We believe Birichino wines to be some of CA's greatest under-the-radar, soulful Californian delights. We’ve been working with these wines for over 15 years and will continue to do so as long as they keep making them taste this good! These are amazingly affordable contemporary wines. Are they “natural wines”? Yes! Well, sort of. Birichino’s chief winemaker John Locke says: “a winemaker needs to choose between making natural wine and making a classically tuned one”. We’d assess these as the later while having all of the “fun” aspects of being “natural”.
More from John:
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"There are three chief unforgivable sins for wines: They cannot be boring, they cannot be dirty, and they cannot be fatiguing."
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"Regarding Sin No. 1 – They must taste like something particular, and not anonymous!"
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Regarding Sin No. 2 – Our wines cannot have any microbial, or cellar cleanliness issues. We believe the choice between “Natural Wines” and “Clean” wines is a false one! We add micro-doses of SO2 to all of our wines; otherwise there are generally no other additions except for strict vigilance and oversight. The wines are not inoculated, and the reds are neither fined nor filtered."
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Regarding Sin No. 3 – They cannot weigh heavily on the palate, and must not induce palate or cranial squishiness if administered in prescribed doses. They must have travel. They must defy rather than exert gravity. One must be left wanting another glass, and not regretting the last.”
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We'll taste a wondrous slew of Birichino bottlings, including:- a sparkling and invigorating Pet Nat made from Malvasia.- a still Malvasia made in stainless, just pure and refreshing.- Car Car Glou Glou, a perfect summer chiller with some nuance.-a pure, magic Cinsault from one of the oldest vineyards in California (1886!)- a single-vineyard Pinot Noir, from St Georges Vineyard. as electrifying a Pinot as we know to exist at this price.