Commune Wines @ Solano Cellars Friday, November 15th

Our friend, winemaker and Riesling-slinger Tyler Stacey spent years as a sommelier, reading books, studying maps, and tasting the greatest wines from the most esteemed estates in the world; he decided it wasn't enough. He wanted to put his boots in the dirt, to see, hear, smell, and feel the vineyards his favorite wines were from, to engage with the essence of that place and time, and the people that were there. Working in wine distribution and importing, he travelled through the greatest wine regions of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and South America. But ultimately, he was struck with a deep desire to understand how that sense of place could be expressed back home in California.

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Having just wrapped their fifth harvest - and now Berkeley locals, making wine on 4th Street! - Tyler and his wife Emily have begun to carve out a name for themselves as producers of some of the most elegant and site-expressive wines in the state. They source exclusively from small, family-run vineyards, many of them over 50 years old, with sites stretching from Monterey to West Sacramento (where they got their start making wine in Craig Haarmeyer's cellar). With each wine, Tyler and Emily aim to capture the history and terroir of each unique region: Zinfandel from San Joaquin County is lush with dusty wild flowers, rambunctious berry fruits, and a distinct savory earthy quality this region is known for; 100+ year-old Carignane from 2000ft in elevation is marked by perfumed and aromatic with red mountain berries, with a cinnamon spice quality that they've only found in this vineyard; from a windswept granite mountain overlaid with beach sand in Monterey County, their inaugural vintage of Gamay is charmingly, effortlessly red-fruited, and is complimented by an intoxicating floral and herbal edge; Syrah from Calaveras County is dark, brooding, sanguine, and savory; and from West Sacramento, old-vine Colombard proves why it's one of CA's most underrated varieties - strikingly balanced, marked by pineapple guava, green apple, lilacs, and dense minerality.

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We'll have Tyler behind the bar to chat about the new releases, tell you how each one is somehow perfectly suited for the Thanksgiving table, invite you to their new tasting space in Berkeley (and maybe if you're lucky, nerd out about all the Vom Boden Riesling he brings us!).