Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Edaphos Wines 2018 Grenache, Steel Plow Vineyard, Sonoma County

Written by Allison Levine on May 13, 2020

Wine

Grenache is one of most planted grapes worldwide. While approximately 450,000 acres of Grenache are planted in the world, France, Spain and Italy are home to the majority of the plantings. The United States is home to only approximately 10,000 acres so despite its popularity around the world, it is less known in the US. For those who know it, they love it. And when I took a sip of the Edaphos Wines 2018 Grenache, Steel Plow Vineyard from Sonoma County, I was reminded why I love Grenache and that is why it is the Please The Palate Wine of the Week.

The Edaphos Grenache, which was sourced from the Steel Plow Vineyard (the estate vineyard of Landmark Vineyards), goes through partial carbonic maceration, meaning that the whole berries begin to ferment from the inside as a result of filling a sealed vessel of whole bunches of grapes with carbon dioxide. A typical method used in Beaujolais, carbonic maceration makes medium-bodied red wines fruitier with softer tannins.

The Edaphos Grenache spent almost a month on the skins before being lightly pressed in a basket press and then fermented concrete Amphora and aged for 10 months. The wine is filtered but no sulfur is added.

The wine is very aromatic. A potpourri of violets, lavender, wild strawberry and plum jump out of the glass, as well as earthy spices and mineral notes. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with sandy tannins.

There are 165 cases of the Edaphos Wines 2018 Grenache, Steel Plow Vineyard, Sonoma County which retails for $38.

Folded Hills Winery: A lot of beer makes this wine

Written by Allison Levine on April 14, 2020

Wine

As you take the 101 Freeway north, just a few miles north of where the 101 freeway shifts inland from the coast lies the 600 acre property of Folded Hills Winery. Launched in 2017, Folded Hills is a young winery is Santa Ynez but they are making some wonderful wine as I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and you can read here.

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There are many funny famous quotes about wine. Rumi, circa 1200s, said “Either give me more wine or leave me alone.”

In the 1930s, W.C. Fields said, “I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.” Napoleon Bonaparte said, “In victory, you deserve Champagne. In defeat you need it.”

In the 1500s, Martin Luther said, “Beer is made by men, wine by God.” And one of the most famous quotes used by numerous winemakers around the world is that, “It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine.”

That last quote is more than appropriate for Folded Hills Winery, a young brand in the Santa Ynez Valley. “The winery was built from the beer business,” owner Kim Busch explained. It definitely took a lot of good beer to make this winery.

Folded Hills Winery was founded by Kim and Andrew Busch. Andrew Busch is one of the children of August Anheuser Busch Jr, the American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world by 1957. Read More +

Edaphos Wines: A new Sonoma producer

Written by Allison Levine on March 17, 2020

Wine

I always love trying new wines and when I was invited to taste the wines of Edaphos Wines from Sonoma I was excited. But I honestly did not expect to be so impressed with the wines. I fell in love with the unique varieties produced by Edaphos and wrote about it in the Napa Valley Register which you can read here.

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There are more than 425 wineries in Sonoma County. I know that I have not tasted wines from probably half of them. So, when I was invited to try a new Sonoma brand, I was happy to try it.

I had some high expectations for the wines as the friend who invited me to taste them is San Francisco-based sommelier-turned-educator Eugenio Jardim, whose palate I respect and trust.

While I anticipated the wines to be good expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, I was in for great surprise. Edaphos (ee-dah-fos) Wines are exploring the bounty of Sonoma beyond Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and producing excellent wines that were nothing like what I expected.