Making Wine Fun Again

Just discovered One of the most exciting wine clubs, bar none. 

Honest.

It not only meets but also exceeds my 4 very demanding standards:

1.High quality wines

2. Wide variety of wines, unusual wines, and wines at all price points

3. Membership has real value, VIP, being part of cutting edge thinking, something trending

4. Fun

Well, the “fun” requirement eliminates about 90 of all winery wine clubs, the snobby places with way over the top prices.

Also those wineries where members feel pressure to buy or else get dropped. And those with the weekend traffic and the crowds? 

So  hello Paso Robles, the home to high quality wineries owned by crazy, gifted, fun loving, creative, enthusiastic and, well, nice people.

If anyone is thinking Paso is in the middle of nowhere, let me remind you that this is 2021, the era of Zoom, virtual tastings and websites with real human interaction. Besides, typical members visit the winery once or twice a year.

And one more major thing, this winery is within reach of TinCity, home to dozens of other wineries, a few artisan breweries, and a food vendor or two. Yes, part of a wine destination!!

And THE winery is: Tooth & Nail Winery

www.toothandnailwine.com

This oddly named winery offers several types of wines under 4 different brand names:

Tooth & Nail: Creative, unconventional wines with unusual names and stunning labels. For example, “The Fragrant Snare” brings together Chardonnay, Albarino, and Viognier

Amor Fati: Syrah, Grenache, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, all from cool climates.

For me, these 4 were love at first taste. All scored 92 points or higher. See reviews at 

http://www.winereviewonline.com

 Stasis: Pinot Noir from Santa Maria and a Viognier. Both excellent.

Destinata: Drink now, no fanfare Chenin Blanc, Riesling, and Syrah. All good. All fun. Especially the drink-now style Syrah. The dry Riesling and Chenin will surprise you.

Bundles: special packages at 20% off prices. 

There’s a Pure Bliss” bundle and a” Once in A Lifetime” bundle you should check out.

BTW: the labels are so artsy, so creative, and so collectible!

Who’s Behind these Wines?

Rob Murray is the owner. After making Rabble Wine a raving success, he sold it to start Tooth & Nail. With Rabble, he was the first to use augmented reality technology in wine labelling, thereby injecting a sense of movement and play onto a bottle of wine. When it comes to label artwork and design, he is far ahead of everyone. He also earmarked a percentage of profits from Rabble for “1 % for the Planet”, joining companies like Patagonia, Boxed Water and Honest Tea, in giving to vetted environmental non-profit organizations.

Winemaker Jeremy Leffert’s motto is: “Pour now. Live for today.” He has a degree in Environmental Science and later studied at Cal Poly. At Tooth & Nail, Jeremy leans toward the philosophical and is ever alert to avoid “the dominance of the winemaker’s hand.” With that in mind, he views himself as a shepherd as much as a maker. “My approach is to treat everything with such care that the voice of the vineyard shines through the wine,” he says. “It’s all about respecting nature’s intent.”

Wait! A winemaker without a BIG ego? Not puffed up about high scores, not an icon or living legend? Just a highly skilled professional making wine clubs fun again.

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Author: robywine, norm roby

My career as a wine journalist/critic began in 1975 when my article about California Petite Sirah was published. My focus remained on California as I edited a monthly wine magazine and then moved on to The Wine Spectator in 1982. Over the following years, my column appeared under the banner of “Stormin’ Norman, and I also wrote articles about wine collectors and wine auctions. Without getting into a year by year bio, let me try to summarize here. During my time with The Spectator which I enjoyed immensely, I taught wine classes at a culinary school and at other venues in San Francisco. Before venturing into wine, teaching was my thing, English Lit and Rhetoric. After The Spectator I was the U.S. Contributor to Decanter Magazine, writing mostly about California, but also expanding into Washington State and Oregon. My Decanter years began in 1992 and after buying a summer home in France in 2000, I traveled throughout France and eventually published articles about St. Emilion, Castillon, Bergerac, Minervois, Roussillon, Luberon, Provence, and Alsace. Also, around 2000, my wife began working for Cousino-Macul in Chile, so we tasted and traveled our way through Chile and, of course, managed to fly over the Andes and explore and taste our way through Argentina. As travel lovers, we have also spent many interesting days visiting the wine regions of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scicily, Greece, and New Zealand. And to come to a close, I was Director of Winesong, a Charity Wine Auction for 20 years, 1992-2000 that benefitted a local hospital. That brought me in contact with wine collectors and to the auction scene. And finally, I co-authored a book, The Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine published by Alfred A. Knopf. It went through 4 editions and sold over 500.000 copies.

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