Much has been written recently about “natural” winemaking and some of it is a bit controversial. It can be difficult to grasp one’s hands around such an innocent, yet undefined sounding concept. I mean what’s so unnatural about wine? It’s fermented grape juice, right? Well, Tuesday, October 14th, we are offering you a chance to learn all about it directly from the winemaker and owner of Clos Saron from the California Sierra Foothills. Gideon Beinstock will be doing a sit down wine class at Verdant Tea starting at 6:30pm and taste the wines of visiting winemaker and owner of Clos Saron Gideon Beinstock. The class is $15/person and you can sign up at Zipps or online at Eventbrite through Verdant Tea. Spots are limited for this special event!

Here is what Gideon has to say about his winemaking:

“I have been involved in just about every possible aspect of the wine industry over the past 25 years: consumer, buyer, seller, educator, writer, and – for 10 years now – maker. Saron, my wife and inspiration, has many years of experience in viticulture, and a magic touch with all living things: dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, bees, even little human kids. We have decided to dive into this dubious financial adventure out of many other-than-commercial reasons: love of wine (especially Pinot Noir), love of outdoors work (especially viticulture), the artistic challenge (we both had artistic aspirations and education), and our wish to do something productive in our lives. Wine is for us an integral part of our lives, a source of enjoyment, and an endlessly expanding horizon to explore. We hope our wines will enhance your life in similar ways.”

Clos Saron has been included by Jon Bonné, wine writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and contributor to Decanter Magazine, in his highly publicized book The New California: A Guide to the Producers and Wines Behind a Revolution in Taste. Jon Bonné highlights wineries that are focusing on terroir, purity of fruit, natural winemaking, and a pursuit of balance in the final product. Clos Saron is one among a list of many that we sell such as Birichino, Gamling & McDuck, Scholium Project, Donkey & Goat and many others.

While this is being called the “New California” many of the winemaking practices is very old traditions. Clos Saron uses age-old Burgundy traditions such as incredibly dense vine planting. They dry farm and prune regularly for low yields and hand pick for only the ripest vines. This care and dedication shows through the purity and freshness of fruit throughout all of their wines. Their primary interest is in Pinot Noir because of its ability to express a sense of place. They also use many other grape varitals such as Albarino, Verdelho, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Cinsault, Graciano, and Tempranillo to make their Unique Cuvées. They blend the white wines and red to express terroir without a recipe or formula so the blends and wines change every year. This method of winemaking is a bit controversial and out of the box when you compare this to most main stream wineries in California. Next Tuesday you will be able to learn all about Gideon’s and Clos Saron’s philosophy and taste the result in the glass. So get your spot now and try some of these amazing wines!

You will be able to taste* and purchase all of these wines at the Tuesday class :

The Carte Blanche $34.99 (50% Albarino, 50% Verdelho)- 12 cases Produced

The Home Vineyard Pinot Noir $60.99

The Black Pearl $45.99 ( Syrah 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 25%, Petit Verdot 20%, Sauvignon Blanc 5%)- 100 cases produced

Out of the Blue Ancient Vine Cinsault $32.99- 160 Cases Produced

Heart of Stone $42.99- 125 Cases Produced

Stone Soup Syrah $49.99- 100 Cases Produced