Saturday, June 22, 2019
From 5pm to 8pm, Markus poured a selection of our wines as part of the Winemaker Series at:
WineShoppe
2733 D, Pacific Coast Highway
Torrance, CA 90505
310- 539-1055
The WineShoppe is all about bringing you new wines to discover. And the first night those wines are brought into their store, they introduce them in a wine tasting. Each Saturday evening from 5-8pm during the summer, they feature a different winemaker. No reservations required. Cost is $15 a person or $10 a person for their wine club members and their guests.
We were happy to see so many of you!
Cheers!
The Markus Team
THE WINES WE POURED
THE WHITES
2017 Markus Joey Insieme, Lodi
95% Torrontes – Silvaspoons Vineyards, CA
5% Traminette – North Carolina
Insieme is Italian for “together” and represents a blending of wines by two winemakers from America’s east and west coasts. Traminette from North Carolina plays a supporting role to the dominance of Lodi Torrontes, creating a wine that is more like a savory dinner course bottled, or a worthy substitute for that morning Bloody Mary.
First of all, there’s no oak. You’re tasting pure vineyard. The Torrontes grape has a telltale signature of white pepper, which you’ll definitely discover in your glass, along with grapefruit, Honeydew melon, lemon zest, and more. There’s a nice chalky texture, dry, not sweet, with a sort of salty minerality on the finish, and a freshness, like biting into a celery stick. Flavors shift around over the course of an evening and make for a totally intriguing and amazing experience that not even your wine geek friends will be able to nail down.
Pour it with raw oysters instead of tabasco, or grilled oysters, or fried calamari… you get the picture.
80 cases bottled January 11, 2018
12.1% alcohol by volume
2018 Markus Nimmo, Lodi
79% Kerner, 4% Bacchus, 3% Riesling – Mokelumne Glen Vineyards
14% Gewürztraminer – Grand Island Vineyards, Clarksburg
There’s a living vibrancy here that results from vivid fresh fruit energized by dynamically-balanced acidity that will keep this youngster aging gracefully for years.
Flavor wise, you could proclaim citrus, maybe lemon zest, but there is much more to it, such as an exotic twist that might be described as “mix of melons” – like honeydew – with orange blossom or some other flower, and ending with spicy wet stones, then even more fruit. Underlying is minerality and a decent body that nevertheless fills the mouth refreshingly. The interplay of new oak and lees stirring contributes to that body, bringing vanilla and spice.
Just about any food that would pair with a Sauvignon Blanc would work well, but what sounds particularly good is chicken piccata with that traditional lemon butter sauce with capers and a side of pasta primavera.
70 bottled April 12, 2019
13.7% alcohol by volume
2018 Markus Crealto, Mendocino
100% French Colombard – Nelson Family Vineyards
Markus has been experimenting with French Colombard from Mendocino to create a semi-sweet, low-alcohol (9.1%) wine that reminds him of some of the greatest German white wines. He arrests fermentation by cooling and adding sulphur to capture the natural harvest sweetness of the grape. And that cool fermentation preserves nice vivid aromas of white pears, golden apple, floral honeysuckle and fruit cocktail. This makes it great with appetizers, such as a plate of cheeses with salty cured meats.
If you like a wine with complexity and an exciting dynamic sweet-acid balance, this is the wine for you.
(Designed by University of the Pacific student Sheng Moua, the label ingeniously contains the postal code for Markus’s hometown in Switzerland.)
75 cases bottled January 15, 2019
9.1% alcohol by volume
THE ROSÉ
2017 Markus Zeal Rosé, Lodi
75% Syrah – Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch
25% Carignane – Spenker Ranch
A tribute to the hard-working vineyard crews of South Africa and their zealous dedication to succeed in the face of many challenges, this beautiful salmon-pink rosé squeezes loads of fruit into a perfectly-dry, mouthwatering refreshment.
Strawberry, tangy grapefruit and watermelon come first to mind, before a long, creamy, minerality-driven finish with floral notes of rose petals. Saignée of Syrah lends lurking tannins and a bit of weightiness, while the early-picked Carignane brings that tangy fresh balance.
70 cases bottled January 11, 2018
14.1% alcohol by volume
THE REDS
2016 Markus Domo Carignane, Lodi
90% Carignane – Spenker Ranch Block 4, Planted 1900
10% Petite Sirah – Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch, Planted 2001
91 points Wine Enthusiast
Our bottling from ancient vines at Lodi’s Spenker Ranch Block 4, planted way back in 1900, is red-fruit-focused: cranberries, plums, cherries and raspberries with potpourri and complexifying wet earth. Though you can see your fingers through a full glass, the wine is weighty and dry, and clean on the palate, with chalky smooth tannins.
It is said within the industry that Carignane is the wine that winemakers reach for when they want something to drink for pure enjoyment, because the grape naturally retains a good deal of acidity even when fully ripe, working well with a wide range of uncomplicated foods from grilled salmon to a roast beef au jus sandwich.
60 cases bottled April 6, 2018
13.9% alcohol by volume
2016 Markus Zeitlos Syrah, Lodi
90% Syrah Clone 877 – Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch, Planted 2001
10% Petite Sirah – Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch, Planted 2001
92 points Wine Enthusiast
Perhaps our most age-worthy wine, this elegantly-structured blend of Syrah with Petite Sirah is big and full-bodied, with vibrant, savory cherry and plum, violets, coffee, and a seared-steak meatiness, deftly balanced by gripping tannins and acidity. You can taste the vineyard.
Leave it corked on the counter for a few days, and you’ll find emerging additional notes of Asian 5-spice, black olive and more, indicating this baby will age very well.
65 cases bottled August 10, 2018
14.6% alcohol by volume
2017 Markus Nero, Lodi
36% Petite Sirah – Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch
36% Petite Sirah – Berghold Vineyards
11% Malbec – Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch
11% Petit Verdot – Spenker Ranch
6% Zinfandel – Spenker Ranch
The focus is on an immense abundance of richness over pure darkness of black fruits with gripping tannins on the finish.
200 cases bottled April 12, 2019
14.5% alcohol by volume