field recordings chardonnayWONDERWALL (sustainable)
Clos de cailloux Côtes du Rhône Rosé (organic and biodynamic)
Clos de cailloux Côtes du Rhône vieilles vignes (organic and biodynamic)
RONCHI BARBARESCO (SUSTAINABLE)

Field Recordings Chardonnay Wonderwall 

Between Fableist, Wonderwall, Neverland, Fiction, and Field Recordings, we carry more wines made by Andrew Jones than any other winemaker – over 20 SKUs and growing.  Why?  His wines are varietally correct, reflect a sense of place, follow organic farming practices, and punch well above their weight class in the value department. 

Field Recordings is Jones’ personal catalog of the people and places he values most. Spending his days as a vine nursery fieldman planning and planting vineyards for farmers all over California, Andrew is sometimes offered small lots of their best fruit on the side. Having stood in just about every vineyard on the Central Coast, he has a keen eye for diamonds in the rough: sites that are unknown or under-appreciated but hold enormous untapped potential. As friendships are made and opportunities are embraced, Andrew produces small quantities of soulful wine from these unusual, quiet vineyards.

Whole cluster pressed, native yeast fermentation, minimal sulfur added at bottling.   100% Edna Valley fruit from four vineyards.  Aged in 50% oak and 50% stainless. 

Opens up with a nose full of pears and clementine. Super fresh and clean like an ocean breeze. On the palate, ripe stone fruit, more citrus, and pie crust. Golden fruit, luscious palate, and fragrance, with enough oak to lift and enhance and a lovely acid to balance, with a crisp, long finish. 

Clos de cailloux

Wines from Le Clos du Caillou are Rhône blends at their most intense. Concentrated and richly textured, these organically raised, older-vine wines capture the spice and silk of old-vine Grenache grown on the region’s finest terroirs. Each wine too reflects the native perfumes of the south, the “garrigue” blend of thyme, rosemary, and lavender that grows wild among the estate’s vines.

Of all the terroir in the Côtes du Rhône appellation, the “clos” of Caillou has to be one of the most exceptional. Completely surrounded by Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards, this walled parcel of land was intentionally left out of the appellation by the owner, following a bureaucratic spat back in 1936. What this means today is that Caillou’s Côtes du Rhône wines are qualitatively the same, with regard to terroir and exposition, as top Châteauneuf wines.

Caillou’s devotion to the character of the land (through bottling wines according to terroir) and its dedication to organic and biodynamic viticulture are what captivated us so many years ago when we first encountered these wines; and over the years, this fidelity to soil and soul has only intensified.

The estate in Courthézon, in the northeastern part of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, boasts a mix of terroirs with a predominance of sand, which gives Caillou wines their silky elegance and fine-grained texture. Importantly, the “clos,” or walled portion of the estate where vines for Côtes du Rhône wines are grown, shares the same terroir with Caillou’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards. The estate has been practicing biodynamic viticulture since 2003, and was certified organic as of 2010.

Grapes are harvested by hand and manually sorted in both the fields and at the cellar, then partially destemmed and fermented on indigenous yeasts in cement tanks. Wines are aged in a combination of large foudre, demi-muid and barrel, depending on the wine and the vintage, for approximately 15 to 18 months in the estate’s cool underground cellars, and are bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Clos de cailloux Côtes du Rhône Rosé (organic and biodynamic)

80% Grenache, 10% Cinsault and 10% Mourvèdre- vine age 25 years on average.  Hand-harvested. Pressed full cluster (rosé de pressurage). Juice left to settle overnight in temperature-controlled tanks. Fermented on indigenous yeasts in tank. Aged in tank for four months.  Aromas of summer raspberries, light herbs, lavender, pink roses, red plums. Fresh, juicy, tangy; red berries, wild strawberries, white peaches.

Clos de cailloux Côtes du Rhône vieilles vignes cuvée Unique (organic and biodynamic)

 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 4% Carignan, 3% Mourvedre and 3% Counoise, from a mix of vineyards that share similar terroir to classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards: large, round quartz river stones (galets roulés), clay and sand.  Vine age is  45 years, on average.

Hand-harvested. Fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks. Aged for 16 months in upright wooden tanks and older foudre (52HL). Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Aromas of garrigue (wild thyme, lavender, and rosemary). Flavors of raspberry and black cherry.

RONCHI BARBARESCO (SUSTAINABLE)

Winemaker Giancarlo Rocca and three generations of the Rocca clan live in a house built by the family, surrounded by ‘Ronchi’ cru vines. This natural amphitheater not only captures the sun to push Nebbiolo to perfect ripeness but also is stunningly picturesque.

Their peerless Nebbiolo wines are still an insider’s find. The “Ronchi” cru runs along the southern edge of the appellation, near the historic town of Barbaresco. Bordered by ‘Montestefano’ to the north, where Nebbiolo shows a deep complexity and elegant tannins, and ‘Moccagatta’ to the south, the source of silky Nebbiolo with delicate yet intense perfumes, ‘Ronchi’ combines the best of all these attributes in a wine that is unforgettable.

The vineyards are part of the family; winemaker Giancarlo Rocca can walk from his breakfast table to his Nebbiolo vines in less than a minute. Needless to say, all work is performed by hand, and as sustainably as possible. No herbicides or pesticides are used. Grapes are harvested by hand, destemmed, then fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks. Wines are aged, depending on the cru, in either Slavonian oak casks or a combination of French oak barrels and cask. In recent vintages, Giancarlo has been experimenting with aging wines in terracotta amphorae. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Aromas of black cherries, licorice, game, light smoke; full-bodied and concentrated yet balanced, with moderate tannins and good length. Great aging potential. Ronchi Barbaresco is a wine of tremendous power and structure. Dried cherry, menthol, licorice, spice, pine, and scorched earth add to an impression of virile power. The aromatics open up beautifully with time in the glass. Pair with grilled red meat; pork sausages; mushroom dishes