Sabelli-Frisch - Spring Release - Ongoing

[J_Patrick_Lynch]

@Adam_Frisch email just went out. He was talking about all the wines on his Instagram this morning, so definitely check out those videos for some insights. Looks like he linked them below as well.

I was in Southern California last week and had the pleasure of sampling all the new releases with my family. A very solid lineup, which I will go into more about in a comment below.

From his email:

CLICK FOR RELEASE

New wines:

1. 2023 “Linnae” Chardonnay. New Santa Barbara County vineyard - a lean, green and yellow fruited Chardonnay, no oak, from this cold climate region. And for SBC county, very reasonably priced at $29. Link to video of me yammering about the wine here.
2. 2023 “Anchia” Zinfandel. 2nd vintage of this great Zinfandel from famed Stampede vineyard. The 2022 vintage sold out fast, but this 2023 is on the magnitude much greater, so don’t miss this one. Priced at $32. Link to video of me yammering about the wine here.
3. 2023 “Mariedam” White Zinfandel rosé. My 3rd year making this wine and it has never been better - this is again the vintage of a century and a fabulous rosé. Even better, I’ve introduced it at a lower price as it’s the right thing to do in these troubled times. $25. Link to video of me yammering about the wine here.
4. 2023 “Milk Fed 12” White Blend. This fun little summer blend of Chardonnay, Riesling and PicPoul turned out much better than I’d ever imagined. Just 280 bottles of this made, but not priced like a rarity a steal at $19. Great summer white. Link to video of me yammering about the wine here.

New wine club:

I have finally gotten it up and running (I think). There are two clubs, a 6 BOTTLE and a 12 BOTTLE tier. Biannual, shipped in spring and fall in conjunction with the mailing list releases. Great for those who don’t want to miss any of the new releases. Even better, the club packages are customizable, so you can swap out wines as you want and are not tied in.

The 6 BOTTLE CLUB offers complimentary shipping.
The 12 BOTTLE CLUB offers complementary shipping as well as 15% off.

For this CLUB RELEASE, the 6 BOTTLE will contain:
1x 2023 Anchia Zinfandel
1x 2023 Linnae Chardonnay
2x 2023 Mariedam White Zinfandel rosé
2x 2023 Milk Fed 12 White Blend

Cancelled Canadian Export Sale:

I’m sure most of you are aware of the tariff issues and the cancelled Canadian exports, so now I find myself with wine that was committed to that market available again. Their loss is your gain, as they say, but I want to move this wine fast to free up other cellar space for the new vintages. So this is a great opportunity to stock up on some of these “lost export” wines at CRAZY LOW PRICES. The deals are:

1. 48% off on the 2021 “Eserra” White Zinfandel rosé - $10 now!
2. 49% off on the 2022 “Biograf” PicPoul white - $15 now!
3. 37% off on the 2023 “Biograf” The Bench Syrah red - $22 now!

[larry_schaffer]

Great guy making great wines - and such incredible pricing for sure! Wowsa!

Cheers

[J_Patrick_Lynch]

As I mentioned above, I have a few notes on the samples that @Adam_Frisch was kind enough to share with me while I was in Southern California visiting family.

Tasted in order:

• MF12 White: Chilled, pop and pour. Green pear on the nose, crisp and clean finish. Immediately thought this to be a great summer outdoor party wine. Very crushable, as some may say. I remarked that this would be a great sub-$20 wine and it looks like it was priced as such.
• Linnae Chardonnay: Chilled, open 45 minutes in the bottle. Because of their reductive quality, Adam’s whites definitely need a bit of air. Apricot and white nectarine on the nose, lean and saline. Personally, I think it could use a year in the bottle to even out.
• Mariedam White Zin: Chilled, pop and pour. Floral with a hint of raspberry on the nose, refreshing and well balanced. The favorite of the evening and a lovely wine. A family member vowed it would be their summer rose. As Adam said, his best White Zin yet.
• Anchia Zinfandel: Room-temp, open 60-minutes in the bottle: vibrant black cherry on the nose, moderate weight that lets the grape shine through. Would be interesting to have this side by side with the Alcott zin.

Notes on some FKA export wines:

• I’ve had two Eserras in the last month, including one the same week as the samplings. While this is a '21, it still has plenty of life in it. However, I would give it 45-60 minutes of air in the fridge if you can spare.
• The Biograf Bench Syrah was most liked wine at when we did a fall tasting in Chicago. Opened one this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad to have another crack at it.

[MThomasMartin]

Order in!

[Adam_Frisch]

Thanks JP!

The new Wine Club software is giving me some troubles, but hopefully I’ll get it sorted. As a luddite, I sometimes just want to “do a Marcassin” and just keep a ledger with everyones address and name in and not have to deal with all this painful automation/SaaS stuff.

[J_Patrick_Lynch]

Opened the Picpoul this evening, for science:

Served at 55F. Lemon curd and citrus flower on the nose, medium weight and a body to hold up to a fattier fish (thinking black cod), and a delightfully smooth finish.

Will definitely be buying more at $15.

[Jared_Wagner]

I am almost done with my 12 bottle case of whites/roses from Berserker Day. Each wine has been such a pleasure to drink. Interesting, unique, and craveable wines and look forward to buying more!

[C_Martinelli]

I missed Adam’s BD offer, glad to make up for it now. In for a case.

[JohnMag]

Had to top myself up on the new releases.

[Adam_Frisch]

Thank you all!

I had a little snafu with the new Wine Club, but it should have been fixed by now, if anyone feels the need. I know this isn’t really the wine club crowd, but thought I’d mention!

And $10 for the Eserra rosé (which still has years to ahead of it due to its reductiveness), is a very good deal. I need it out the door!

[MThomasMartin]

The Anchia and the Inedal Zins so far have been eye openers.
The Anchia is so balanced and ready to go now. The Inedal is more structured. Enjoyable now as well, but should age. I hope we continue to see both of these going forward. I am very excited by these two, so far.

[Adam_Frisch]

Thank you Thomas!

The Inedal is pretty atypical with its whole cluster (or stem inclusion, rather) so it adds a lot of energy and green verve to it. It will mellow and integrate more with time, but for me personally I enjoy it already.

The Anchia and the Alcott will continue, but unfortunately the vineyard for Inedal is on the market right now. I’m hoping the new owners will let me produce from it, but it’s unfortunately sized vineyard that’s perfect for a private residence (3 acres), so chances are they’ll most likely tear it out and build a house. Which would be sad since they were planted in the 60’s. But will see what happens!

[MThomasMartin]

Do you plan more whole cluster Zins going forward?

[J_Patrick_Lynch]

Canada’s loss is our gain.

[J_Patrick_Lynch]

2026 Spring Wines:

Link here and individually below 5 new wines, free ship at $250:
2024 “MILK FED 13” SAUVIGNON BLANC - $29.00
Saureel Vineyard - El Dorado
Alc: 13%. (750ml) - 56 cases
Slightly riper, with a very subtle American oak treatment to further enhance it, this is a great rendition that embraces the sunshine of California. It’s still a food friendly, acid driven wine - but it has a little more plushness.

2025 “MILK FED 14” DORNFELDER - $29.00
Mokelumne Glen Vineyard- Mokelumne River
Alc: 14%. (750ml) - 60 cases
Very fruit forward, electric chillable red with extremely fine tannins.

2022 “PETZVAL” RIESLING - $22.00
Quinta Del Norte Vineayrd - Santa Ynez
Alc 11.5% 750ml) - 45 cases
Bone dry, which is my preferred style for Riesling. Despite its low alcohol, this is a slightly more tannic rendering of Riesling, but still with the classic green characters of the variety. A saline, chewy version.

2021 “BUND” RIESLING - $19.00
Mokelumne Glen Vineyard - Mokelumne Glen
Alc 12% (750ml) - 102 cases
A steelier and much more pure notes dry Riesling, with very pronounced pear notes. In fact, it reminds me of a pear-flavored ice popsicle I grew up eating as a kid. Add a petrol, note on this and a great acid and finish and you have the perfect food wine. Does well with a decant to drop some of its petrol notes.

2022 “OBIE” RIESLING - $22.00
Curtis Vineayrd - Santa Ynez
Alc 12.5% (750ml) - 90 cases
Bone dry, which is my preferred style for Riesling. Savory, tropical notes and and that slight oxidative nature from barrel fermenting adds a chewy, nutty element. First time it was filtered, which adds a polished mouthfeel to the wine.

Some pretty price competitive summer wines. I personally enjoy the last vintage Bund just above fridge temp on a warm summer night.

[Adam_Frisch]

Thanks JP!

Yes, it’s a fun lineup - the Dornfelder I’ve been trying to get my hands on since 2019 when I started working with Mokelumne Glen Vineyard in Lodi (they only do Germanic varieties) and last year, the winery that had taken it for years made it available, so I got a small amount, about 1ton.

Dornfelder is by far the absolute darkest, most impenetrable red color we’ve ever seen at the winery. It almost stains stainless steel, which is insane. It really should be considered the ultimate coloring grape in field blend plantings - this is a much better variety for that than Alicante Bouschet is. Especially in a field blend with high tannic varieties - more of that below.

Despite its deep color, the variety is very fruit forward and soft, with low tannins. A very inviting and easy to drink red, perfect for summer. I’ve kind of marketed it a bit as chillable red, where it does really well. 700 bottles made and numbered.

The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc is from the Saureel Vineyard in El Dorado and I’ve worked with Tim Sauer and them for many years - used to make a few Petit Mansengs from that vineyard. This SB came in a little bit riper than estimated, so I leaned into that a bit with slight oak profiling. It’s a delicious wine, and not at all heavy or oaky, just has slight plush to it. Also 700 bottles made, but numbered, because we forgot when we printed labels.

The Rieslings were part of the BD vertical, so I don’t expect that many sales on those (as most here probably just got them). I never was a good businessman, but the world needs them out there…

In any case, they’re delicious - the new, “old”, 2021 Bund is probably the most Germanic one I’ve ever made - tons of petrol and pear notes. The 2022 Petzval is a chewier Riesling, that will do well with some age. And the 2022 Obie is the barrel ferment Riesling that shows those more oxidative characteristics and leans towards yellower fruit, rather than green.

[Kevin.Moses]

Re: Dornfelder’s color, you ain’t see nothing until you have to clean up after teinturier wine like Saperavi

Will be keeping my eye out for more obscure varietals coming out of Mokelumne Glen in the future. Lemberger? Kerner?? Off-dry Rieslaner???

[J_Patrick_Lynch]

I’m going to drink a few gallons of this crisp SB this summer.

[Adam_Frisch]

Just stress-tested the 2025 Dornfelder. Open since Friday, less than 1/3 left and just pumped, not even in fridge, on the hot kitchen counter. Still holds up really well, I did not expect that.