{"title":"March 2026 Wine Club","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"mortellito-tuttu-rosso-sicily-italy-2023","title":"Mortellito \"Tuttu\" Rosso, Sicily, Italy 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM PORTOVINO:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE WINE: \u003c\/strong\u003eField blend of 75% Nero d’Avola, 5% Grillo, 5% Frappato, 5% Insolia, 5% Catarratto and 5% Perricone. Tuttu or ‘All’ of local varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PRODUCER: \u003c\/strong\u003eMortellito is in Val di Noto, in the corner of Sicily that lies at the same latitudes as North Africa’s arid desert climate. Its vineyards are a few kilometers from the coast, with grooves of ancient olive and almonds trees breaking the wind off the sea. Abandoned and still working fishing ports dot the landscape. Owner Dario Serrentino has always enjoyed the contrasts of this coastal growing area, which he calls ‘a desert next to the beach.’ Over the years, lucky for us, he’s learned to coax extremely elegant wines from this receding coast of limestone, which, he says, is ‘the magic to produce wines with tension, freshness, and complex salinity.’ In Dario’s best vintages, his rosso and bianco wines have a tapering, svelte finish, that’s cool and salt-dusted. Drinking them is akin to a dive into the nearby Ionian sea on a hot summer day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDario has always worked on the family farm in one form or another (his heirloom almonds were actually his first love). He changed careers from social worker and part-time farmer to full-time vignaiolo with his first bottling in 2014. He works only with native grapes, including an herbal Frappato, and a spicy-sour bush vine Nero d’Avola. His whites are acid-driven and aspirin-chalky in texture: the Grillo often has a nose of grilled nuts and citrus rinds, the Moscato di Alessandria is floral and herbal (la sua morte, ‘it’s death,’ as the Italians like to say, is a pairing with raw fish crudo). There’s never been any chemical interventions in the vineyards, and there’s an intentional hands-off approach in the cellar, with a minimum of sulphur added at bottling. Avoiding the entrapments of the glou-glou or overwrought luxury style, Dario is part of a very small contingent of producers in Sicily producing fine and natural wines, or as Dario poetically likes to say: mare e terra in vino.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mortellito","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46948785488128,"sku":null,"price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0613\/3684\/6592\/files\/52EC0CB9-393F-4EE7-891F-E122E34B139A_1_102_a.jpg?v=1756332120"},{"product_id":"i-ca-ro-schicchera-rosato-carbonico-lazio-italy-2024","title":"I CA RO \"Schicchera\" Rosato Carbonico, Lazio, Italy 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM SELECTIONATUREL:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE WINE: \u003c\/strong\u003eA blend of Trebbiano, Malvasia and Nero Buono in full-cluster carbonic maceration in steel to load the aromatic bomb and explode the most fruity and intense characters of the grapes. Subtle tannins, freshness, lots of acidity and the impetuousness of youth. The Schicchera is agile, quick and immediate. La Schicchera is a rosé with compulsive drinking. It is for partying and revelry, for noisy dinners, crowded clubs and summer nights. To drink in a flash!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PRODUCER: \u003c\/strong\u003eIn 2019 a band of four friends - Rocco, Fabio, Luca \u0026amp; Gianmarco - founded I CA RO (an acronym standing for i Castelli Romani) . The collective group are childhood friends, born and raised in central Rome. After working in the blossoming enoteca scene and with several small natural winemakers around Italy, they decided it was time they went to work creating a new vision of Roman wine, from the volcanic soils of the Castelli Romani just south of the city. The wines they have set out to create embody the new, modern vision of what Roman wine culture and local terroir has to offer. They intend to change the game and shake things up, working with native grapes of course but also using a variety of vinification methods that are a combination of old-farmer wisdom and modern know-how.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"I CA RO","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48106369777920,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0613\/3684\/6592\/files\/FullSizeRender_0ae29116-704d-4e27-b890-2cad0d07f319.jpg?v=1772573588"},{"product_id":"wild-bush-never-ending-math-equation-coferment-bush-louisiana-2025","title":"Wild Bush \"Never Ending Math Equation\" Coferment, Bush, Louisiana 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM WILD BUSH:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE WINE: \u003c\/strong\u003ePetite Sirah\/Picpoul coferment. This one’s a little brainy, a little wild. Inspired by Côte-Rôtie’s whole “dark meets bright” philosophy, we blended inky Petite Sirah with electric Picpoul to see what would happen. Turns out? Magic. Ripe plum, blackberry, and a touch of violet on the front end — deep, saturated, a real wine glass stainer. Then Picpoul cuts in with a flash of acidity that keeps it lifted and alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PRODUCER: \u003c\/strong\u003eSoutheast Louisiana’s premiere vineyard and winery, Pontchartrain Vineyards, has been purchased by Neil Gernon and Monica Bourgeois of Wild Bush Farm + Vineyard. Monica and Neil have extensive history in the Louisiana wine market, dating back to their starts within the New Orleans restaurant arena, before moving on to retail wine management, then wine distribution, before starting their first wine company out of California, Vending Machine Wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen we realized Pontchartrain Vineyards was for sale, instinctively we were curious. Quarantine had given us the rare opportunity to take stock in what we wanted for our future, and we found ourselves investing our time in ways to better ourselves and our quality of life. LSU had offered an online gardening course that basically set everything in motion as we found ourselves more drawn to learning about self sufficiency and sustainability within our community, and the desire to be more involved in the creation of something fresh and interesting in Louisiana. And while we know the path to winemaking is a bit of a struggle in Southeast Louisiana, we feel the time is right and people are open to trying new styles of wines, and that we have the support of the community to be those people to bring a new perspective to this business.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wild Bush","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48108465389824,"sku":null,"price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0613\/3684\/6592\/files\/IMG_9245.jpg?v=1773246022"},{"product_id":"domaine-matassa-rollaball-languedoc-roussillon-france-2024","title":"Domaine Matassa \"Rollaball\" Languedoc-Roussillon, France 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM LOUIS\/DRESSNER:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE WINE: \u003c\/strong\u003eA co-ferment of Mouvèdre and Carignan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PRODUCER: \u003c\/strong\u003eHow does a South African who grew up in New Zealand end up starting an iconoclastic estate in the Roussillon? This isn't exactly an everyday occurrence, but so it goes for Tom Lubbe of Domaine Matassa. In the late 90's, Tom was working at the only estate in South Africa using indigenous yeasts and lower yields. Interested in working with Mediterranean varietals, Tom managed to score a three month internship at the legendary Domaine Gauby in the village of Calce. Gérard Gauby quickly befriended Tom and asked him to come back for three consecutive vintages as a cellar hand. During that time, Tommet his wife Nathalie, who just so happens to be Gérard's sister. The birth of their first child made Tom reconsider moving back to South Africa, opting instead to stay in Calce to start his own estate. Matassa was founded in 2003, with the first vintage entirely produced in the recently married couple's living room.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Matassa","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48154926711040,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0613\/3684\/6592\/files\/C9C260F5-90CA-4A00-AD81-5D8BF3BE5017_1_102_a.jpg?v=1773244403"},{"product_id":"baias-wine-tsitska-tsolikouri-krakhuna-imereti-georgia-2024","title":"Baia's Wine \"Tsitska-Tsolikouri-Krakhuna\" Imereti, Georgia 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM BAIA'S WINE: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE WINE: \u003c\/strong\u003eThe aromas of persimmon, apricot and citrus create a full-bodied dry wine with a long and pleasant finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PRODUCER: \u003c\/strong\u003eBaia and her younger siblings — Gvantsa (Sister) and Giorgi (Brother) were born and raised in Obcha in a friendly, traditional family of winemakers. They spent a happy childhood watching how parents and grandparents were involved in the diverse winemaking processes. Children were also allowed to arrange their own small farm with vineyards, greens, household animals and plantations, and spent their free time exploring the wonders of nature. At that time, the Abuladze family traditionally produced wine using Imeretian technology — the maceration process (soaking the juice of the grape with the skins and sometimes also the stems) was shorter and only 5-10% of grape skin was used during fermentation in Qvevri. After graduating from college, Baia moved to the capital city of Tbilisi to continue her studies, however she did not find the intense urban life interesting and so after agronomical university she returned to her small town of Obcha where she has been actively promoting the wines of Imereti and growing her family winery. Baia’s passion was to create a sustainable vineyard and to learn everything possible about a wine making process that reflected nature’s own process. Within that mission, her younger sister Gvantsa travelled to Mosel, Germany, as an intern to one of the best biodynamic wineries to obtain knowledge and a deep dive into the magic process of making organic wine. Today, Baia produces wines from Imeretian vine varieties such as Tsolikouri, Tsitska, Krakhuna, Aladasturi, Otskhanuri Sapere. Each grape cluster is chosen carefully only from the Abuladze’s Obcha vineyards. The grape crushing, fermentation and aging is all done by the trio in the family cellar, to proudly offer the highest-quality organic Georgian wine to the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Baia's Wine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48156952068352,"sku":null,"price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0613\/3684\/6592\/files\/23F5210C-8C6F-49CC-A4C9-C0F2037EB96D.jpg?v=1773415110"}],"url":"https:\/\/patronsaintwine.com\/collections\/march-2026-wine-club.oembed","provider":"Patron Saint","version":"1.0","type":"link"}