2017 Martha Stoumen Wines, Nero d’Avola, Mendocino County.
Martha Stoumen has become quite a sensation since joining the California wine scene a few years ago, bringing her experience of making wines in France and Italy along with her and her natural wine style, making her a new favorite within an exciting niche of young talents and lovers of off the beaten track wines. This 2017 Nero d’Avola, a very personal expression for her, given her time in Sicily, is a vibrant and lively red with intriguing earthy character and layers of lighter flavors with tart fresh crushed blackberry, spiced plum, lingonberry, cherry and strawberry fruits along with touches of porcini, mineral, wild herbs, lilac flowers and candied blood orange. In recent times there has been a renewed interest in Italian varietals in Mendocino County with many new things popping up and or rediscovered, from Dolcetto to Nebbiolo and from Sagrantino to Barbera all joining the more well known and used Sangiovese, but Nero d’Avola is still pretty rare. According to Stoumen, the beauty of Nero d’Avola is its Chiaroscuro-like nature, with brightness from its ability to hold onto acidity in warm Mediterranean climates, and her version is quite lovely and almost delicate in form and at 13% natural alcohol it feels fresh, but with nice depth and texture. This vintage is my favorite so far and this wine can go with a wonderful range of foods, from some sea foods to more hearty cuisine and or BBQ fare. Stoumen’s wines are slightly raw, but very stylish too, fans of Broc Cellars, Jolie-Laide, Ryme, Jaimee Motely, Raj Parr and Ian Brand will find similarities and a certain fraternal brother/sisterhood.
The Stoumen Nero d’Avola is maybe her signature wine and reminds us that she has good experience with this Sicilian grape, mostly found on the southern side of the island in the Vittoria region, where it is commonly blended with Frappato, though done solo too, having worked for Guisto Occhtipinti at COS, one of Italy’s most prized wineries. This vintage comes from two sites, with 62% coming off Benson Ranch Vineyard, in Ukiah, Mendocino County, a site that has 14 year old dry farmed (no irrigation) vines that is farmed according to organic principles without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fungicides, while the other 38% being sourced from Fox Hill Vineyard. Fox Hill, which has a full selection of Italian grapes is in the Talmage Bench area of Mendocino County, with the Nero d’Avola that Martha picked was from 33 year old vines, which Stoumen adds, is as far as she knows, the oldest Nero d’Avola in California, and it is farmed sustainably without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and or synthetic fungicides. Stoumen is not showy in the cellar, she uses native yeasts and low sulphur, allowing everything to show through with a purity of place, she usually employs an elevage of 12 to 18 months on her Nero d’Avola with only neutral wood, and this 2017 wonderfully quaffable, and while structured its tannins are ripe and smooth, which allow it to also be served with a slight chill for warm days and evenings of Summer and Fall. Stoumen’s current set of offerings, which is a bit wild and varied are all really fun wines, mostly for early drinking, though this one seems to have enough complexity and stuffing to age 3 to 5 years no problem, check them out.
($40 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive