This week we welcome back MSW favorite Virginia Samsel from Richmond's Native Selections. There are few importers in the country more dedicated to finding the world's best organic, biodynamic, and natural wines, and we are very lucky to have a close relationship with them. Come by and learn a bit more about some of the most interesting wines being made today!
Established three years ago in Richmond, Virginia, Native Selections is an importer and distributor of organic and biodynamic wines made following the Natural Wine philosophy of minimal intervention. Native works with Zev Rovine, Selections de la Vina, Indie Wines, and Percy Wines to bring in farmer driven, small production wines. Over the past few years Native has developed relationships with a few producers in France imports from them directly.
Vincent
-Domaine des Cognettes is a sixth generation winery in the Loire Valley. Located just outside of the town of Clisson, in Muscadet, brothers Stephane and Vincent Perraud use homeopathic treatments to work their organically certified vines of up to 65 years old, including coveted holdings in the granite soils of Clisson. In the cellar, they use a light hand and have lessened their use of Sulphur to under 40 ppm. They make their wines in traditional, glass lined fermenters, that help to preserve freshness during the process.
Folle Blanche - 100% Folle Blanche, AOP Gros Plant Pays du Nantais - All hand harvested fruit from the coastal holdings in Pais Nantais. Striking acidity with citrus, tart tree fruit and the sea.
Rose - 65% Merlot, 17.5% Cabernet Franc, 17.5% Gamay Noir - This wine sees a slow fermentation, over 2.5 months, helping to preserve the lighter and floral elements of aroma and flavor. Rustic picnic wine with early spring strawberry and herby bramble.
Pinot Noir - 100% Pinot Noir - Loire Valley fruit from granitic soils. Ripe, juicy red cherry, mineral and fresh herb structure.
-Jonc Blanc is Isabell Carles and Frank Pascal and their 9 hectares of certified Biodynamic vineyards in Bergerac, just east of Bordeaux, up the Dordogne River. Their thin soils are mostly limestone, and they work with many familiar "Bordeaux" varietals. In the vineyard they follow the mystical and lunar driven philosophies of Rudolph Steiner and the calendar laid out by Maria Thun. In the cellar they are quite hands off, with very little manipulation of the wine. only some whites see a bit of sulfur at bottling, to provide structure and preservative qualities. Longer aging whites and reds, which age a minimum of two years, are never sulfured.
Le Sens du Fruit Blanc - 35% Semillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sauvignon Gris - Fermented and aged in steel on lees. Rich but light, ripe golden apple, hint of butterscotch and herbs, lanolin texture.