Announcing SEVEN % SOLUTION 2019, a most unique tasting event and a grand celebration of varietal diversity in California. This year we’re bringing 36 talented winemakers to LOS ANGELES, a rockstar lineup making some of the most interesting and sought after wines in California. Over 50+ outlier grape varieties are represented, all grown in California (no Pinot, Cab or Chards here, people!) EarlyBird price is $10 off through May 1st, so get your tickets, bedazzle your wine bra (just kidding), and join us for this massive celebration. All For the Love of the Grape.
Food for purchase will be provided by local legend Michael Helton of One Table Catering.
Tickets are $75
Early Bird Pricing $65 available through May 1st
Click Here to Purchase Tickets
Participating Wineries: Arnot-Roberts, Birichino, Calder, Dirty & Rowdy Family Winery, Donkey & Goat, Edmunds St. John, Etxea, Front Porch Farm, Giornata, Harrington, Horse & Plow, I. BRAND, J. Brix, Jaimee Motley Wines, Jolie-Laide, Lepiane, Leo Steen, LIOCO, Little Frances, Lo FI, Matthiasson, Nonesuch, Palmina, Pax Wines, Preston, Reeve Wines, Rootdown Cellars, Ryme Cellars, Sebastien Wines, Ser, Thacher, Tessier, Trail Marker, Two Shepherds, Unti Vineyards, West of Temperance
More information on the wineries and winemakers can be found on our website: https://bergamotwine.com/seven-percent-solution/
THE HUMBLE HISTORY OF THIS EVENT: In 2012, Bergamot Wine Co. and a small group of winemakers got together to talk about farming. Roughly 93% of Northern California Appellations were planted to only eight grape varieties, the remaining seven percent home to hundreds of lesser known grapes. You know the eight well: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and Petite Sirah.
The remaining seven percent, we deduced, was home to handfuls of lesser known grapes. A small, steadfast force of winemakers and growers were championing these
grapes, tending terroir, replanting vineyards, and producing wines akin to Old World practices. When we noticed the scarcity and rarity of these 7% varieties, we came up with a solution: to bring these growers, winemakers, and wines together in one place for folks to taste and learn: in 2012 Bergamot Wine Co presented the first year of the event SEVEN % SOLUTION. And we turned heads. Each year since we have watched the numbers grow: more acreage planted to the “Seven %” grape varieties, more wines made from “Seven %” grapes, and more winemakers and growers attached and dedicated to the “Seven %” movement.
WHY IT IS COOL & WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: You might know what we’re talking about when we yawn at Pinot. For reals, Pinot is one yummy grape, when it is made in a varietally correct way. But Pinot is overgrown, overmade, and we’re over it. (That doesn’t mean we don’t have a few cases in our cellar- we’re still talking about the movement here, folks.) So what is next? What grape is going to turn the heads of the next generation of wine lovers? Definitely not one of the Big Eight (or as it is in 2019, the Big Nine, having adding Pinot Gris to the lineup of Big Over-Planted Production). We know the answer.
ALL OF THEM. Aglianico, Albariño, Alicante, Alvarelhão, Arneis, Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Pfeffer, Carignan, Charbono, Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, Clairette, Cortese, Corvina, Counoise, Dolcetto, Falanghina, Fiano, Gamay, Gewürtztraminer, Graciano, Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Marsanne, Melon de Bourgogne, Mission, Mondeuse, Mourvédre, Muscat, Nebbiolo, Négrette, Negroamaro, Nero d’Avola, Orange Muscat, Palomino, Picpoul, Pinot Blanc, Refosco, Ribolla Gialla, Riesling, Roussanne, Ruby Cabernet, Sangiovese, Sémillon, Sylvaner, Tannat, Tempranillo, Teroldego, Tocai Friulano, Trousseau, Trousseau Gris, Valdiguié, Verdelho, Vermentino, Viognier… …to name a few.
Though rare to California, these grape varieties are all native to the Old World and enjoy healthy reputations, along with hundreds of other grapes; vines that have usually found ideal climate, terroir, and folks with generations of fine-tuned winemaking practices to bring out the personality of each variety.
A handful of winemakers here in the US, and most specifically the California ‘Seven Percenters’ are making great strides to match their Old World mentors. Each micro-production of these grapes, whether single varietal or blend, are what is next. Because they come from organic and biodynamic farming practices. Because they present the unique personalities of each grape variety (varietal correctness). And most importantly, they bring us a diversity of flavors and textures well above and beyond the 50 different options of Pinot that are currently taking up precious room on the shelves. Now that is cool.
