ABOUT: Jordan Kivelstadt has made smart moves in the wine industry. He founded his winery in 2007 in Sonoma, changing his family’s vineyard from one that sells all their fruit to a winery that bottles their own creations. He’s also founder and CEO of Free Flow Wines, a company that kegs wine for on-premise consumption, also wine in aluminum cans. Smart while being sustainable is how he got on the 40 under 40 list. We have nothing to do with all this aluminum, just the good bottled stuff from the organic vineyards he pulls from. He ditched his stuffy day job to go work at wineries in Argentina, Australia, and Chile before getting his own dream rolling in California. Lots of cool grapes varieties are being used in his line up, Chenin Blanc, Charbono, and Carignane. You’d be right in guessing that his Sauvignon Blanc is not like his neighbors. We sort of love the label design as well…important to consider every aspect of the final product, and they tick the “great label” box. We currently only stock the Carignane, got the last few bottles of 2016 right here.

TASTE: This wine is made of 100% old vine Carignane grown in Alexander Valley and Mendocino. Native yeasts are used for fermentation and they punched down daily on vats of whole clusters with destemmed grapes on top. Sort of a semi-carbonic maceration thing going on. Earthy, savory flavors abound as well as raspberries and blackberries, dark chocolate, light baking spice and salt. The rap on the bottles label was worth writing down and inserting here. “This vineyard was discovered when we lost the fruit of a neighboring vineyard to frost. Its 140-year-old Carignane vines twist up from the earth, looking like a withered old crone, but when you taste the wine, the vine’s inner beauty shines through. The uglier the vine, the sweeter the fruit!” -Jordan Kivelstadt / Winemaker

PAIR: Spicy falafel, Yalanji, Tabbouleh with chickpeas, Impossible Whopper, tofu satay with peanut sauce, vegetarian Moroccan stew, and Walla Walla onion rings.

Carignan

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Kivelstadt Old Wyve's Tale Carignane 2016

Domaine Vinci Roc 2014

Les Clos Perdus Cuvee 161 2018