woty, just for fun

Has 2022 seemed off to you so far? Do you find yourself unsure of the day of the week, or of the date? If so, please consider purchasing a 2022 “Cats & Natural Wine” calendar from us! For each calendar sold we make a donation to PAWS and Treehouse Chicago. (https://rainbow-wines.square.site/product/2022-cats-wine-calendar/266?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false)

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Often people who are into wine, or work in wine, will post on social media about their WOTY, their pick for their wine of the year around this time. I think it used to be a bigger deal pre-pandemic - we keep time differently in confinement, the excitement and the finality of the end of the year have faded, as the days roll into days. Maybe? Or maybe this is optimistic thinking on my part, but also perhaps people are more cautious now about singling out one crowning wine, out of concern for it being totalizing and competitive. 

Em and I considered posting about this but kind of agreed the concept would need more editorializing. For starters, we wanted to define for ourselves just what qualifies as a WOTY. 

Is a WOTY a wine that you drank often throughout the year, or can it be a wine you had just once? Does it encapsulate the themes of the past year, or represent a departure from everyday life? Should it be a wine shared with others, part of a common experience, or something more private? 

My conclusion is -  any and all of the above. The point of the WOTY game is reflection and appreciation, and - fun! Sometimes it helps to make things more fun to make rules around them, but, this topic may be better left boundless, led by instinct alone. 

For both Em and I, Frizbee from Zumo Wines instantly came to mind as a WOTY. 

Zumo (juice in Spanish) is a project from couple Georgia Staples and Diego Luis Perez based in Richmond, California. Em went to visit them this fall. They work tirelessly to source quality fruit untouched by pesticides and herbicides. Diego works at Ordinaire, the wine bar and shop in Oakland, CA, for years, and knows a lot about natural wine. While the spirit of Zumo feels youthful, innovative and experimental, you can also see something of the earnest wine student in them - many of the wines are inspired by bottles Diego and Georgia most appreciate. Frizbee is Verdelho, foot stomped and macerated briefly before being pressed over sauvignon blanc skins. 

As soon as we got this wine in, which was bottled in 500 milliliter brown glass and topped with a green cap, Em and I both opened one at our respective homes. It was really affordable, and the size meant the commitment involved in opening one was low. Wow. We were freaking out about how much we loved it. Em and Mac I think opened a second one too. 

Instantly, I deemed this wine the song of summer 2021, I was thinking of Umbrella by Rhianna circa summer 2007. Adding to the magic of the wine - each bottle was a little different, some were more tannic and felt a little darker, and I started to believe they were mood rings that responded to the environment in which you opened them. We don’t have it any more in stock, but we do have two equally exciting wines from Georgia and Diego, Flower Variant and the Phew II. 

Then there is Sonoma Mountain Winery, a project which ceased in 2018. We have had some difficulty writing about these wines because they are complex and make me emotional There are a bunch of different cuvees we’ve had, all from the last stock at the winery - red and white co-ferments, red field blends, pinot noir, rosé, chardonnay, merlot. They are moment-making wines, moments I wish to have for life. In another difficult year, I feel grateful to drink from a winery that no longer exists, yet continues to move us. 

The winery was started by Niccolo Coturri in 2009. Tony, his Dad, is a visionary who reimagined viticulture and viniculture in California. Nic started his project using Tony’s vines and cellar, as well as his perspective as a winemaker. That meant embracing the sun and vibrancy of Sonoma. This approach makes for full wines, and that fullness can be difficult, as, for instance, it can take some time for the wines to mature. It is special to have a wine with this much age no matter its origin or style, but to have these wines from a California winery with nothing added and nothing taken away is particularly rare. They are old but still very much alive. 

In the store right now we have the Merlot 2011 from Sonoma Mtn, a recent addition, as well as Cuvée No 1 from 2012, a blend of Syrah, Barbera and Zinfandel. We have many other fresh wines in the store - invigorating scrubbing bubbles from Ca de Noci; rosé pet nat from Vignereuse; Gamay from Domaine de la Petite Soeur; Grenache and Clairette+Carignan from Domaine Mada; a trio of Muscats in one wine from Lambert Spielmann; bright orange and rosé wine from the Languedoc, from L’Èrba d’Agram; macerated Gewurz from Ginglinger; fruit pet nat from Sweden; and drinky Duras from Causse Marines. We will be out for deliveries all weekend. Any questions or thoughts, always feel free to email us at rainbowwinechi@gmail.com.