Natural Wines

Le Fraghe Rodon Chiaretto di Bardolino bottle, rose wine, Bardolino, Italy
Le Fraghe

RODON CHIARETTO DI BARDOLINO

Sold Out

By Le Fraghe

ROSÉ | PINK POWER
Racy, refreshing and refined – what more could we ask for from a serious rosé?

WHAT WE TASTE
Cherry sherbet (the powder, not the ice cream), wild roses and salty strawberries

PERFECT PAIRING
Grilled salmon, dhal, aged hard cheeses
TEMP CHECK
Serve from the fridge or ice bucket
ABOUT LE FRAGHE

A tale as old as time, women in wine baby! Matilde Poggi’s first harvest, on her family-owned 15th-century farmhouse, happened in 1984. She worked tirelessly at a time when large, quantity-driven firms and cooperatives dominated local production. Rather than following the masses, Matilde chose to concentrate on quality, revamping her vineyards to better express the area’s native grapes. Today, she is one of Italy’s most respected producers, and, in 2013 was elected President of the Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti (Italian Federation of Independent Grape Growers or FIVI). More recently, she became the first Italian and first female president of the European equivalent, the European Confederation of Independent Winegrowers (CEVI).

Matilde has three daughters, to whom she’d like to pass on Le Fraghe one day (but we’re volunteering in case her girls don’t want it – wanna come?).

THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO
Matilde’s farming & winemaking is certified organic and super low intervention – to the point that it’s often only Matilde herself working on the farm & in the cellar. Her work at FIVI and CEVI, as the voice of small independent wine producers, is invaluable.
OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
Italy isn’t exactly famous for its rosé, but Matilde takes her Chiaretto (chiaro = pale) very seriously. She uses a method called Saignée for this one – which means a portion of the pink juice is poured off from the red wine fermentation, to give a pink wine. This also results in a more concentrated red wine (more concentrated because the remaining fermentation has a higher solid-to-liquid ratio).
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Cavaion Veronese, Veneto, Italy
Grape: Corvina, Rondinella
Style: Plucky lil’ pink
Ingredients: Grapes, Bentonite + SO2 (being certified organic in Italy, she's only allowed to use half the sulphur that other producers are allowed. Matilde uses about half of that)
Atlas Swift Shelter Chardonnay White Wine Bottle, South Africa
Atlas Swift

SHELTER CHARDONNAY

Sold Out

By Atlas Swift

WHITE | EASY BREEZY x BUTTER BABY
The best of four very distinct worlds of Chardonnay, all together in one bottle. It’s an absolute delight! Easy Breezy meets Butter Baby

WHAT WE TASTE
Lemon curd, pear skin, hazelnut brioche

PERFECT PAIRING
Thai green curry, Manchego, good company
TEMP CHECK
Chilled but no need to be icy cold
ABOUT ATLAS SWIFT

Just unpacking the name of the brand gives you a sense of how proprietors Martin & Welma Smith view the world. Atlas, the titan of perseverance, tasked with holding up the sky represents how very seriously they take their commitment to protecting the lands on which they grow their grapes. It also speaks to the maps on which the terroirs they work with are laid out. Swifts, one of the fastest and most aerial of the bird species, represents their nimble exploration to find said terroirs. The project, which on the surface, focuses on site-specific Chardonnays from distinctive places scattered across the Western Cape of South Africa, carries with it so much more than just beautiful wines of exceptional texture (Martin is the KING of texture! – Cami). It carries with it the dreams of some of the most authentic souls we have the pleasure to know.

THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO
Martin & Welma see Atlas Swift as an opportunity to raise their young children in an environment where work can be fuelled by passion, where the land and the importance of protecting it, is paramount. They are shaping the next generation to be conscious and responsible for the unique place they hold in the world.
OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
We love how each of the four very different places that Martin & Welma source their Chardonnays show up in this wine – there’s sea salt from the Cape South Coast, ripeness from warm Wellington, elegance from Robertson and bracing acidity from the high-altitude Cedarberg.
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Western Cape, South Africa
Grape: Chardonnay
Style: Best of four worlds
Ingredients: Grapes + limited sulphur
Ottomani Sangiovese Amphora Ferment Red Wine bottle, Tuscany, Italy
Ottomani

SANGIOVESE AMPHORA

Sold Out

By Ottomani

RED | SEXY WITH SUBSTANCE
A little taste adventure taking us back in time to old-school fermentation vessels

WHAT WE TASTE
Aged Comte, pomegranate, lavender

PERFECT PAIRING
Hard cheeses, big Italian sandwiches (try this wine on the Gambino from Fat Chads)
TEMP CHECK
Lightly chilled, please
ABOUT OTTOMANI

The story of Ottomani began with four friends who grew up together and turned a dream into reality. Not that far off from us girls at Crushed!

They graduated from the University of Florence with Oenology (that’s the science of wine) degrees and chose to separate for a while to get some exposure working in real wineries. With a few years of experience and some real savoir-faire in their back pockets, the boys came back together and purchased a farm of their own. In 2006, Ottomani was born with indigenous grape preservation and sustainability sowed into its mission statement.

THE GOOD THINGS THEY DO
They’re organic and biodynamic, they hand-harvest everything and don’t irrigate their vines. They’re working hard to preserve the biodiversity of the region by propagating traditional indigenous varieties like Ciliegiolo, Bonamico and Malvasi Nera (also known as Uva Rara – the rare grape). The wines are unfiltered & unfined. Anything they can’t produce themselves is sourced within a 20-kilometre radius of their farm.
OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
There’s something so romantic about wines that are fermented in amphora. The giant clay pots are reminiscent of simpler times when craft-made goods weren’t trendy, they were necessary. Cami’s father is one of few professional ceramicists left of his generation and so her love for the careful craft runs deep. We love this wine for its clean and lively palate as much as we love the old school art of building a fermentation house for where this juice grows into the wine in your glass!
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Grape: Sangiovese
Style: Fun & a little freaky
Ingredients: Grapes +  a super small splash of SO2
Guthrie Family Wines Galaxy Carbonic Carignan, Napa Valley, USA, Red Wine, Bottle
Guthrie Family Wines

GALAXY CARBONIC CARIGNAN

$526

By Guthrie Family Wines

RED | PLAYFUL
“Wow! That’s a whole lot of fun in your mouth!” Fifi said it best! Katy Perry to the Heirloom Grenache’s Britney Spears.

WHAT WE TASTE
Handfuls of sour Skittles, blood orange and cranberries

PERFECT PAIRING
Burgers & fries while jamming to Baby One More time (according to Blair)
TEMP CHECK
30 min of chill
ABOUT GUTHRIE FAMILY WINES

Blair and Caroline Guthrie are making honest wines, farmed responsibly. Their baby side project (only 600 cases a year) is filled with so much love – their wines are comforting and lighthearted as a Sunday morning dance party in your bathrobe. Beneath that, they are strongly focused on preserving and encouraging the good in the world – environmentally, ethically and everything in between.

OUR FAVE THING ABOUT THIS WINE
Blair makes this wine *because* of the vineyard. The Testa Vineyard was planted in 1912 and is a reflection of everything Blair is looking to represent in his wines – farmed organically since before anyone cared about that, family-owned, fluffy dogs running around. The fact that the vineyard is SO old also helps tone down how much fruit the vines produce – Carignan can produce up to four times the amount of fruit as Cabernet Sauvignon. Less fruit = more concentration = better quality wines (think about watering down mix-a-drink, it’s no good when it’s too diluted)
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Place: Mendocino County, California, USA
Grape: Carignan
Style: Crunchy and bright
Ingredients: Grapes + absolutely minimal sulphites