FREE St. George Spirits tasting and HUGE Paolo Bea sale!
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Hey Pete (and Free Rangers of all names),
So, I asked my friend, Peter, if he had read the latest Free Range e-mail, and without missing a beat, he replied with a wry grin and a question, “Did it begin, ‘Hey Pete’?” Implicitly implying that he only reads personal e-mails. Apologies to any who feels other-ized by the greeting, especially because there is next to no chance that Pete is reading this. But he also walked in here just now while I was writing this, so now you and I have an inside joke of which he is unaware, unless he’s reading this now… in which case we’re all on the same page. This one. Which isn’t actually actually a page, so much as the digital projection of a theoretical page on whatever device you’re currently eying. Print is dead.
If you’re in town, you won’t want to miss our in-store tasting with our buddy, Rob, from St. George Spirits, Thursday, December 7th (5-7pm)! St. George Spirits is the original micro-distiller in America, operating out of a decommissioned airplane hangar (now two of them!) in Alameda, CA since 1982. Every bottle that leaves that hulking facility is immediately in the running for best in class, and they produce a shocking array of gins, vodkas, brandies, liqueurs, and some of the finest whiskey ever to be bottled on God’s green Earth. Rob will be here in the shop to tell you more about them, and pour you FREE tastes of a number of bottles including the venerable and profoundly rare St. George Single Malt Whiskey Lot 23. Come taste with us, Thursday (Pete & everybody)!
For this week’s sale, we’re offering up a significant number of Paolo Bea bottles at 10% off everything and 25% off 6+ bottles! Considering the discount levels and that these wines seems to get more expensive every year we buy them, these are lowest prices you’re likely to see FOREVER. The estate is now run primarily by Giampiero Bea (son of Paolo) who is an architect by trade, and also happens to vinify some of the world’s most compelling wine. On top of this, the estate bottles some of the worlds most beguiling olive oil, and produces some of the finest ancient grain flours, pastas, and dried peas and lentils in the world. Sadly, cumbersome New York liquor laws forbid us from selling you any of those nonalcoholic edibles, but the wines we have in significant quantity, considering their scarcity. If I had ever bothered to grow up, I would’ve liked to have fostered a portfolio as robust as his. But it’s enough for me that I get to sell (and often drink- and eat) the fruits of his labor. Santa Chiara is the lightest and most floral of his skin contact whites. Lapideus is drier, grippier, and earthier, and Arboreus is the darkest and most textured of the trio.
Amongst the reds, Cotidie is a newer release which is lighter and juicier than the rest, meant to be an “everyday drinker”, at least in the context of Bea wines. Made from equal parts Sagrantino della Pianura and Trebbiano Spoletino, the Cotidie is beautifully textured and fresh, but maintains the sort of fruit/earth balance one would expect from Bea. Pagliaro and Pipparello have long solidified Bea as a leader in the natural wine movement and one of the premier winemakers in all of Italy. Paolo and his sons have been crafting pure and compelling Sagrantino-based wines for decades. They exude an unmatched wild and animalistic beauty. Truly unique, the wines are powerful, feral, and intensely aromatic, yet somehow, they also maintain an almost regal sense of poise and elegance. Employing long macerations (up to 55 days) and working solely with indigenous varieties like Sangiovese, Montepulciano, and most importantly Umbria’s noble Sagrantino.
San Valentino is 40% Sagrantino, 40% Sangiovese, and 20% Montepulciano, from up to 50-year-old vines 400 meters above sea level. It starts with lovely aromatics, finishes with baking spices, and is balanced throughout. Pipparello is Sangiovese forward with elegant aromatics and somewhat green and umami undertones, concentrated and pure with refined tannins. Pagliaro is pure Sagrantino and showcases the depth and dry tannic finish exemplary of the varietal. In my opinion, this is the flagship wine of Bea and is consistently delicious, as well as being significantly age-worthy. Cerrete, which was first released in the 2011 vintage is from a high altitude vineyard and the 2015 release offers a nose of profound complexity, with a subtle dose of volatility boosting the usual panoply of spices. Boisterous but not aggressive on the palate, it finishes with great persistence and length.
The Bea family’s history in the Montefalco area dates to the 1500s, but only in the last two decades have their wines famously exploded onto the international stage. The vineyards are cultivated organically, all grapes are harvested manually, and all wines are bottled without fining or filtration. The wines have garnered quite a cult following, and they become more difficult to secure each vintage. Click the link below to access our biggest sale ever of these delicious rarities, including Pagliaro and Pipparello going back to to 2016 and 2015, respectively. When these are gone, we can’t say if/when they’ll ever be available again, so get after them while the getting is good!
