California loooove.
Yee Yee, Minty Members.
This month, we are spreading California love.
For anyone new here, M.Int is our Minimal Intervention Wine Club here at Community Wine & Spirits. Each month we put together a few natural, low-intervention, small-producer wines we’re excited about. Then send along a note with some backstory, some wine nerd detail, and a few ideas for what to eat with them.
California Love, Minimal Intervention Style
As the leading state in wine production in the U.S., and with such a deep history of agriculture and culinary culture, of course, California is a hotbed for natural winemaking. A temperate Mediterranean climate gives vineyards pretty ideal conditions for both traditional and minimal intervention wines.
This month’s selections are more about the carefree side of modern California wine as opposed to the legendary oaked Chardonnays, Cabernets, and Zins. Those wines and winemakers are amazing, important to the history of the region, and really laid the foundation for these newer winemakers to do what they’re doing now.
Here at CWS, we have always worked with cutting-edge, minimal-intervention wines from up and down the California coast. We wanted to use this month to bring in a few new wines, which we think will be perfect for your next get-together or a fun dinner at home.
If you like these, look for wines from Tinto Amorio, Martha Stoumen, and Scar of the Sea on our shelves too.
Folk Machine Jeanne d’Arc
Hobo Wines is the brainchild of Kenny Likitprakong, a second-generation winemaker who studied at UC Davis and has built a whole little universe of accessible, sustainable, interesting wines that people respect from coast to coast. Inspired by his own journey and Thai heritage, Kenny’s wines always seem to have movement to them, and Folk Machine is where things get especially loose and fun.
The “Folk Machine” wines are some of Kenny’s most experimental, though he launched the label before the big natural wine boom really took off, so he was already playing in this space before everyone had a name for it.
Hobo Wines Folk Machine Jeanne d’Arc is a 60% Chenin Blanc blend with Viognier and Verdelho from the Clarksburg and Suisun Valley AVAs. It gets four days on the skins with no temperature control, giving it a truly ancestral-style orange wine feel: savory, textured, and alive.
There are herbal and floral notes on the nose and palate, but even as a blend, there is still a lot of Chenin Blanc personality here. The name is a nod to Joan of Arc, who, like Chenin, is native to the Loire Valley.
The skins bring in savoriness, texture, and that almost-mineral feeling, but the wine never gets too serious. It still has lift, and it’s still a lot of fun.
The lack of SO2 during aging lets the wine work itself out naturally. It usually oxidizes a little bit, but ultimately finds this balance of acid and phenolic structure that really suits itself.
In the glass, you get yellow plum, almond, pear, and chamomile. It’s supple and savory, with that little bit of skin-contact texture that keeps things interesting.
Food-wise, seafood on the grill, seafood pasta, or a spicy roast chicken would all be great. Honestly, anything with a little char and a little salt should be pretty happy here.
Ruth Lewandowski Chillable Red
Ruth Lewandowski is a concept, not a person.
Founded by Evan Lewandowski after years of working with Binner in Alsace, Ruth is named for the Old Testament book and the idea of finding new life in death. Evan connects that to all the little organisms giving their life energy through farming and fermentation.
So in that way, he believes there’s “Ruth” in all of us.
Using fruit grown at Fox Hill Vineyards and Testa Vineyards in Mendocino County, Evan begins fermentation in California, then transports his fermenting juice in a refrigerated U-Haul to his home in Salt Lake City, where he completes the fermentation, aging, and bottling process.
Is that the normal way to make wine? Not really. Does it make the whole thing more fun? Absolutely!
Ruth Lewandowski Feints Carbonic Co-Ferment is a Piedmont-style blend, achieved by co-fermentation of red and white grapes. Arneis, Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Montepulciano, Vermentino, Trebbiano, and Grignolino are macerated and fermented in tandem to produce a charming, chillable red.
It has fresh stone-fruity acidity on the front of the palate and a lingering finish that reminds us of rhubarb or hibiscus. Very little sulfur is added post-fermentation, and none is added at bottling.
Very aromatic. Very complex. Very ready for food.
Pair it with grilled shrimp, a good hot dog and burger grill session, or something with tang and spice.
Arugula goat cheese salad? Absolutely!
Why These Bottles Feel Right for June
Both of these wines show a side of California that feels really fun to us right now.
The Folk Machine is the savory orange wine side: skin contact, texture, herbal notes, Chenin personality, and enough food-friendliness to make it more than just a curiosity.
The Ruth Lewandowski is the chillable red side: aromatic, fresh, a little wild, and ready for grilled food, seafood, salads, spice, or whatever the night turns into.
That’s a lot of what we like about M.Int. Wines with a story, wines with movement, wines that feel alive in the glass.
Join the M.Int Club
If this sounds like your kind of drinking, come hang with us in the Minimal Intervention Club.
We’ll keep picking bottles with personality, sending the stories along with them, and giving you a few good reasons to open something fun at home.
