We hosted a wine tasting event this week, calling it Taste the Table: ten wines, all selected from team favorites, special orders and new arrivals, all open on the table for our everyone to try! The event was a mega hit & you guys sold us out of a decent number of wines. While some of these won’t be restocking, we wanted to compile our list and share some info about these natural wines! Make sure you stop in this season and shop wine with us, Phoenix’s most dope bottle shop and the best place to buy natural wine in the valley! 😉

Party Panda Riesling Pet Nat 

Producer: Weingut Staffelter 

Year: 2022

Region: Mosel, Germany

Grape(s): Riesling

Type: Sparkling – White – Pet Nat 

About: From the oldest surviving winery that we know of, a business dating back before 900AD…managed by 7th generation winemaker Jan Mathias Klein located in the steep slopes of the Mosel. Certified chemical-free farming and truly minimal intervention in the cellar, using zero sulphur at any stage. A rare find, these wines are full of fun history and folklore. Each label carries the legend of characters such as the wolf, the donkey and other creatures, helping to tell the imaginative story of Staffelter Hof. 

Tasting Notes: sour lemon pith, mandarin orange, yellow pear, subtle aromatics

Pairing Suggestion: grazing charcuterie board (jam, seedy crackers, creamy brie)

 “Frei.Körper.Kultur FIZZ” Pét-Nat Rosé

Producer: Schmitt

Year: 2021

Region: Rheinhessen, Germany

Grape(s): Dornfelder, Portugieser

Type: Sparkling – Méthode Charmat

About: Ran today by two winemakers, Bianka and Daniel, this farm has been kept in the family for 5 generations now. They established their own name and wine project in 2012 and shortly after converted the family’s already organic property to biodynamic as well (being only 1/80 Demeter-certified). Working with mostly amphorae and used oak barrels. 

Tasting Notes: juicy watermelon jolly rancher, sour cherry, rose water

Pairing Suggestion: green bean casserole

“Monfarina” 

Producer: Domaine Giachino

Year: 2023

Region: Savoie, France

Grape(s): Jacquere

Type: White – Malolactic  

About: The origin story dates back to the year 1248, on the north side of Mt. Granier in the French Alps, when 500 million cubic tons of limestone downslid into the valley, destroying villages, leaving casualties and great tragedy in its wake. A number of centuries later, this turned into a silver lining for the terroir which was now perfect for vines. The Giachino family eventually began farming vines to supplement the nuts, cereals and fruits they were growing. In 1988, Frédéric took over management of the vines and dedicated himself to wine production, later joined by his brother. Becoming completely organic in 2006, with biodynamics to follow, they began working with older varieties and pushing the importance of stewardship and sustainability in everything they did. This earned them the respect of many, such as Michel Grisard who selected the Giachino family to take over his iconic domaine, Prieuré Saint-Christophe, when he retired in 2015. 

Tasting Notes: passion fruit, lychee, peach pit, white flowers with stunning minerality

Pairing Suggestion: sweet potato casserole

“Mish Mash” Osterreich White

Producer: Judith Beck

Year: 2023

Region: Burgenland, Austria

Grape(s): Gruner Veltliner, Neuburger, Weissburgunder, Welschriesling, Zweigelt, Scheurebe, etc.

Type: Light Skin-Contact 

About: Earning her stripes at renowned wineries in France, Italy and Chile, Judith Beck took over her family estate which was founded in 1976, a couple years after making her first vintage in 2001. By 2007 she began converting the entire estate to biodynamic, identifying “naturalness” as the main quality she wishes to showcase in her wines.

Tasting Notes: tangerine peel, touch of ginger, golden apples, honeysuckle

Pairing Suggestion: lobster etouffee with corn, turnips, and potatoes

“Spring Ephemeral” Columbia Gorge Pinot Gris

Producer: Hiyu Smockshop Band

Year: 2022

Region: Hood River, Oregon

Grape(s): Pinot Gris

Style: Skin Contact

About: Nate Ready, a former somm for high-end California restaurants (including the French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s Napa Valley iconic restaurant) was drawn to winemaking and farming by his need to discover and live closer to the origins of food and wine. He completed multiple apprenticeships in various California, Oregon and Italian wineries, citing his stay with Maggie Harrison of Antica Terra winery as his seminal one. Back at Hiyu, they spent the first four vintages working without any mechanization, getting to know the estate little by little. 

Tasting Notes: honeydew melon, dash of white pepper, oolong tea, ripe peach

Pairing Suggestion: white wine to accompany turkey!

“Le Fruit” Rose

Producer: Domaine Cazottes

Year:  2021

Region:  Gaillac, Southwest-France

Grape(s): Syrah and Duras 

Style: Rosé

About: In the south-west of France, where the long-standing traditions of fruit and vine cultivation are alive and well, you’ll find the talented Laurent Cazottes making a variety of liqueurs and wine using only organic fruits, known for his magical eaux-de-vie. In 2010 he referenced his family heritage and made his first wine, using nearly extinct grapes of the region. Since 2018, Joanna Dubrawska has been overseeing the winemaking project. The estate is focused on fruit with: 600 pear trees, 200 plum trees and 4 hectares of indigenous grapes. Adding to the biodiversity of the land they have thousands of trees, gardens of heirloom tomatoes, bread grains, barley, aromatic plants and more. 

Tasting Notes: A fruit-forward rosé showing bright notes of strawberry and raspberry. On the palate it’s fresh and lively, crisp acidity. 

Pairing Suggestion: Freshly baked rolls with salty butter

“Black Beat” VDF Red

Producer: Chahut et Prodiges

Year: 2020

Region: Loire Valley, France

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

Type: Red – Carbonic

About: Self-made winemaker Grégory Leclerc found his calling in the Loire, years after getting his Masters degree in history and dabbling in journalism & marketing. He bought 6.5 ha of vines in 2007 and started the Domaine Chahut & Prodiges and now shares a cellar with his partner, winemaker Anne Paillet who makes the Autour de’Anne wines in the Languedoc. 

Tasting Notes: Dried tart cherries, sour cranberry, ruddy pomegranate seeds

Pairing Suggestion: red wine to pair with turkey or meat dish

“Rosh” Abruzzo Rosso

Producer: Lammidia

Year: 2021

Region: Abruzzo, Italy

Grape(s): Montepulciano, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

Type: chilled red – co-ferment

About: Based in a small village in a traditional Italian town 700 meters above sea level, we have pergola vines to protect grapes from the heat, bringing electric acidity to the Lammidia wines. Friends since childhood, winemaking since 2013, Davide and Marco have quit their day jobs and have since gained a loyal following of fans, despite being a fairly young winery. They are looked to as leaders in natural wine, inspiring others to adopt similar practices and “unstoppable curiosity”. The namesake was given to them by Davide’s grandmother who’s home they were working out of when an early wine fermentation failed to start. Shen then performed a folk ritual to drive away “l’ammidia”, the evil eye. 

Tasting Notes: unripe red fruits, umami, black tea

Pairing Suggestion: stuffed mushrooms with gruyere and onions

Soledad 

Producer: La Onda

Year: 2017

Region: North Yuba, Sierra Foothills, California

Grape(s): Syrah

About: La Onda (“the wave”) is a very small wine project dedicated to making wines that taste alive and lively, letting the terroir speak over the winemaking itself, embracing nature’s direction from start to finish. Rooted in the Sierra Foothills, they farm four acres of wild vineyards, farmed without irrigation or tillage. This project demands tons of work by hand, working slowly and diligently. Using their own fruit in addition to some nearby friends’ fruit, the winemaking is kept simple: all wines are foot-stomped and then either left to ferment OR immediately pressed whole-cluster. There is no destemming, no additives and they almost always use gravity to move the wine rather than pump or machine. Wines are aged in barrels for as long as they need and then bottled unfined/unfiltered before further bottle aging. Fun fact, La Onda also has a wine project in Itata, Chile by the name Onda Brava, dedicated to understanding and working with ancient vines in the hills. 

Tasting Notes: ripe black plum, hint of black pepper, violet

Pairing Suggestion: stuffing (herbed rosemary, bready brioche, crunchy veg)

Secco Bro 

Producer: Folicello

Year: 2023

Region: Emilia Romagna, Italy

Grape(s): Lambrusco maestri, Lambrusco marani
Style: 

Type: frizzante – red

About: The Folicello family and wines have charmed us since day one and we have only grown to adore them more over the years. Husband and wife team Marco and Antonella began their winemaking journey in the early 80’s with the intent to share the fruits of their labor with close friends and family. Fast forward to today and they are still living in the countryside, now with their adult children, together running their wine production out of a small estate and lab where they make wines among jams, vinegar and other organic products. Their honest approach to making wine from the heart, for the love of nature, and not for money, has pushed them into a proudly natural lane. The winery is completely self-sufficient with solar-powered energy and the farm is full of biodiversity. The wines are vinified without using any SO2 at any stage, even at bottling and remain one of our all-time favorite examples of soulful natural wine. 

Tasting Notes: stewed blackberries, black currant, dry and earthy effervescence

Pairing Suggestion: raspberry swirl cheesecake

Buffalo Nickel American Pale Ale 

Wren House Brewing

Location: Phoenix, AZ

Tasting Notes: Bright citrus, subtle pine, smooth malt presence

Pairing Suggestion: throughout the meal/mac and cheese bites