Beer

 

Brasserie Dupont 'Forêt' Organic Saison (750ml Bottle) $16

Brewed by Brasserie Dupont (one of the oldest breweries in Belgium), the Foret Saison was the first 100% certified organic beer to be produced in Belgium. The beer is crafted with organically cultivated hops and barley as well as filtered artisan well water, providing the beer with a distinct and unique mineral quality. A light bodied, refreshingly smooth beer with a bold malt flavor, Foret Saison has distinct aromas of bread, clove and pepper, finishing with a dry herbal note and complex fresh citrus flavor.

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Rosé

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2014 Murgo, Brut Rose, Sicily, Italy $47

For more than 100 years, the Scammacca del Murgo family has cared for olive and fruit trees from which they crafted fine olive oils and jams, and nurtured native Sicilian grapes under the looming shadow of the still active volcano, Mount Etna. Yet it’s only been since 1980 that the baron Emanuele Scammacca del Murgo transformed the farm into a modern agricultural estate. After a long and illustrious career as a diplomat with important postings as Italy’s ambassador to the Vatican, Brussels and Moscow as well as Assistant Secretary of State in Italy’s Foreign office, the baron came home to focus on his ancestral lands with the help of his eight sons, who are all involved in the family business. With 30 hectares of vineyards, located on three farms, Murgo saw its first bottling of Etna Rosso in 1982, and their first vintage of Brut sparkling in 1990. Fresh and refined, this sparkling has aromas of small red berry, yellow wild flower, tangerine and baking spice. The creamy, thirst quenching palate doles out strawberry, red cherry and orange zest framed in crisp acidity and a lively, elegant finish.

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White

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2016 Volker Wein, Grüner Veltliner, Niederösterreich, Austria $20

Volker Donabaum, the founder of Volker Wines, has been in the wine industry practically since birth. He grew up on the Donabaum family estate in the Wachau in Austria, where the family has been making wine since 1833. Volker worked several harvests in Austria before working as an assistant winemaker in California, France, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Oregon and Canada. Having been recently featured by the James Beard Foundation and Wine Enthusiast, it’s no doubt his wines will just continue to gain in popularity. His namesake Grüner Veltliner is classical in many ways. The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand before being left to spontaneously ferment with native yeasts and age for seven months. Nice mouthfeel, subtle citrus and mineral notes with a touch of white radish make this a perfect pairing with salads or sashimi. 

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2015 Greywacke 'Wild' Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand $41

Forget everything you know about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and from behind your newly discovered veil of ignorance taste something like you've never tasted before! Overly dramatic? Perhaps. But this wine really does break the mold of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Ironically Greywacke is owned by Kevin Judd, the man who created one of the most notorious NZ Sauvignon Blancs over 25 years ago - Cloudy Bay. One can assume that after so many years making wines that don't express much along the way of terroir or nuance, Judd's pendulum swung the other way entirely. Greywacke is named after the river stones in the soil, and all the vines are mature in age and pruned to reduce yields. The grapes are then left to ferment with natural yeast for an extended period of time in old French barrique, after which the wine ages on it's lees for another six months. What is left is a wine that balances a sense of place with refined winemaking, leaving flavors of brioche, homemade apricot jam and lemon curd, nectarine and  yellow peach, with herbal nuances of tarragon and thyme. 

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2016 Vini Conestabile della Staffa, Bianco degli Innesti, Umbria, Italy $42

The history of Vini Conestabile della Staffa mirrors the history of Italy: The land was once owned by the Conestabile  and Della Staffa families, and dates back to the middle ages, back when land was taken by feudal families for their fiefdoms. It was consolidated in the 1700's by an arranged marriage between the two families to become Conestabile della Staffa, an expansive agricultural estate that was one of the largest wine producers in Italy in the late 1800's. But as the family grew the land was splintered between more and more inheritors, becoming more of a co-op in the early 1900's with about twenty families working the land together. But like most of Italy - and the rest of Europe - after WW2 many people moved from the farm to the city, leaving great swaths of land abandoned. It wasn't until 2015 that Alessandra, the great granddaughter of one of the last Counts of Conestabile della Staffa, and her husband Danilo started making wine here again. Thankfully someone had been tending vines planted in the 1970's that were left untouched by chemicals. Danilo's winemaking style is probably identical to the winemaking techniques of those who made wine here hundreds of years ago. No yeast, no chemical corrections, and no sulfur is ever used. "No technology", as Danilo would say.

The Bianco degli Innesti is made from the trebbiano variety; locally called 'trubiano'.  A descendant of verdicchio from grafted (innesti) vines. Skin contact for 10 days, natural fermentation in open-top resin vats (500 liters) before pressing and aging in old barrel. The wine is unfiltered and shows lots of particulates and a deep golden color. The wine has a combination of fresh fruit, peach and nectarine, a little fennel peaks, green grass, and a touch of old cellar. Not your typical white wine but full of character.

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Red

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2016 Vinícola Succés, Trepat, Conca de Barberà, Spain $29

Mariona Vendrell and Albert Canela fell in love studying winemaking in Tarragona and started Succés Vinícola in 2011 at the tender age of 20. They exploded onto the scene with a still red wine made with Conca de Barberà’s favorite grape, Trepat, which was traditionally used in the region’s rosé cava and first vinified into a still red only a decade ago. Albert uses his family’s vinous connections to source Succés’ fruit from older, organically farmed vineyards owned by local abuelos and continues to push the boundaries of what's considered possible in the region with good farming and introspective winemaking. The name of this wine is 'La Cuca de Llum' which translates to firefly, a name that perfectly describes the Trepat grape: hard to find, lively, earthy, fun, ephemeral, but beautiful. Similar to Beaujolais but slightly more herbaceous.

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2016 Philippe Alliet, Chinon, France $34

Father-son team Philippe and Pierre Alliet are the proprietors of this small domaine in Cravant-les-Côteaux, home to some of the best Cabernet Franc vineyards in the Loire Valley. Considered by many to be one of the finest producers in Chinon, the Alliets are part of a new generation of Loire winemakers dedicated to low yields, optimally ripe fruit, and fastidious vineyard management. The grapes are totally de-stemmed in an effort to reduce the vegetal characteristics often associated with Loire Valley reds and only indigenous yeasts are used in the cellar. The result is a fleshy, round version of Cabernet Franc, full of dark fruit, violets, cassis, bay leafs, with hints of black tea and chalk. 

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2014 Emmanuel Darnaud, Saint Joseph, Rhone Valley, France $69

A young man with a bright future, Emmanuel Darnaud is well on his way toward making a strong name for himself as one of the most talented young winemakers to emerge from the Rhone Valley in the last handful of years, as acknowledged by leading Rhone Valley wine guru John Livingstone-Learmonth. His winemaking education came at the foot of the best, noted Hermitage producer Bernard Faurie, where Emmanuel spent 4 years alongside the artisan vigneron. He started out with just 1.5 hectares and in 2001 produced his first vintage. Fortunately, the domaine has grown in size and as of 2015, with the addition of a single Saint Joseph parcel belonging to now father-in law Bernard Faurie, and currently stands at 15 hectares, mostly scattered about the southern sector of the appellation.  This area is notable for its presence of alluvial stones in the vineyards, not unlike those found in Châteauneuf du Pape further to the south, with pockets of brown clay subsoil underneath, making for supple, round, fruit driven wines.

The Saint Joseph bottling is from a single, one hectare parcel which goes by the name of La Dardouille or roughly translated as the blazing sun, aptly named as this southeastern facing parcel, overlooking the Rhône on its western flank, does not lack for sunlight or heat. Dense and compact crafted from 100% Syrah, this wine exudes dark, ripe berry fruit, dried flowers, and mineral tension all laid upon a satiny, complex palate. 
 

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Dan Brooker and Emma Sherr-Ziarko of the Boulder Wine Merchant have chosen wines to accompany our menu. There is more than one wine available for each course to allow you to choose the wine or wines that best suit your taste and budget. These wines are available for purchase from the Boulder Wine Merchant, and will be delivered to you at the table. Wine purchases are limited to one bottle per guest in the party. A small delivery and handling fee has been added to the retail price of the bottle. 

 

For insurance reasons, guests may not bring their own alcoholic beverages to a farm dinner.