Renegade Wines Newsletter

New delights at Renegade. We begin with a favorite from Beaujolais, wander North to Chablis, then take an epic road trip to Chile where 200 year old vines are producing wonders.

We hope you enjoy these wines as much as we do!

Pierre Gerbais Champagne Extra Brut La Loge (France, Champagne)

2023 Yann Bertrand Fleurie Cuvée du Chaos
(France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie)
$52

This is Yann's cuvée d'exception from the oldest vines in his Grand Pré vineyard (60 to 100+ years old) and one of our favorite Gamay wines year in and year out.

Jumping right in, this one is wildly aromatic with black raspberry, dark cherry, pomegranate, dried flowers, hints of incense, then violets, chaparral gastrique, emerging bosenberry, playful acid, and an electric, encompassing presence.
Give this a pause in the glass before enjoying. Terrific with steak tartare or mushroom risotto.

2023 Tissot (Bénédicte et Stéphane / André et Mireille) Chardonnay Arbois Patchwork

2023 Guillaume Michaut 47°N 3°E Chablis
(France, Burgundy, Chablis) $46

A super-appealing Chardonnay for purists who appreciate precise, mineral-driven Chablis. Cool, sea-spray-laden nose with classic notes of iodine and oyster shell. There's depth and freshness here; white flower, peach skin, subtle citrus, and a finish that zings (sings too).

47°N 3°E is a nod to Guillaume Michaut's hometown of Beines where he is creating these masterpieces of wine.

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Road Trip: Maule Valley

Three hours South of Santiago, Chile and you'll enter the Maule Valley, one of the country's oldest, largest, and most diverse wine-producing regions, and home to Chile's oldest vines: 200+ years!

The Maule Valley is unique in Chile as it has a long history of organic farming, dry farming, and all around regenerative farming practices that allow the expression of terrior to shine.

We came across a winery that we felt deserved a spotlight: Viña González Bastías. With a history dating back to the 1800s, and vines dating back to that century too, these ungrafted vines are producing something very special.

We selected two of their lighter wines given the Santa Barbara heatwave (90F downtown today): a lovely orange wine, and a chill-me-please light and spicy red.

2022 Matthiasson Cabernet Sauvignon Village Napa Valley (USA, California, Napa Valley)

2022 Viña González Bastías Naranjo
(Chile, Maule Valley) $32

We begin with an unusual blend : 40% Pink Moscatel, 40% Torontel, and 20% País, all from 200+ year old vines. After a traditional maceration process, there's 60 days of skin contact. Though relatively long, the wine retains finesse, poise, and freshness.

There's a lot going on here: peach, white flowers, orange peel, thyme, and orange blossom, a touch of nectarine, perhaps a kumquat or two...overall this is hands-down our new favorite wine in its category.

2019 Viña González Bastías País Matorral
(Chile, Maule Valley) $26

This is their second featured wine, from 200+ year old Pais vines hand-harvested, pressed using traditional zarandas (bamboo sieves), and fermented with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats.
This is a wine of great purity; energy abounds. Red cherry, shades of raspberry, violets and rose petals + spice, with a light and crunchy frame; Gamay-like but from a whole different world (hemisphere). Someone even called this one, "Pinot Noir’s squirrelly cousin".
Either way it's a chillable red, perfect for these Summer days.