Brendan Stater-West Saumur Rouge La Ripaille 2023 MARQUE and Clos Devant le Jeu

and Clos Devant le Jeu is one of his most exciting newer sites

and it is reliably good year after year

poached pear

Wildcard is an adventurous cider made from heirloom Gravenstein Apples and wild grapes making it a uniquely Sonoma County experience

Brendan Stater-West Saumur Rouge La Ripaille 2023 MARQUE and Clos Devant le JeuLa Ripaille is a west facing lieu dit on the Brz hill where 1960s planted Cabernet Franc digs into sandy loam over Turonian limestone. Brendan Stater West, the Oregon born expat now in the direct lineage of Clos Rougeard and Domaine Guiberteau, is only the second grower ever to bottle from this parcel. The wine is fully de stemmed, fermented with indigenous yeast, and built by infusion (no pump overs, no punch downs), then aged a year on lees in