Sanctum 'Stix & Bugs' Red Piquette
Sanctum 'Stix & Bugs' Red Piquette
If you're still recovering from your Thanksgiving weekend hangover, we've got the perfect crush for you. Low ABV and utterly refreshing, this Slovenian piquette will sooth your soul and get you ready for the season ahead.
The Podkubovšek family has been making wine in northeast Slovenia for generations, on magical steep, sharp hills and valleys that radiate life. A group of French Carthusian monks settled in Lower Styria in the 12th century, planted some grapes, and Slovenia came to produce some legit wines with deep, deep winemaking tradition. The Podkubovšek family farmed this land through the Soviet occupation and regained the rights to their land after the fall of the Berlin wall and division of Yugoslavia.
This piquette is comprised of all the leftover skins, seeds, yeast, etc (or pomace) from Blaufrankisch, Zweigelt and Pinot Noir wine production. Reconstituted in water for 1 to 2 weeks, this is pressed again and then fermented in bottle to trap all those refreshing bubbles. Piquette is a traditional no-waste product typically used to refresh the vineyard workers when water was dangerous but fermented beverages were safe. The low-alcohol kept the workers hydrated but not drunk. The taste is light but you'll still get lots of wild berries and red plums. There's balanced acid and tannins and a surprisingly weighty mouthfeel for a piquette!
Piquettes (and this one is particular) are just FUN! Not to be taken too seriously - just pop it open and go. Before you know it, you'll be wishing you'd grabbed a second bottle.
*a quick note: I do want to acknowledge that the wines of Croatia and Slovenia are unique, deserving a pause from us. These are wines made by people who survived the Soviet occupation - lands taken from them that they still worked and loved even while not knowing that they would ever be able to own again. If you are old enough to remember when the Berlin Wall fell, you can perhaps remember or glimpse what it was like to live in those times. Some of these families lost everything and then lost even more during the Serbian war. and yet everyone I met in what was then Yugoslavia was warm and welcoming - sometimes we had to watch for land-mines and pause for a moment of silence to honor a passed-on loved one or to listen to a story about the old days - every person was filled with warmth, love & eager to invite you in! Each moment was magical and most were filled with laughter. I am deeply humbled to have met and walked with these heroes. And I sincerely hope that when you are tasting their wines you can experience a glimpse of the love & warmth they offer - the wines AND the people!