative farming, even the use of lighter-weight bottles to reduce the impact of freight shipping and material usage. Let's highlight producers who are taking it upon themselves to sound the alarm and become change makers. We can’t wait for you to taste the wines they’re making with so much thought, intention, love, and kickass skills.

The Halfseas Team

ALL CLUB MEMBERS GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 BOTTLES:

2023 Lubanzi Chenin Blanc

Grape: Chenin Blanc
Region: Cape Town, South Africa
Retail: $21

Adventure seeking exchange students, Charlie Brain & Walker Brown, Co-Founders of Lubanzi Wines wanted to build their business as an avenue to deliver real and meaningful social impact back to a country so deserving of that commitment. As things kicked off, they became enamored with the idea of a more complete and equitable supply chain, which is why they partnered with The Pebbles Project, a not for profit that provides health & education resources directly back to the families who live and work on South Africa's wine farms.

Carbon Neutral: Greenhouse gas emissions are raising our planet’s temperature and altering its very fabric in a way that endangers people’s live’s today and humanity’s future tomorrow. It has become everyone’s job to do what she/they/he can to stop contributing to this. Climate neutral is an independent organization that helps Lubanzi to measure, offset and reduce 100% of our carbon footprint and ensure that making great wine doesn’t come at the cost of furthering endangering our planet.

1% for the Planet: Protecting the natural environment is everyone’s responsibility. Created by the founder of Patagonia, 1% for the planet is an alliance of businesses that understand that truth. Business does damage to the natural world, it’s a fact of life. What we believe is that it is important for businesses, like us, to recognize this impact and do what we can to minimize and restore that damage. As a member of 1% for the Planet, we contribute at least one percent of our annual sales to environmental causes, supporting efforts to bring balance back to business.

2020 Ostatu Rosado

Grape: 70% Tempranillo, 27% Garnacha, 3% Viura
Region: Rioja, Spain
Retail: $21

Living soils, key to guaranteeing the viticulture of the future What is living soil? A dynamic ecosystem, with the presence of organic matter and living beings of all kinds, from microorganisms to insects, mammals, and, of course, flora.

It has always been said that the vine needs poor land to produce quality grapes. And it is true but with some limits. The new climatic reality affects natural cycles and the state of the soil: overexploitation, erosion, and desertification are some of the challenges that those of us who dedicate ourselves to the field face.

Torrential rains and storms, heat waves, lack of water, or fires are some of the inclement weather conditions that affect the health of the soil; but also other facts such as the gradual disappearance of extensive livestock.

Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen are the fundamental elements present in the soil for the correct development of the vine at 95%. In the remaining 5% there are other macro and microelements, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, chlorine, or copper, whose lack or abundance will cause imbalances for the vine.

• Nitrogen: favors growth at the beginning and the increase in the weight of the bunches and grapes.

• Potassium: important for the assimilation of chlorophyll and in the transport of carbohydrates to the clusters. It affects the vigor and performance of the plant, it is an energy store.

• Calcium: the fundamental element to improve the resistance of the grape skin, the synthesis of proteins, and the tolerance to diseases.

• Magnesium: it is part of chlorophyll, it helps to capture iron.

• Iron: it is involved in the initial development of leaves and, therefore, of the berries.

Another of the parameters to take into account in viticulture is the PH of the soils, the extremes of this value will prevent the previously listed nutrients from being assimilated. Like everything in life, the key is in balance, and, for a plant to be balanced and regulated, the soil in which it is rooted must also be. When the plant covers rot, they contribute to the soil with all the elements mentioned above, so the plant can capture them.

Resilient winegrowing: Faced with intensive viticulture, the use of mineral fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides, which grew exponentially during the second half of the 20th century, a new paradigm focused on respecting the vine ecosystems was opened years ago. What can wine growers do to preserve the soil? Ostatu trusts these practices that “listen” to the vine, and for this reason, we are committed to regenerative viticulture. The flora present in the vineyard, in addition to promoting the population of beneficial insects and microorganisms, prevents erosion and retains water resources. Another important fact about the vegetation layer is that it captures C02 from the atmosphere, the so-called sink effect.

2022 Iuli Umberto

Grape: Barbera
Region: Monferrato, Italy
Retail: $22

Fabrizio Iuli calls himself a barberista, for his love, focus and dedication to the Barbera grape. Located in the small town of Montaldo in Monferrato, which is the home of many of Piedmont's top Barbera's, the Iuli estate is organically farmed by Fabrizio, and his old vine vineyards have a strong core of limestone which adds a distinctive terroir.

This 'Umberta' is the first wine of the estate; the name comes from the fact that 'Umberto' is one of the most common names in Piedmont. 'King Umberto' who was born in Torino was the son of the first King of unified Italy in 1861. The 'Umberta' is made of 100% certified organic Barbera and aged in stainless steel. Unfined and unfiltered, Fabrizio only makes about 1000 cases per year.

Certified organic, the land has never seen any chemicals. Despite being ridiculed by neighbors, Fabrizio's grandfather and father never succumbed to pressure to buy products they felt were meant to fix something that wasn't broken. The isolation of the place suits Fabrizio's desire to instigate and protect biodiversity. The thick surrounding woods keep the prospect of a monoculture at bay. They contain many white truffles in the season; they also house many wild boar, who can and do devour a crop of grapes. Some end up at Cascina Iuli in the form of 'Barbera Pig' stew.

In the cellar, Iuli's trajectory over the years has become increasingly non-interventionist. Fermentations are carried out spontaneously, with a little so2 added after malolactic fermentations. The wines are aged slowly and statically, bottled unfined and unfiltered, when taste and an auspicious moon deem they're ready. Fabrizio has not planted Barbera in the last ten years ( in Monferrato, the HOME of Barbera) because it’s now too damn hot for the grape.

6-BOTTLE MEMBERS ALSO GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 BOTTLES:

2023 Constant Crush Limited Addition Piquette Orange Wine

Grapes: Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and friends
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Retail: $19

Limited Additions mission is to work with grape growers to convert to regenerative organic farming practices for the health of our wine community and industry. Their commitment to growing the grape variety diversity in the Willamette Valley further supports regenerative organic farming by protracting the pruning and harvest periods in this region from four weeks to more than eight. This allows growers and vineyard management companies to provide long-term salaried positions to more vineyard stewards and to provide healthy harvest conditions for their workers. When any farming region exists on the success of a monocrop or monovarietal its resilience to the climate crisis is drastically reduced. In 2020 we saw 85% of Willamette Valle producers forfeit their Pinot noir crop due to wildfire smoke this also meant that the communities who rely on the income from picking fruit also suffered, and those who decided to harvest let their workers pick the unhealthy and damaging air quality conditions. They believe in partnering with farmers, distributors, and retailers who are committed to the health and success of all in the wine supply chain.

Piquette is an ancient beverage as old as wine itself, enjoyed as a low alcohol and sustainable beverage from Rome and Greece to the fields of France and Spain. In the past few years, it has fast become one of the hottest beverages in the natural and sustainable wine scene and among those that are well versed in beverages with a broad palate of flavors and styles.

True to the brand messaging of Limited Additions, our Piquette is still, not sparkling, because we have not included the optional addition of sugar to fermentation to create bubbles, preferring to make a low calorie and low alcohol dry wine of around 7% alcohol by volume. Each year we release our Piquette in the first months of the new year as these wines are meant for early enjoyment within the year.

What is Piquette: a low alcohol wine made from partially fermented and pressed grapes skins. The free-run wine was separated from the skins and the skins emptied into a fermenting bin together, water was added and the juicy still fermenting grapes continued their fermentation in water. At dryness the grapes were pressed, and the low alcohol wine transferred to barrel to complete malolactic fermentation.

Why Piquette: First, it's utterly delicious absorbing the complex flavors of the spent fermentation at a fraction of the alcohol. This Piquette is my ultimate go-to for day-drinking or AFD, being a more natural and healthier alternative to hard seltzer or mass-produced beer.

Piquette Historically: A wine of the workers, vineyard workers would add water to spent grape skins it would referment and they'd bottle it for drinking while pruning and vineyard work through the coming year. The summer days are long in Oregon and we spend as much time as we can outside whether in the vineyard, working to grow food on our little farm, or hitting the trails in the coast range where we live. This Piquette is our homage to the humble workers' wine.

Viña Echeverria ‘No es Pituko’

Grape: Chardonnay
Region: Valle de Curico, Chile
Retail: $20

A bit about us... No es Pituko translates as ‘it ain’t fancy’

​We are Viña Echeverria, a family winery in Chile. Maybe you´ve heard of us, maybe not. Since 1992, when our dad went to the London Wine Trade fair with a suitcase full of his homemade wine, we've been making and exporting wine pretty much everywhere in the world. The thing is, a few years ago we started making natural wine, and apparently, we´re quite good at it. At least, that's what our customers tell us.

​Our winery is in Chile´s Valle de Curico, (on a latitude with South Africa, or New Zealand to give you an idea), in a broad valley between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It's like this corridor of extremely lush agricultural land with very diverse and fertile soil. The mountain and ocean breezes control temperature and regulate the sun during the long, hot summers, helping the vines mature slowly and evolve flavors. Not only that, but we have very few vineyards’ pests, which means a near perfect environment for organic agriculture.

From a grapes point of view, it doesn't get much better.

All of our natural wines are made according to the following criteria:

THEY ARE MADE FROM SUSTAINABLY FARMED ESTATE GRAPES

THEY ARE NATURALLY FERMENTED WITH YEASTS PRESENT ON THE GRAPE

MADE WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF FOREIGN YEASTS, BACTERIA, SULPHUR, SUGAR OR ACID ADJUSTMENTS.

THEY UNDERGO NO FINING OR FILTRATION

THEIR PACKAGING IS 100% RECYCLABLE (CORK CLOURE AND WAX SEAL)

Zestos Old Vine Garnacha

Grape: Garnacha Tinto
Region: Madrid, Spain
Retail: $19

Beautifully maintained old vine Garnacha from dry farmed organic estate vineyards. The wise old vines are dry farmed, planted since 1965 and tended in sandy and limestone soil. A pure expression of a unique terroir. The subzone of San Martin Valdeiglesias produces among the most floral and mineral Garnachas in all of Spain. Zestos, which means basket in Spanish, pays homage to the rich viticultural history of Spain, referencing the back-slung baskets that vineyard workers used to transport the grapes from the vineyard to the wineries on foot. Madrid, long known for bulk wine production, has experienced a renaissance in the past 20 years, owing to the incredible raw material and unique terroir.

Dry farming means that the vines aren’t irrigated, relying only on rain. Not only is dry farming environmentally responsible, proponents suggest it yields more intensely-flavored grapes.

Location, location, LOCATION! The vineyards are located in Zone 7, in the high elevation district of San Martin de Valdeiglesias at 574 m ( 1,883ft) elevation. The granite and sandy soil in this area is responsible for the mineral characters expressed in Zestos. For climate, the area's high elevation of 870 meters makes it the most extreme climate in the region. The risk of frost during early budding and flowering is very high. However, when the risk of frost is low, San Martin produces among the most floral and mineral Garnachas in all of Spain. The average temperature from April-October is 17.9C (64.2F) and yearly rainfall is 574mm (22.6 in).

Looking for past lineups? We got you.

REMINDERS

• As always, our food suggestions are just starting points. Wine is nostalgic and we’re big fans of making what you like, drinking what you like, and not giving a damn if they “go” together.

• Email us at info@halfseaswine.com to buy more single bottles or a 12-bottle case with special pricing.

• Come see us at Halfseas, your charming little neighborhood wine shop tucked inside Brimmer & Heeltap. Open Wednesday through Sunday 12 - 9pm.

• Wine pairs best with friends. Tell your friends.