Everwild
Saturday Tasting. July 27th, 2-5pm. $10
I mostly know Talia and Austin as excellent customers at Ordinaire. Despite being wine professionals, well-versed in the echelons of cult bottles, they do not aggressively seek them out; rather, they always start with by-the-glass quaffers, and are routinely excited by them. When we do serve them a rare treat, they approach the wine as something that gives pleasure, not as some kind of item to check off a bucket list. They linger on the terrace long after the sun has dropped behind the buildings to the west—bottles, glasses and cheese planks multiplying as friends and colleagues join their table, lured by their generous offers to share a bottle or three. It’s rare to catch either of them without a smile on their face.
When Talia and Austin started Everwild in 2020, their intention was to “inspire people to live more slowly and intentionally, to eat, drink, and consume in a way that is good for their bodies and the earth we all inhabit.” They had been in the film industry for close to a decade, and were burnt out. They just “dove in,” says Talia. “We learned through doing.” They began by helping out some of the larger producers at the Richmond Wine Collective while making a few of their own cuvées on the side. Along the way, they have developed their own unique style. When I asked Talia how she would describe that style, she replied,
There is the craft of winemaking, and then there is the artist’s hand in how you approach that craft. Maybe it is linear and exact, or maybe it’s more open and experimental. For us, winemaking has always been about getting in touch with the latter - a more feminine energy if you will - open, fluid and yielding.
Since they wanted to make free wines without chemical intervention, they knew from the beginning they would need to source pristine fruit. This led them all over California, from Chalone to Mendocino on the Coast, all the way out to Lodi and Gold Country, close to where Talia grew up. Their long-term goal is to develop a more rooted relationship to the area around Nevada City (rapidly becoming ground zero for natty wine in Cali!), setting up a winery near the vines and figuring out a way to transition more of their time and energy to farming.
For a winery so green, I’m persistently amazed by the way their wines balance experimentation with a sense of groundedness. Rather than blending finished wines, they prefer co-fermentation as the stage of experimentation, often mixing direct-pressed wines with macerating grapes, commonly referred to as “infusion method.” This results in wines that feel organically knit and deftly textured. They exist somewhere in the liminal zone between orange, pink and light red. They are a delight to smell and always easy to drink, highlighting acidity, fruit and freshness.
We hope you can swing by and taste some new wines this Saturday, July 27th. Talia and Austin will be there from 2-5pm. The tasting costs $10.
Cosmia $31
Flora#1 $31
Manna From Heaven $31
Pense pour toi Même $31
- Bradford