embracing the Matriarchy
This month we’re celebrating the history of women, and because we’re Wine Press, we’re talking about female winemakers who we couldn’t live without. Check out the 4-pack, but learn about the women we count on to produce some of the finest and most approachable wines in the business.
Castell d'Age, Penedès 100% Orange 0% SO₂
Castell d’Age is the product of three generations of women: Aurèlia Figueras, Anne Marie Comtesse, and Olivia Junyent. Matriarch Aurèlia Figueras took the land that had been in her family for decades and gave it new purpose. By the 1980s her daughter Anne Marie became a pioneer of organic farming practices and winemaking techniques. Today Olivia Junyent and her siblings are taking one step further into the future as they make the move towards biodynamic practices.
“Aware that everything that happens on Earth is a reflection of what is happening in the cosmos, we work in accordance with the cycles of the Moon, the planets and the constellations. Our most valuable treasure is our soil. We look upon it as a living entity, full of life, dynamic and harmonious. It is responsible for making our products unlike any others and for conferring the typical characteristics that we seek for our wines and cavas.”
Clay Soils
Certified Organic
Practicing Biodynamic
Hand harvested
Indigenous yeasts
Spontaneous fermentation
Cold maceration on the skins for 8 days
Unfined
Unfiltered
No added sulfites
Fattoria del Pino, Vin Vale
Jessica Pellegrini began her journey through winemaking without knowing where it would take her. After convincing her father to let her plant Sangiovese on a new investment property she began her life as a grower and winemaker. Her first vintage was produced in 2010, an ideal season if there ever was one. But Jessica spent the decade leading up to learning all she could about her vines and how best to treat them. Biodiversity became the hallmark of her practices. By keeping her soils healthy she minimizes the work needed in the cellar. Her wines exhibit the earthy
Practicing Organic
Silty clays, marls and limestone soils
Hand-harvested
Spontaneous fermentation
20-day maceration on the skins
Unfiltered
3 months in stainless steel
3 months in Slavonian oak
4-5 months in bottle
Day Wines, Lemonade Rosé
After learning as much as she could about every aspect of the winemaking business, Brianne Day momentarily set aside her penchant for traveling to start making her own wine. In 2012 she produced her first vintage of single vineyard Pinot Noir that was heralded across the industry. Since then, she has continued to source her grapes from organic and biodynamic farmers in the hope of making wine that shows the world what her corner of Oregon has to offer.
The Lemonade Rosé was bottled as a way to save the fire-affected harvest of 2020. With a gentle pressing and little maceration, the grapes were saved, and thank goodness. The Lemonade is one of the punchiest and lively rosés we’ve seen. It reminds us of blood oranges and the tanginess of the freshest bag of Sour Patch Kids. You gotta get it.
Domaine Réveille, Tous des Oiseaux
One our favorite producers, France Crispeels, has transformed the way we look at wines from the Languedoc. She manages to preserve freshness in each of her wines despite the warm and rugged climate. She is committed to a low-intervention approach that allows her fruit to be a perfect representation of the land. She began nearly 15 years ago in pursuit of wines that were not weighed down by the earth, but rather, made lighter by it. The Tous des Oiseaux is exactly that. Ripe cherries and a medium rare NY Strip. A little fruity, a little gamey. It’s definitely a new favorite of ours.
Biodynamic farming
Granite and gneiss soils
Hand-harvested
Indigenous yeasts
Spontaneous fermentation
Aged in stainless steel
