USA Roundup: A Small Selection of Singular Wines from Across the Country!
8/13/2024
Feeling a little extra patriotic after watching Team USA take home a whopping 126 medals at the Paris Olympics? Want to support domestic winemakers who are making incredible wines while having to navigate the sometimes tricky and expensive logistics of making wine in the U.S.? Today we have a small collection of incredible wines that for one reason or another haven't been featured in an article, but each is a testament to how great wines from this country can be when treated with utmost care in the vineyards and in the cellar. There is a new vintage of Ceritas Hellenthal Vineyard "Old Shop Block" Pinot Noir from their old vines in Sonoma, and the 2022 Drew Fog-Eater Pinot is back and as good as ever. I recently had the chance to enjoy a 2012 Fog-Eater Pinot, which after 10+ years in the bottle was showing wave after wave of beautiful layers while maintaining remarkable freshness. Our tiny allocation of Sandlands has mostly come and gone, however there are still some bottles of their Lodi Red, which is a perfect BBQ wine and not too heavy for summer drinking. If Chardonnay is your vibe the Paumanok Minimalist Chardonnay from the North Fork of Long Island walks a delicate tightrope between taut restraint and more giving fruit, with balance and tension all coming together to make this superb wine. Of particular note is the Maitre de Chai Sparkling Chenin Blanc, which provides incredible value and is just flat out delicious. Lastly one of our favorite orange wines is back, the Maloof No Clos Radio Gewurztraminer from Ross & Bee Maloof in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. It's both ethereal and expressive, with just the right balance of texture and brightness. While this is not a huge offer by numbers, each of these wines are great in their own way and really exemplify the variety and quality available in domestic wines. These are bottles you can get lost in, but in no way are they challenging or confronting - perfectly suitable for just about any occasion, and of course made in the USA!
-Jeff DiLorenzo
