Buona Notte, Cento Per Cento - 2024
Fast Facts:
Winemaker(s): Graham Markel
Region: The Dalles → Oregon → United States
Classification: Columbia Valley AVA
Varietal(s): Sangiovese
Terroir: Silty loam over old sandstone, dry oak-dotted hills above the Columbia River, hot days that drop cold at night
Serving Temp: 55-65°F
Graham Markel got his degree from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, and now he makes Sangiovese on the dry side of Oregon. To make it an even cooler trajectory, Graham learned about palate and cooking from his mother when she was running a culinary school in Tuscany, and his first real job was in a restaurant kitchen. A move behind the bar got him curious about how the bottles got made, and that curiosity turned into seven years working under Maggie Harrison at Antica Terra and Nate Ready at Hiyu Wine Farm.
Living at the legendary Hiyu inspired Graham to work with the wild terroir of the Columbia Gorge. Here, as maybe you've experienced from being Washingtonians, the microclimates shift every few miles with a wet rainforest on the west end to high desert on the east, and there's a grape for every one of them. Graham's north star became Sangiovese grown in The Dalles, where the arid portion of the region starts. He says that if you squint hard enough at those rolling, oak-dotted hills, they start to look a little like Chianti. Charming. The vines sit a few hundred feet above the river on silty loam and sandstone, in a place that sees around fifteen inches of rain a year and cools off overnight after baking all day. That swing is what keeps the beautiful acid in the grapes and giving it that extra pep.
Cento Per Cento translates to a hundred for a hundred, meaning 100% Sangiovese. Roughly three quarters of the fruit ferments as whole clusters, stems and all, which is where the baking spice and the easy grip come from. Getting the fruit off the vine while the acid is still bright can be challenging in arid terroirs, but I think Graham nailed this one.
Why'd we pick it?
This past spring Graham opened an Italian cafe and wine bar in Southeast Portland called The Stazione that we think you should go check out. Named after the trains that are just a block down that loudly pass by, it's reminiscent of the small-town station cafes he grew up around in Italy. He'll happily talk skin contact and volcanic soils if you ask, but he doesn't want anyone sitting through some sort of academic lesson when they just came in for a nice bevie. A nice principle that we also try to abide by. He makes around 3,000 cases a year across everything, and this is the bottle the whole label got built around.
Field Notes
- Tastes like: Red cherry, plum, dried flowers, a little baking spice, bright acid, and chill tannins.
- Serve it around 60°F, fifteen minutes in the fridge. A decanter would be nice for this one, but not essential. Swirl and let it warm up as you sip.
- Food Pairings: Panzanella season! Heirloom tomatoes are best, with torn up crusty bread, add red onion, basil, and a ton of olive oil. Hot Italian sausages on the grill with sweet peppers, throw them on a hot dog bun and call it a day. Grilled polenta squares and spoon marinated summer mushrooms and herbs over the top.
