If you know any farmers in North America making great wine, please let us know. We have begun our search for authentic wine in the U.S. and Canada. If one of your suggestions meets our criteria and we start working with the farm you recommend, we will hook you up with some cool stuff.

The basic criteria for Farmstead Wines are simple, yet very difficult to meet when a farmer must meet all of them.
* Small, family farm—We know each farmer personally and have inspected the vineyards and cellar carefully.
* Wine is grown, not made—Our farmers grow great grapes and then do not manipulate the wine.
* Our farmers are vinaroons—Vinaroon is old English meaning the farmer is also the winemaker.
* Naturally farmed—We certify that all Farmstead wines are organically farmed. Our farmers work in harmony with nature. No synthetic chemicals, no herbicides, no pesticides and no irrigation.
* Delicious—The wines are balanced and harmonious with a focus on depth and complexity of flavors.

For a more detailed explanation, including the standards for naturally farmed, please go here.

There is a lot of marketing bs in the world and the wine world in particular. It is how someone can sell a “wine” for under $10, when the packaging and shipping of an empty bottle would cost nearly that much. If you don’t wonder what is actually in the bottle, best of luck to you. Eric Asimov, of the New York Times, describes a different process in the world of quality wine, “What separates these winemakers from the vast majority is an utter dedication to the rigors of making wine without artificial enhancements. Just as it is easier to sell tuna made rosy with chemicals than in its natural state, it is easier to shape a wine with technology to meet current desires for power and concentration than it is to sell a light, delicate wine. It is easier to preserve wine with high doses of sulfites than to worry about sanitary conditions in cellars. To make wine naturally is labor-intensive and expensive. Cellars must be absolutely clean, and wines must be stored, shipped and sold properly so that they do not spoil.”

Last week, a retailer expressed interest in Farmstead Wines. After a brief telephone conversation, I sent him a copy of our wholesale portfolio…below follows the remainder of our email exchange.

Thank you Anthony,
I appreciate the list.

At first blush, the majority of the wines all seem to be a bit higher end and not the retail price points to move volume, ie cases vs. bottles. Are you adding to this or are there other opportunities to find wines which wholesale between $8 and $15 for example?

Hi Seth,

You are exactly right. All of the wines are a bit “higher end.” They truly are rare, artisan wines- not artificial scarcity or marketing bs. Each farmer is a master of their craft, farming entirely without synthetic chemicals or pesticides. Almost all of the work in each vineyard is done by hand, by the farmers themselves. In the cellar, the wines are not manipulated- fermentations are with natural yeasts, there are no enzymes or tannin powders, wines are bottled with little-to-no filtration and the lowest possible amount of sulfites (in every instance under 50 ppm compared to the 100ppm-500ppm in most wines). Making wine this way is labor intensive, but also requires the utmost care, skill and dedication.

It is not possible to make wine this way for $8. Even at the $15 price point where we do move “volume,” there is not much wine. For example, 2007 Renato Fenocchio Dolcetto, which is wholesale priced at $14.99, there were only 3000 bottles made and 2000 of those were imported for all of the U.S. and Canada. Given the level of quality, the prices are a bargain compared to most wine.

There will regularly be wines at or near the $15 price point, but these will still be in limited quantities.

Chimo,

Anthony

A couple of weeks ago we messed up. A shipment of Renato Fenocchio’s Olive Oil arrived broken. I did what I would expect any company to do to fix it. I just hoped that the customer wouldn’t be too upset anymore, but she was actually happy and wrote me a nice email. Thank you very much for the feedback, Cathy.

“Hi Anthony,

In case you want to add a customer comment to your web page, I’ll start with how great the olive oil is. I highly recommend it and I am an olive oil fanatic. That should be the start and end of the story, but I have to acknowledge the customer service provided by Farmstead Wines. My eagerly awaited three bottles of olive oil arrived in the mail, broken, dripping and somewhat frozen – I live in Ottawa and we’re in the middle of minus 40 degree weather. I contacted Anthony by e-mail and received a gracious and apologetic response within minutes and by the next day I had three new bottles of olive oil at my door.

What amazing customer service! That, along with a handwritten note, is unheard of these days.

I really appreciate the quality of the olive oil and the response from Farmstead Wines. Best of luck in your endeavours!

Thanks,

Cathy”

Are you planning a celebration tomorrow? You will surely need wine, but what to drink to mark the historic inauguration of Barack Obama? Whatever you decide on, please film a little video of your party and share it with us.
In my mind, there are two options for a wine to mark the Inauguration. The first is bubbles, and it has to be Champagne from Francoise Bedel. This farmer is not someone we represent, but she does a fantastic job.

The other recommendation is an aged Barolo from Agricola Marrone. Barolo is often called the wine of kings and Gian Piero insists the best pairing for this 2001 Riserva is friends. Not to mention he has only made 3 reserve wines in nearly 40 years, so it seems appropriate for a historic ocassion.

Tomorrow at 4pm EST we will be tasting Renato Fenocchio’s Olive Oil in conjunction with ILoveOliveOil. Tune in at 4pm to taste an oil from Umbria with Rachel Black of Amelia Oil. Then arund 4:30pm EST, we’ll switch to Farmstead’s Ustream channel and taste Renato’s oil. If you have a bottle, please join us and share your thoughts.

Webcam chat at Ustream

To submit your own video, please visit memelabs.

From the press release:

Farmstead Wines Hosts Inaugural Reception

The Farmstead Wines Inaugural Reception on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, in Washington DC, marks the historic 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Farmstead Wines has partnered with Nadia Nascimento and memelabs to allow attendees to film short videos, sharing their story of the Inauguration.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 15, 2009 — Victoria Espinel, Anthony Nicalo and John Stubbs will host the Farmstead Wines Inaugural Reception on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, in Washington DC, to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.

The Inaugural Reception, located in the offices of Romulus Global Issues Management along the inauguration parade route, is by invitation only and will feature the rare, naturally farmed, handcrafted wines of Farmstead Wines paired with local, seasonal canapes.

We are excited to celebrate two new arrivals to Washington and look forward to significant contributions from President Barack Obama on the path to sustainability. Farmstead Wines will try to do its part to support his efforts and bring sustainability to the wine world.
Based in Washington, DC, John Stubbs and Victoria Espinel have recently joined the team at Farmstead Wines to support the company’s introduction to the U.S. market. Since its founding in 2007, Farmstead Wines have been sold exclusively in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The company will begin selling wine to consumers in the U.S. via the Farmstead Wines website (http://www.farmsteadwines.com) and select restaurant outlets in Chicago, New Orleans, New York and Washington, DC this month.

To mark the historic 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama, Farmstead Wines has partnered with Nadia Nascimento and memelabs to allow attendees to film short videos, sharing their story of the Inauguration.

Founder of Farmstead Wines, Anthony Nicalo, says, “We are excited to celebrate two new arrivals to Washington and look forward to significant contributions from President Barack Obama on the path to sustainability. Farmstead Wines will try to do its part to support his efforts and bring sustainability to the wine world.”