A few years ago, on a cold winter morning in Manhattan, a man walked into the wine shop l was working at and introduced himself as the producer of one of my favorite Loire Valley wines, Pascal Jolivet. It was great to finally put the face behind a bottle I had been selling (with pleasure!) for years. We got to chatting about wine and travel and life in general. l then mentioned to him that my colleague James, who had the day off that day, was soon getting married at a beautiful château in the Loire Valley to a French woman he had met while on vacation the year before. By the end of our conversation, Pascal had offered to send six magnums of his delicious white Sancerre as a wedding gift to James and his bride-to-be. Don’t you just love when serendipitous things like that happen?

l caught up with Pascal recently by email to talk about life (again!) and his natural approach to winemaking. Read the full article and interview at Grape Collective.

Cheers!

Feudi di San Gregorio is an innovative producer of high-quality wines in the Campania region of southwestern Italy. There has been a long history of volcanic eruptions here, some having destroyed entire communities in just one day. Yet, throughout history people have continued to risk everything to settle close to volcanoes. Why? It all comes down to the rich, fertile soils which evolve over time from the deposits of lava, ash and other materials.

Last month I sat down with Antonio Capaldo, president and second generation winemaker to discuss the impact of these soils on the Feudi di San Gregorio wines. "Volcanic soils bring minerality to the wine ... they give stronger body, longer finish, and then almost a salty aftertaste that is incredibly interesting when you're pairing them with food".

See the video interview and read the full article about this innovative winery at GrapeCollective.com.

Feudi di San Gregorio makes aromatic wines of great complexity using indigenous grape varieties — Aglianico for its reds and Fiano, Greco and Falanghina for the whites.