The winemaker is talking.
"Sustainability isn’t just a trendy buzzword for us. It’s part of our DNA, the very essence of who we are and what we believe about farming."
Steve Matthiasson is the winemaker, one of our favorites at Saint Goose. He and his wife Jill are the force behind Matthiasson Wines and partners in Ashes and Diamonds. Steve teaches a class on organic grape growing at UC Davis and lectures within the industry on sustainable viticulture. They live the life they preach, powering their Napa vineyard with renewable energy sources, farming all their vineyards organically and supporting a diverse ecosystem by growing peaches, plums, figs and citrus alongside their grapes.
Their home vineyard is also home to owls, foxes, bees, quail and native vegetation.
Can any of this be tasted in the bottle? At Saint Goose we believe the answer is yes. That’s why our curated collection is devoted exclusively to winemakers who follow a path similar to the Matthiassons, winemakers like Diana Snowden Seysses, a partner at Ashes and Diamonds and the talent behind Snowden Vineyards.
The Matthiassons and Seysses and winemakers like them will tell you wines come from somewhere, meaning it’s the land that makes the wine, not the brand.
Their word they use is terroir. But terroir is not just the dirt. It’s the unchangeable environmental factors, the slope of the land, that surrounding vegetation, the position of the vineyard. The winemaker’s art is to employ all the variables he and she can’t alter to produce wines of place. Their battle cry is the call for light-handed winemaking and transparency of terroir.
But don’t just take our word for it. Taste for yourself. We have on our wall of wine four Matthiasson wines, five Ashes and Diamonds wines and the Snowden ‘The Ranch’ cabernet. Put together a mixed 6-pack of any of those wines and we will extend our case discount. Cheers.