San Francisco Wine Trading Wine Tasting

2022 Quinta Várzea da Pedra Arinto — $22.94

Tomás Emídio represents the fourth generation at Quinta Várzea da Pedra, a family estate near Óbidos, north of Lisbon. The vineyards sit between the Serra do Montejunto and Óbidos Lagoon, where proximity to the Atlantic shapes the growing season. Farming follows organic practices, with no irrigation or herbicides, and all grapes are harvested by hand.

Made entirely from Arinto, this wine comes from Vinha da Gafa, a vineyard planted in 2010 on clay-limestone soils. The grapes are destemmed and gently pressed before fermenting with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. The 2022 then spends approximately a year on its fine lees in tank, with no oak used during aging.

2025 Sarris Robola of Kefalonia — $22.94

Panos Sarris worked as a sommelier and restaurateur before establishing his winery on the Greek island of Kefalonia in 2016. His focus is on the island’s traditional grapes, particularly Robola, grown on the limestone slopes of Mount Ainos. The vineyards occupy steep, terraced ground, with mountain forests above and the Ionian Sea below.

Made entirely from Robola, this bottling comes from dry-farmed vineyards at elevations of approximately 500 to 700 meters. The grapes are harvested by hand, gently pressed, and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. The wine then spends six months in tank, keeping its production closely tied to the grape and the island’s mountain vineyards.

2025 Jolie-Laide Trousseau Gris — $36.94

Scott and Jenny Schultz’s Jolie-Laide focuses on unusual grape varieties and distinctive vineyard sites across California. The name is a French expression for unconventional beauty, a fitting reference for their work with grapes that occupy a small corner of the state’s vineyards. This Trousseau Gris comes from Fanucchi Wood Road Vineyard in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley.

For the 2025 vintage, the grapes were picked early, foot-crushed as whole clusters, and cold-soaked for three days before pressing. Fermentation proceeded with native yeasts in stainless steel and neutral oak puncheons. After being separated from the heavier lees, the wine rested for six months in neutral oak. The brief skin contact is an important part of how this pink-skinned grape is handled.

2023 Domaine de la Borde Chamoz — $59.94

Julien Mareschal established Domaine de la Borde in 2003 after studying agronomy and winemaking. Based in Pupillin, in France’s Jura region, he works with organic and biodynamic farming and ferments his wines with indigenous yeasts. His approach gives individual parcels and the region’s traditional varieties a central place in the cellar.

Chamoz comes from a mixed planting at the foot of Mont Poupet, on Kimmeridgian limestone. It brings together Trousseau and Poulsard with Enfariné and Petit Béclan, two less commonly encountered Jura grapes. For the 2023 vintage, half the fruit was vinified as whole clusters and half was destemmed. The blend preserves several strands of the Jura’s grape-growing history within a single vineyard wine.

2022 Partida Creus TN Tinto Natural — $28.94

Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerosa moved from Italy to Bonastre, in Catalonia’s Baix Penedès, in search of a life centered on farming. Their work at Partida Creus has become closely associated with recovering old vineyards and preserving grape varieties that had fallen out of favor. They farm organically and keep cellar additions and handling to a minimum.

The 2022 TN combines equal parts Sumoll, Bobal, and Ull de Llebre, the Catalan name for Tempranillo, grown on clay-limestone soils. Each variety is macerated separately as whole grapes for four to five days, with fermentation carried out by indigenous yeasts in 300-liter barrels. The wine ages for ten months in barrel, followed by another month in stainless steel.

2023 I Clivi Schioppettino — $34.94

I Clivi began in the 1990s when Ferdinando Zanusso purchased old vineyards in Friuli, the northeastern Italian region where his wife’s family had roots. His son Mario joined him and now carries the project forward, maintaining a focus on established vineyards and the region’s traditional grape varieties.

This wine is made entirely from Schioppettino grown on a southeast-facing hillside in Prepotto, near the Slovenian border. The vines grow in ponca, the local marl formed from ancient marine deposits. The 2023 is fermented in stainless steel, with the grape skins held beneath the fermenting juice using a submerged cap. Aging also takes place in stainless steel, without oak.