Piquenique Big Red Frizzante

From Tess & Nic:
“We make natural wines, usually sparkling, from just fruit and nothing else. We work with organically grown fruits including grapes, apples, pears, quince, plums, peaches, blackberries and medlar. We use no preservatives or chemicals in the winery at any time. We pick and process the fruit ourselves. We bottle and label ourselves. Labels are designed by us, printed with photos we take, by a 100 year old print business in Seattle. Bottles are made from 65% recycled glass on the west coast, and are re-usable. Labels are printed without plastic additives to be removable with hot water.”

I’d like to add that they pay a fair price for the fruit when purchased and they pay a living wage. Things that should be considered when we think about how we want our spend our money and who we want to support.

And when the wine tastes as good as these do - well, that makes it super easy, doesn’t it?!! Seriously feels like we’ve always had a bit of a crush on Tess & Nic since visiting them a few years back so when Tess brought us a bottle of this YUMMY, it wasn’t shocking that we loved it. What surprised me is how much!! It’s been hard to not drink this all-day, every-day but we’re doing our best to leave you some! And since they only made 25-cases, you better hurry!!

100% Regent that was planted near Bellingham, WA in an organically tended home garden, picked by Nic, Tess and their friend Sam. Side note: Regent is a cool-weather red wine grape that was created in 1967. Parents are vitis vinifera with a hybrid thrown in to bring the fungal resistance allowing it to be a red grape that can ripen in cooler climates. The Regents I’ve had in the past have always been interesting but never enticing enough - this one blew me away! Maybe it’s cuz I just love a good bubbly red! 

Dark and inky with minerality for days - fresh and juicy with blackberries, dark cherries and a pronounced salinity note. Absolutely crushable but balanced and perhaps more complex than you think at first. The bubbles are present and accounted for. Delicious very cold or nearly at room temp for a soft froth - have a glass nearby in case of overzealous bubbles!