San Francisco Wine Trading Wine Tasting

2025 La Marea Albariño — $23.94

La Marea is Ian Brand’s exploration of Spanish grape varieties grown along California’s Central Coast. Its name means “the tide,” reflecting the ocean’s influence on the vineyards he works with around Monterey Bay. This Albariño comes from Kristy Vineyard, planted on the western bench above the Salinas River in soils formed from broken marine sediments.

Coastal winds, abundant sunshine, and cold nights shape the growing season, allowing the grapes to ripen at relatively low sugar levels. For the 2025, two-thirds of the fruit was pressed as whole clusters, while the remaining third received two days of skin contact. Fermentation took place in stainless steel, followed by time on the lees before bottling.

2024 Bow & Arrow Sauvignon Blanc — $35.94

Scott Frank established Bow & Arrow in Portland in 2010, drawing inspiration from the wines and farming traditions of France’s Loire Valley. His work explores Oregon through varieties including Gamay, Melon de Bourgogne, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc, supported by relationships with growers across the Willamette Valley.

This bottling is made entirely from Sauvignon Blanc grown in organically farmed vineyards. Fermentation begins with native yeasts in neutral vessels, following Scott’s preference for straightforward cellar work and limited additions. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and with minimal sulfur. It reflects a broader part of Bow & Arrow’s work: finding a place for Loire varieties within Oregon’s own climate and agricultural landscape.

2025 Six Cloves Beni-Choji — $27.94

Sonoe Hirabayashi’s approach to wine began with a family history of fermentation in Japan, where generations worked in miso production. After discovering wine in New York, she moved to California to study winemaking at UC Davis. Six Cloves carries that connection between traditional craftsmanship and a new life in California, with organically grown grapes and close attention to every stage of production.

Beni-Choji brings together Pinot Noir and Grenache from Mendocino County, including fruit from the elevated DuPratt and Alder Springs vineyards. The project began as a way to make Sonoe’s work available in a more everyday bottling. Native-yeast fermentation and bottling without filtration follow the same approach she uses throughout the Six Cloves range.

2025 Teutonic Wine Co. Red Wine — $35.94

Barnaby and Olga Tuttle began Teutonic with a small vineyard planted in Alsea, Oregon, in 2005. Barnaby’s fascination with the wines of Germany’s Middle Mosel and France’s Alsace became the starting point for a winery that now operates in Southeast Portland. Their work centers on cool vineyard sites, dry farming, and an openness to unusual varieties and combinations.

In the cellar, Barnaby uses yeast starters cultivated from the vineyards themselves to begin fermentation. Red wines generally ferment in bins before moving into barrel, with neutral oak playing an important role in the winery’s production. Blending and experimentation remain part of Teutonic’s identity, with the wines shaped by the fruit available from each growing season.

2025 Scar of the Sea Bassi Ranch Grenache — $39.94

Mikey and Gina Giugni’s work at Scar of the Sea is closely connected to the coastal vineyards around San Luis Obispo. In 2024, they purchased Bassi Vineyard in Avila Beach, making a longtime vineyard source their home farm. Located about a mile from the Pacific, the property is farmed biodynamically, with ocean winds and coastal weather shaping the growing conditions.

The Grenache comes from two south-facing plots planted in 2017 and 2021, where sandy soils overlook the ocean. The grapes ferment with native yeasts and a portion of whole clusters before pressing in a wooden basket press. Aging takes place in neutral French oak barrels, with minimal handling and a small sulfur addition before bottling.

2018 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard — $59.94

Andrew Will has worked with Ciel du Cheval since its first vintage in 1989, making the vineyard part of the winery’s foundation. First planted in 1975, Ciel du Cheval lies on Washington’s Red Mountain, where gravel, sand, and calcium-rich soils record the region’s ancient floods. It is among the warmest sites in the winery’s vineyard lineup.

The 2018 combines fifty-seven percent Merlot with forty-three percent Cabernet Franc, bringing together two varieties grown within the same vineyard. The wine spent twenty-two months in French oak barrels, thirty-five percent of them new. This vineyard-based blend reflects Andrew Will’s longstanding focus on the identity of a site, with the grape proportions serving the vineyard as a whole.