In late August 2020, just before harvest started in earnest, I sat and enjoyed a glass of wine and the sunset with the legendary Lorenzo Corino where I learned about the patented Metodo Corino, the vegan biodynamic system he developed with La Maliosa’s Antonella Manulli. They worked together to develop a protocol and a process which lab tests showed significant enough differences, so that with the production of a scientific paper, they received their patent in May 2019.
“Biodynamics is yesterday,” said Lorenzo. But the moon is eternal: “I trust the moon. The moon is very important. When a new moon, the vines grow faster. The moon is something we know well and follow.”
Lorenzo Corino 1947-2021; photo courtesy VeroVinoGusto
Aldo Clerico Barbera d’Alba imported into the US by Verovinogusto
Do you know Barbera?
If you do, you already know about this high acid low tannin, full bodied, intensely colored and flavored red wine that in 2000 was the third most planted grape in Italy!
And if you don’t know Barbera yet — or very well — you’re in luck because this month here at Wine Predator we’re hosting the Italian Food Wine Travel group for “It’s All About Barbera.” Read the invitation post here with a California Barbera in “5 Reasons Why We Love Barbera“ and the Preview post here with an organic Tomisa Barbera. Scroll down to see the titles and links to the ten participants as well as the prompts for the 8am May 1 twitter chat.
Clos des Amis winemaker Bruce Freeman shows a label during a February VeroTalk.
“The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it.” Joseph Campbell, in A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
For Bruce Freeman and Gretel Compton of Clos des Amis, art is life, an avocation and a vocation. Both have worked as professional artists and teachers of art throughout their long careers, Continue reading →
With brown hills above Santa Paula and local snow capped mountains in the background, winemaker Bruce Freeman cradles three of his wines to be featured in the Feb. 11 Verotalk.
Following high winds with two brief yet intense rainstorms which left inches of hail on the ground and snow dusting the local mountains including several inches in Malibu canyon, I dropped by Clos des Amis yesterday afternoon to taste how the 2020 vintage is progressing, and help a bit with clean up.
These 3 Clos des Amis wines will be featured in a Facebook live talk on Feb. 11; details on how to order them below. (Unfiltered, unedited photo!)
In a difficult year with COVID, fires, and sudden record-breaking high temperatures, the 2020 harvest overall was a bright spot for Clos Des Amis winemaker Bruce Freeman who predicted the vintage would be exceptional: “We had beautiful weather, beautiful fruit, and I’m excited about the potential for these wines.” Soon after harvested, he told me that the wines were “already showing elegance and power.” Continue reading →
Is somebody you know dreaming of a WINE Christmas? Need a last minute gift for someone who wants wine on the green side? (Not green the color but green as in sustainable, organic, biodynamic…?) Got you covered!
On the twelth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Continue reading →
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 