GRAPE: Unfined/Unfiltered

Yesterday we called Brendan and Laura Carter of Unico Zelo to get their take on the tragic bushfires that have ravaged much of Australia’s wine country. Brendan provides a brief breakdown of the situation for Unico Zelo, their neighbors, and the South Australian wine sector as a whole.

Our own Stephen Buffington drove to Wenatchee last week to sit down with Seth Cohen, the founder of Archibald James Ciderworks. They touch on a variety of topics including the importance of the cider industry in preserving Washington State's heirloom apple varietals, and the interesting process of building a artisanal cidery from scratch in the year 2019.

Tasting through Domaine Bastide Saint Dominique's Chateauneuf-du-Pape lineup with the lovely brother/sister duo that is Eric and Veronique Bonnet. We hope this gets you excited for the pallets we have arriving Feb 1 via air freight.

Quick rip from the wine route - Here is the scoop on Abouriou and the Cotes du Marmandais.

National Portfolio: Brad Roberts hooked us up with Misty Cove Wines of Marlborough, New Zealand earlier this year and the wines have arrived stateside. Misty Cove was founded by former cricket star Andrew Bailey, and Andrew's longtime friend and former teammate Jerrod Englefield handles all things sales and marketing related there. We’ve never come across this level of quality of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc for the price, and were happy to host Jerrod in Seattle for a quick visit.

National Portfolio: Veronique and Caroline Maret recently flew in for a quick visit, and in this episode you can be a fly on the wall as they taste our California team on the full Domaine de la Charbonnière lineup and brief everyone on the amazing history of their property and also on what is in store there for the future.

National Portfolio: Steve and Laurent talk about their new "Dovecote" wines with John.

National Portfolio: Steve Lawrence has been a close friend to all of us at Grape for decades now. He is a wine polymath of sorts, having started in this business making Bordeaux during the 1982 vintage. Steve was one of the central figures in the Chalone Group's meteoric rise during the late eighties, brought us Lockwood shortly thereafter, is the man who invented Stag's Leap "Artemis," and most memorably to us he was the fellow responsible for setting us up as the Pacific Northwest's Clicquot distributor during the 90's and 00's. If you read Esther Mobley's excellent piece on Steve and his wife Diane in the San Francisco Chronicle last month, you know the sweet love story that is Chateau La Corne. Steve is all settled in now at his new home in Bordeaux, and we get the quick scoop on his new rural life there!

West Coast Distribution: John and Brendan catch up where they left off for part two!

West Coast Distribution: John sits down with Brendan Carter during Brendan's recent trip to Seattle. They talk Aussie soil, Unico Zelo's history, and about a new model for wine cooperatives in the 21st century.