Aaron Tan

9.9

One of the best evenings of wine I’ve had this year, and it was just focused on this duo. Opened as inspiration for this year’s red pick at Miao Lu (a name to remember for those reading. I’ll say it here first - some of the best Pinot’s and Chard’s in the world will be coming out of this project high up in Yunnan!), and they both gave great context to the task.

When I harvested with Klaus-Peter in 2017, the vineyards bore the scars of hail, every last one of them. The damage was manifest in what we came to call "hail berries" (misshapen berries). To my untrained palate, they tasted perfectly fine. Naturally, I asked KP why we were discarding them, and his response, while not entirely unexpected, was still astonishing (paraphrasing of course): "I don't need to know precisely what they do," he said, "but if there's even a chance they might diminish the wine by 1%, they're gone. And these? They look capable of much worse."

That unyielding spirit of his was, I must admit, my torment at Abtserde, the vineyard hit hardest by the hail. We spent an entire day sorting and picking a single row - granted, the rows were long, but the pace was glacial. The true enemy, though, wasn’t the relentless sorting, but the wasps. Those little demons made an already grueling task even more daunting, dodging their stings as we plucked berries one by one, like selecting pearls from a troubled sea. What we ended up with were, quite literally, tiny gems - "caviar" berries of purity. By day’s end, the sight was something to behold. Despite the torment, the hard work was unquestionably worth it. The 17’ Abtserde is my wine of the vintage.

I’ve had the 17’ Abtserde on numerous occasions but this takes the cake as the best (note to self: best to decant a young Abtserde hard). It is a marvel of purity and depth, with its nose evoking Meyer lemon, iodine, chalk, and flint. These aromas reappear on the palate with a nearly overwhelming intensity, blending piquant brightness and mineral-rich concentration. With more air, a floral, bittersweet herbal note very typical of the vineyard appears (smells like the place even). As the evening unfolded, the wine seemed to grow younger, each glass more lively than the last. The final sip was almost painfully austere, like drinking pure limestone, its explosive palate held together by sharp acidity and a palpable, phenolic grip. The finish seemed endless. One of my best Keller experiences this year. — 2 years ago

Willie Carter

9.2

Sex in a bottle. The good kind. Everyone has their own favorite California winery, but for me there’s no doubt. It’s Robert Craig. Deep purple with cherry red undertones in the glass. How about this nose? It starts with ripe red fruit up top. Cherries and raspberries and fresh strawberries oh my! Warm spices and créme de cassis follow that up. The barest hint of vanilla tops it all off.

I love the funk. I live for the funk, I die for the funk. But that’s not the water that Robert Craig swims in. Completely eschewing dirty funk, this is a profoundly clean and immediate wine. Full bodied but with none of the seemingly innate flabbiness of other Cabernet dominated blends. Pure sexy sleekness instead here. — 6 years ago

Willie Carter

9.0

What can you even say about a wine like this? You see Loire Valley Cabernet Franc and you get an idea of what’s coming. But this is a little different and it definitely ain’t for everyone. Right out of the gate, noting but straight up funk. I often say that I like my wines a bit funky but good gracious, this baby exceeds that. Moist earth, green peppers, sweaty undergarments, olive tapenade, and smoke on the absolutely insane nose. It’s so beautiful. In the mouth, slightly bitter fruit immediately reinforces the nose. Really nice cherry streak throughout the mid palate. As expected, this is medium bodied and dry. Elegant, it ain’t. It’s just not that kind of wine. She chose the dirty funk life a long time ago and is going to ride it out. Newports, smoked meat, black pepper, and herbs on the palate.
This is a terrific wine, one of the best representations of the varietal that I’ve ever had. And most people are going to hate it. It’s just too much for them. But you and I are different, aren’t we? Nothing fancy here. Nothing too deep. This is simple, stunning, dirty, and pure beauty in a bottle. — 6 years ago

Michael O'Sullivan

9.5

So smooooooth. Available nowhere — 8 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

it’s like Grand Cru Chablis except it’s Chenin. Smells like super great Dauvissat initially. Green Apple and tons of mineral. One of those wines that smells stuffed to the gills just by the nose, but you know it is holding out. Almost some green pea as well. No wax. No almonds. Clean nuts if that makes sense. This is new wavey Chenin like Guiberteau. Palate is just electric but is more Chenin than the nose with its feral fruit energy and vibe but also it has a Rieslingesque cleanliness to it. Dirty Chenin is one of my pet peeves. This is clan as a whistle. Like a cross between Guiberteau and Dauvissat. Dense, chewy, structured and deep. So clean and pure and length that does not quit. What poise and structure. But a lovely finesse and breed as well. This is sappy and dense as can be and one can crunch through the structure. Stunning purity and what a wonderful new expression of Chenin. Saumur is the place. — 8 years ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.2

Magnum. Pure deliciousness! — 9 years ago

Willie Carter

8.9

Whoa! Why did no one tell me about this one? The side project of Mathieu Deiss of the family behind Domaine Marcel Deiss. Beautiful pure copper color with pretty green flecks. One of the prettiest noses I’ve had in quite some time. Delicious honey and orange peel up front. The floral notes are ridiculously fun and exciting. Plenty of herbs and mango, as well.

All Pinot, all day here. 50% Pinot Blanc and 25% each of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. This is so unfamiliar to me but so welcoming and engrossing at the same time. Biodynamic Orange wine that really blows you away from the first sip. Distinctively Alsatian, there’s more than enough to love here. Fresh, lively acid with a kick of spice. The palate is expansive and round with a really nice amalgamation of pretty, rustic fruits. Medium long finish that honestly makes you want just one more glass. Don’t like Orange wine? Don’t like Biodynamic wine? Try this and correct yourself. — 5 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

This is the best Chorey. I will fight you over that. Unreal nose. Just the cleanest and most expansive cherry fruit ever. Massive earth tones, massive mineral and so so expansive. Utterly classic as well as Ledy is as classic as it gets but also is such a clean and skilled winemaker that it’s not a dirty classicism. Juicy, young, sappy and so so pure. Amazing depth and so so clean. Just ultra clean. Pure and the best balance. He is the master of under $40 red burgs. And under $30 when tariffs actually go away. Amazingly compact fruit and such length, suavity and a hidden structure for this to age so well. — 5 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.2

Fresh off the FedEx...laser focused, pure pleasure... imagine forgetting to sugar your fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice...then adding 50% of your usual. Pucker up and embrace the vibrant acidity, the lip-smacking medium weight, the 12% ABV, and the long 30 second finish. Not a great wine, but so much pure fun... and it “tastes so frigging good.” Bravo Hardy et al! — 6 years ago

Brian R

9.7

Wow. A tight beam of pure fresh fruit in the form of grape jolly rancher followed by blue velvet tannins. — 6 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.2

We drank this during our weekly WND. Such a treat to access a soul project. Nice balance, very pure fruit, cant wait to dive into the single variety bottlings. — 7 years ago

Michael O'Sullivan

8.9

Super interesting. Dry ipa. “Tag you’re it” to the East coast — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.3

Saw this and thought Lebron finally got into the wine game... it’s just a matter of time... Actually it’s “Two Kings” by The Wonderland Project, a smoky and savory Pinot Noir from Sonoma County. Tart and pure cherry, with a floral edge and a serious mineral undertow that keeps the energy going on the finish. — 8 years ago

Marcus Weber

9.0

Sparkling Cidre like Chenin Blanc from the Natural wine project Testalonga... Pear, floral and mineral. Exciting, surprising and very pure and direct Chenin Blanc!
Dazu: Mangold/Spinat - grüne Oliven - Zitrone / Bissara / Kichererbsen - Salzzitrone - Fenchel — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.2

This has got to be one of my first 2018s to open, and while I’d normally refrain even if for only a bit longer, this producer has piqued my interest too much. Accolades are great and all, but many fellow winemakers have spoken highly of Dan’s project, which is enough reason to open and see how this is showing.

Normally for my palate, Hyde Chardonnay’s show a lot of bright stone fruit with high acidity (ex: Aubert’s Larry Hyde & Sons...plenty of acidity, lighter style, big fruit up front). Dan has taken Hyde’s fruit and put it front and center. Everything about this wine is about the vineyard. Crystalline and pure. On the nose, it is very ripe without being boozy...grilled lemon, lemon-lime tart, even some kiwi, with floral honeysuckle and sea salt. The palate reveals such an intense expression of the fruit with hardly any notice of oak. This has a strong mineral core and high acidity type backbone, but the mid palate and finish show plenty of ripe lemon, powdered lemon bar tart type flavors. 12.7ABV! Nothing sweet, rich or flabby about this wine. Not sure how it ages, but very enjoyable. — 5 years ago

A. R.

8.9

Pretty little Beaujolais. Slightly dirty nose (in a good way), red fruit, rose petals. Pomegranate and rose hips in the mouth. Light and high acid. Nice finish.

A rather pure example of a young natural Beaujolais. — 5 years ago

Arden Barnett

9.2

Rock n Roll Star by Oasis in a bottle. What a beautiful, pure taste of what real wine making is all about. Regret not buying more. — 6 years ago

Brian R

9.3

Impromptu Mourvèdre face-off. Super crunchy red fruits with the classic D&R spice/incense. Pure and joyful but, incredibly, lost the battle on this night. — 6 years ago

ADAM STROMFELD

9.6

Dark dirty on the nose clean and pure on the nose soft rolling tannins. Soft cherries and raspberries. Balanced perfectly — 8 years ago

with Natalie

Zach Kouwe

9.0

Via Brooklyn Wine Exchange: Hardy Wallace is a bit of a superstar in the "New California" wine scene. He began his wine career in Atlanta, publishing a blog on the subject called Dirty South Wines. In 2009, he won a high-profile contest held by Murphy-Goode Winery in Sonoma, called "A Really Goode Job." Hardy beat out 2,000 other applicants for this stunt-job, acting as a sort of social media/pr coordinator for the winery. Upon completion of his six-month contract, he went to work for several legendary winemakers in the valley, including Cathy Corison (Chappellet, Corison) and Ehren Jordan (Turley, Failla). During this time, Hardy and his wife Kate also partnered with friends Matt and Amy Richardson to form a small label called Dirty & Rowdy Family Winery. For their first vintage, they purchased one ton of Mourvredre, the semi-obscure Provencal and Spanish variety that is rarely seen outside the context of a red blend in California.

Knowing that Dirty & Rowdy could distinguish itself in a ocean of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvigon with this curious and brawny grape, Hardy & Co. quickly bet the farm on Mourvedre, as a vehicle to express different styles of winemaking as well as the terroir of multiple regions within California. Flash-forward to current day, where Dirty & Rowdy has become the king of California Mourvedre, bottling multiple cuvees each year that sell out almost immediately.

Dirty & Rowdy is a well-known emblem of the domestic natural wine scene as well. Hardy buys almost exclusively from organic growers, and doesn't filter, acidify, or alter his wines in anyway. Sulfur use is extremely low, and the overall philosophy is to be as hands-off as possible.

That is until 2017. The fact that Dirty & Rowdy has a wine to present at all for this vintage is a miracle. Flashback to mid-July last year. The growing season wasn't going all that well. Tremendous heat spikes created growth problems at almost all the vineyards Hardy sources grapes from. It's hard enough to monitor vine issues on one vineyard, let alone almost a dozen parcles scattered around six counties stretching from the Central Coast all the way out to the Sierra Foothills. A case of shingles went from bad to worse, spreading to his eyes. Hardy completely lost his vision for three days. Kate's brother Angus, a ski instructor and artist from Aspen, drove out to lend a hand with the impending harvest. On his way out, he was involved in single-car crash along a treacherous stretch of interstate and tragically lost his life.

Then the fires started.

Hardy and Kate, like many other producers who make wines in communal "crush" facilities located in urban areas around Sonoma and Napa, had hoped to ride out the fires and continue their wine production. The fires spread rapidly and threatened both their house and their winery, located in Petaluma. They left their wine in the midst of alcoholic fermentation, one of the most crucial and stressful times of the year for a winemaker even in the best of situations. When they were able to return eight days later, the winery was luckily undamaged. The wine, however, didn't fare so well. most vats had experienced "stuck fermentation," meaning that the native yeast died before eating all the sugar. Hardy, like most forward-thinking American winemakers, is a firm believer in natural fermentation. This no-brainer aspect to his wine was now an virtual impossibility. Plus, the vats contained high levels of volatile acidity or "VA," which creates an unfavorable "nail polish" quality in wine. A little bit of VA can give lift and energy to wine. Too much, however, renders the wine undrinkable.

At this point, Hardy thought to sell all the wine off in bulk for pennies on the dollar. Or perhaps create a second label to distance himself from what was surely going to be an atypical wine. Instead, he decided to combine almost every vat of his Mourvedre for the vintage (including lots of his most expensive fruit), and go into the "Unfamliar" territory of interventionist winemaker. Stuck lots were restarted using a variety of methods. When the wines finally fermented to dryness, he borrowed a "reverse osmosis" filtration system, perhaps the most modern of all the modern wine doohickeys. This contraption allowed Hardy to literally suck out the volatile acidity to bring it down to a pleasing level, as well as moderate and stabilize the alcohol. Then he filtered the wine. Basically, he did all the things he never thought he would ever want to do to wine.

The resulting wine is something that we have never seen before, both from Dirty & Rowdy and the Mourvedre grape, in general. Much of the wine fermented carbonically in tank, so the expression is much closer in style to Beaujolais than Bandol. It is so light on its feet, in fact, that Hardy believes this wine could take a serious chill. (Hence the reason we are trying to get you to try a California Mourvedre in the middle of a sweltering summer!) The tannins are pretty much non-existent, and the fruit is pretty and pure. There is a lovely little purple flower note in the middle of the wine, and a hint of smokiness on the finish (smoke taint from the fires? Or is this just some sort of phantom association because of the context? Either way, it adds depth and personality to this gorgeous wine.)

Since their "Annus Horribilis" of 2017, order and peace has been restored in Hardy & Kate's life. Their daughter Maple turns two in a few days. They celebrated the free-spirited life of their brother with scores of his friends and ski students at Aspen Mountain's opening day last November. The motto of the celebration, "Live Like Angus," has inspired hundreds and hundreds of beautiful social media posts. And this year's Spring release of Dirty & Rowdy wines from earlier vintages has quickly sold out around the country, gobbled up by ravenous collectors, restaurants, and retailers (like this one.)

But to Hardy, this "Unfamiliar" wine, which doesn't fit stylistically or financially into the rest of the D&R portfolio, will always represent something completely different: The best of a unthinkably bad situation. "It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get that wine into bottle," Hardy wrote to us, just this morning. "Fortunately, it is fresh, delicious, soulful and somewhat of a Phoenix Rising from 2017. Though it is our least expensive wine ever, it is the wine I am most proud of." — 8 years ago