Even though we continue to operate through curbside pick-up only, we have a lot of exciting things planned this July. First off, we are offering a great deal on two wines under $25 (under $20 for Wine Club!). These wines include the 2014 Tempranillo and the 2013 Cabernet Franc (descriptions below). We highly recommend pairing them with our Smoked Brisket meal for the 4th of July. You can order this along with our other curbside lunch offerings online. In addition to Everyday Natural Wine and Smoked Brisket for 4th of July, we have Cherries coming in next week! We use these beautiful Colorado Cherries to make not only our Cherry Wine but also Cherry Pies! We will be offering these for curbside pick-up from the 10th through the 19th, but you can pre-order online starting today. We miss pouring wine for all of you and look forward to the moment we can do so again! Hopefully, sooner than later. We are hoping to have more information on opening our tasting room and patio later this month. We want to make sure we are doing the right thing; and at this time, we are operating on the side of caution. In the meantime, consider some of our curbside pick-up and shipping options below; and please let us know if you have any questions or comments on our wines!

NATURAL WINE UNDER $25? THAT’S RIGHT!

NO SULFITES | NO ADDITIVES | NO FILTERING

There’s a reason it’s hard to find wine without sulfites or other additives… And that’s because it’s much harder to make wine naturally! Most commercial wines that fill store shelves are made in extremely large quantities, are harvested mechanically, acidified, sprayed with chemicals, and so on. In wine, it’s legal to use over 200 additives including everything from sulfur, to isinglass (a collagen derived from fish bladders), to genetically modified yeasts, to color and flavor enhancing extracts. All of these things are added to a wine to make it taste a certain way, year in and year out. Sadly, the only additive that a winery must disclose is sulfites; but even then, they do not tell you how much they are adding. It’s frustrating because without proper research, it’s impossible to know what you are putting into your body when drinking mass produced wines…

Making natural wine without sulfites is hard work. Even something as simple as getting into a barrel becomes an involved task. On the left, you’ll see Juan carefully topping off a barrel under argon so that oxygen does not get into the wine.

Here at Balistreri, we NEVER add anything like this to our wine. Everything we do is completely natural and we never use sulfites or other additives. Making wine naturally like this requires much more attention to detail and hard work. If something goes wrong, we can’t just add chemicals to fix it… Instead, we have to be on top of our game and be sure that we are treating the grapes with the upmost care and respect. Making natural wine is hard work, and for this reason, it is a rarity. However, just because something is rare doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed! To celebrate natural wine, we are releasing two delicious wines from our cellar at affordable, everyday price points.

2014 AMERICAN TEMPRANILLO

This Tempranillo has always been a family favorite, especially with the Winemaker’s Grandson Raymond. When it was young, it showcased the lighter, fruitier side of Tempranillo; almost tasting similar to a Cru Beaujolais or Pinot Noir. However, now that it has been in the bottle for some, it has gained complexity and depth. There’s still plenty of fresh fruit, especially on the nose, with notes of black cherry and strawberry. However, it has settled down from it’s exuberant past and is now more subtle and layered. It’s just now entering its prime with smooth and soft tannins, great acidity and a terrific finish. This truly is a beautiful tempranillo and possesses the balance and complexity to give any wine a run for the money. Tempranillo fans will love it, but we also recommend this to everyone from Pinot Noir drinkers to Cabernet Sauvignon fans.

2013 COLORADO CABERNET FRANC (AVANT)

Although widely grown here Colorado, Cabernet Franc is a polarizing grape. It’s not usually a very fruit forward wine but does possess unique earthy flavors. For those of you who have spent time with John Balistreri, you may also know that Franc is not particularly his favorite grape… However, he would agree that some vintages are just impossible to deny; and this is one of them! Perfectly cellared, this Franc decants into a beautiful brick/burgundy color. The nose is expressive of exotic aromatics – sweet tobacco, herbs, green pepper and more. Despite the lighter color, the wine has a finely tuned palate with great acidity and tannin. The fruit is wholly intact with notes of red currant and ripe raspberry. Coffee, exotic herbs come back on the finish.

ORDER ONLINE

These two wines are markedly different from one another but are united in the fact that they are both completely natural. No sulfites, additives, or fining or filtering was done at all. Further, they are both aged, dispelling the myth that natural wine cannot be cellared. Priced under $25, we hope you will try one or both of these wines out with your next meal. We would love to hear your toughts on them as well as on “natural” wine in general.