Photo: via Melville
*This post is part of our Grower of the Month series, in which we spotlight a winery (or two) that we love!*
This month's Grower of the Month is a double feature! Enjoy this peek into two California wineries that embody the spirit of minimalist winemaking.
LIOCO
California's LIOCO winery is run by husband-and-wife duo Matt and Sara Licklider (pictured above), but it began as a dream between two wine professionals. In the early 2000s, Matt and wine director Kevin O'Connor set out to craft wines that favored nuance and sense of place over the more forceful and exaggerated winemaking techniques dominating the market at the time.
Their small operation is now run by Matt, his wife, Sara, and a teeny tiny team of winemakers and tasting room staff. Together, they purchase fruit grown primarily from Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties and then simply "get out of the way." That's it! The LIOCO mission is to let exceptional fruit take the lead, with just a little nudge here and there...
Photo: Karsten Würth via Unsplash
Hello hello! Stroll through this little list of things we like right now and get ready for a great weekend.
FRIDAY FAVES - 2.11.22
- I'm no stranger to a cheese board, but an ice cream sundae board?! Sounds delectable and very Valentine's Day friendly to me!
- Are you a mother? If you are, this Instagram comic will totally speak to your SOUL. But even if you're not, you should take a look!
- Cutie little matches to make candle-lighting more fun.
- A funny, topical list of things those candy conversation hearts should ACTUALLY say.
- Read about the meditative beauty of pruning season in Sonoma's vineyards.
Happy (early) Valentine's Day!
—Emily Rentsch
Photo: boxerbrand.com
What gets winegrower Fred Peterson out of bed in the morning? “For me, the motivation is that every day is so different in the wine business,” he says. And it’s true. Fred Peterson and his son, winemaker Jamie, never set out to make the same wine twice at Peterson Winery in Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County.
Fred and Jamie thrive on the fact that each day, each year, is a new adventure in the vineyard. They consider it their job to harness whatever is naturally occuring at any given time and put in a bottle for you to enjoy.
This gentle way of winemaking is what the Petersons call Zero Manipulation. This philosophy emphasizes traditional winemaking practices in order to maximize each wine’s naturally occurring flavors and textures. As their website states, “Fred and Jamie celebrate vintage differences and don’t tweak or homogenize the wine to obtain consistency of flavors, a common practice in mass-market wineries.”
Fred says that this delicate balance all starts in the vineyard,...
