natural wine at monsoon market | October 2024
You know us, always drinking and talking about the best natural wines in Phoenix. Check out the latest natural wine pick from us at Monsoon Market! These natural wines are always straight out of our Natty & Nice Wine Club, now on the shelves ready for you to pick up and enjoy yourselves.
Fangareggi Selvadeg Bianco Pet-Nat 2021
Region: Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Grapes: Pignoletto
Vitivinicola Fangareggi is a generations-old family-run farm in central Italy, with a history of growing Lambrusco grapes since the 1800s. The current stewards of the land, Giuseppe and Roberto, grew up in the vineyards and resumed the winemaking operations at the farm in 2005. They are proud of their Italian countryside heritage and love to joke that they were raised on bread and Lambrusco. The family farm includes 8 separate vineyards on which 6 native varietals are cultivated. Their wines are super rustic, as Giuseppe and Roberto aim to express their love for the countryside tradition in each bottle.
Recently, Giuseppe and Robert tried their hand at making ancestral method sparkling wines (pet-nats) and we’ve chosen one of those bottles for you to try this month! Their Selvadeg Bianco is a sparkling Pignoletto, a grape native to Emilia-Romagna that has characteristic flavors of aromatic flowers and citrus. With this bottle, you can expect a bright acidity, refreshing fruitiness, and a savory finish. This wine would be great as part of an aperitif spread, the perfect way to get your evening started. Stop into the market, grab your tinned fish of choice and a loaf of Noble bread, and sip on this wine as you watch the sun give way to the night.
Tenuta Santa Lucia ‘Truffles Elf’
Region: Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Grapes: Indigenous Italian varietals
Tenuta Santa Lucia is a family estate that was established in the 60s when the current winemaker, Paride Benedetti, merged his father’s and paternal grandfather’s land. At first, the land was dedicated to creating a self-sustaining estate – growing food, raising animals for eggs and milk, etc. In the mid-90s, his focus shifted to natural wine-making and his approach has since evolved to include experimentation with biodynamic practices. He has started to follow lunar cycles and plans his planting and harvest schedules accordingly.
We still don’t have much to say about the grapes used to make this wine (it seems Paride continues to avoid the boring clerical task of updating his website) but we know it has to be one of four native varietals that are the focus of this central-Italian winemaking estate: Sangiovese, Albana, Famoso, and Centesimino. This bottle is delicate and hazy like the evening sky, fresh with notes of under ripe strawberry on the palate. We’d love these dry bubbles with a lavish spread from our favorite takeout sushi spot, Sushi Friend!
Tenuta Santa Lucia ‘Truffles Elf’
Region: Bordeaux, France
Grapes: Cabernet Franc, Merlot
The final bottle this month comes from another storied family project, this time in the famed wine-making region of Bordeaux. Catherine, Jean-Luc and their children, Guillerme and Rachel Hubert, are a tight-knit family that work together to run a completely biodynamic farming and wine-making operation at two separate Bordeaux estates. Catherine’s grandfather acquired the first, Château Peybonhomme-les-Tours, in 1890 and the family more recently acquired the second, Château La Grolet, in 1997. Guillerme and Rachel grew up at their great-grandfather’s countryside estate and returned home to help their parents with the daily operations of both properties in 2007 and 2012 respectively. For Rachel and Guillerme, the most important focus at the farm is maintaining biodiversity and their intense respect for the land results in elegant, approachable wines.
This bottle is a fizzy rosé with a stunning depth of color to match the pink, starburst summer skies. We’ve hit you with another evening sipper, a bottle so juicy and fresh that it will cut the stifling heat like the storms that wash through the city. Rosita is dry and fruity, equally yummy as a pre-dinner drink with friends or as the perfect companion to foods with bold flavors – think stinky cheeses, the pork ribs from Kabob Grill N’ Go, or pasta with a duck ragú.