Vin de La Gamba, "Frauen Power" 2019

**WARNING: This is an undisgorged pet-nat, AKA it has a lot of built-up pressure in the bottle. Chill it wayy down (either stick it in the freezer or a bucket of ice), upright, before opening, to avoid volcanic eruption. Take your time when popping the bottle cap, let it hiss a little and settle and repeat the process a few times. Have a glass (or an open mouth?) ready, just in case.**

There is a profile for this wine that would talk about the Rheinheissen and its enormity in both acreage and German winemaking history, about its strange and once-popular export of semi-sweet Liebfraumilch, its Rieslings and the verklempt viticultural histories of its more prominent towns. That’s not this profile. “Frauen Power” is renegade by all accounts though even saying “renegade” would belie its actual inner-rebel by reminding the drinker of what it is not; no, “Frauen Power” is itself Beautiful! Fruity! Bold! The Most Important Wine Ever Made! It’s difficult to open to the unwitting sipper, so, hint: keep cold, upright, and be gentle – they warned you it was bold! Crafted by Alanna Lagamba, this fizzer is 100% smashable Dornfelder, the vines belonging to Martin “Marto” Wörner who happens to be Lagamba’s partner. This is ridiculously fun wine with cola and red-berry all over it, the kind of bottle meant to be sprayed in locker rooms after a season’s triumph, guzzled with friends, families, strangers – fuck it, anyone smart enough to drink the most important wine ever made. Zum Wohl!

Vinification: 100% Dornfelder. Whole cluster fermentation, finished as a pet nat. Undisgorged. Unfined, unfiltered, with no sulphur added. 

Tasting: God this wine is good. I have little to say except that it really hits all the right buttons for me: refreshing, outrageously bubbly, tart and acidic but not volatilely-so, strawberries and soda pop (specifically, Dr. Pepper!!). This is a radical, fun and un-precious bottle of bubbles meant to please the soul. Guzzle with pride.