April Featured Wines – 2021 BioKult Naken Skin Fermented Wine, Austria & 2022 Pizzolato Rosso Convento, Italy

There is no fooling about our April wines! We are offering something totally new – “natural wines.” I have had customers ask for natural wines but I am not sure if the requests were based on an understanding of what defines a natural wine. Basically a natural wine is “simply unadulterated, fermented grape juice with no additives in the winemaking process. Other terms for the product include “low-intervention wine, raw wine, and naked wine.” This means a wine does not have any additives in the winemaking process.

Traditional commercial winemakers remove the naturally occurring yeasts from the grape and add mass-produced yeasts to determine flavor. Natural wines allow the grapes’ own yeasts to reflect a true taste of the terroir. Consequently, some natural wines have a more yeasty aroma. All natural wines are organic but not all organic wines are considered natural. The one characteristic of natural wines is the lack of detectable sulfites. Many feel these are the source of a red wine headache but lack of sulfites makes these wines unstable and susceptible to poor handling. When you open a bottle, you never know what your have!

Our wines are an orange wine from Austria and a red blend from Italy. The orange wine is 2021 BioKult Naken Skin Fermented Wine produced by a three family partnership in the Burgenland region of Austria. Orange wine is a white wine that’s made like a red wine where the skins and seeds stay in contact with the juice during the fermentation. Orange wine production uses ancient techniques with this wine made from Pinot Gris and Muskateller.

2022 Pizzolato Rosso Convento is 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the Veneto region of Italy. For those who have traveled in Italy and had table wine right out of a wine vender’s cask, this wine will resurrect that memory. This is a low alcohol red (12.5%) that does not have the body one would expect for this blend. I have to say I found this a red that would be a good introductory wine for a non-wine drinker. Of course, with a natural wine, another bottle could have a totally different profile!

2021 BioKult Naken Skin Fermented Wine, Austria $19

This delicate orange-rosé color. Good tannic & creamy body style. Bright citrus flavor combine with juicy grape acidity and bright citrus flavors. This natural wine is unfiltered and may contain natural sediments. Enjoy alongside lighter entrees, while its tannic structure stands up to bolder dishes. Fish, noodles, rice, poultry and meat dishes. Alcohol: 11%

2022 Pizzolato Rosso Convento, Italy $13

This blend has a deep garnet color, aromas of black raspberry sherbet and plum pie; supple entry to a fruity medium body with baked apple and spice notes. Characterized by hints of red berry fruit and delicate notes of violets. A balanced and harmonious wine with low tannin. A great pizza wine. Alcohol: 12.5%

April Featured Artists – Lynne Lockhart & Kirk McBride

April means our annual show of New Work by Lynne Lockhartt and Kirk McBride. For 17 years this tradition has premiered many of the paintings they have created during the past year. Travels, daily walks on Assateague and wandering area bays and marshes provide them inspiration for never ending subjects and imagery to paint.

Of course, Lynne never shys away from animals often placing them as the focal image on a simple landscape. Several paintings actually have you imagining the animal is moving off the painting. Two paintings, Whisper and Arcadian are Lynne’s submissions for the 64th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists. These will not be for sale at this time as was Nutcracker shown last year. They do need to be enjoyed before they possibly head to the traveling exhibition.

KIrk’s paintings will have familiar themes that show his skill at capturing light and shadows from sunrise to sunset and into early evening. Water is particularly central to many of his paintings with some capturing his love of surfing, exploring bayside marshes or using his eye for workboats. He and Lynne, along with artist friends, spent time in Maine last fall. You will see his paintings that are inspired by calm harbors and local Maine color. The show will be exhibited thorugh May.