Take a great vineyard, two ambitious and idealistic young men, and a little bit of elbow grease, and amazing things can happen.  I never thought that my friend Matt Licklider would be responsible for such good wine (I knew him when he was living out of a suitcase working for North Berkeley Imports).  Well, he is, and I’m happy that he is a good enough friend to let me buy some, because there isn’t much .

LIOCO (pronounced lee-oko) is a dynamic “virtual winery” committed to site-driven wines. It is the result of a years- ongconversation between Matt Licklider, (a seasoned wine import specialist) and Kevin O’Connor (wine director at the esteemed Spago-Beverly Hills) about whether or not California could produce wines of origin.

Durell Vineyard is located in the southwest corner of the Sonoma Valley appellation, bordering Carneros and San Pablo Bay. While much of Carneros is resigned to a rather pedestrian clay-based soil, Durell is situated in a dried-up river bed and boasts tough soil strewn with cobble stones. There are roughly 300 acres of this wholly unique soil in all of Sonoma Valley. This high rock content infuses the wine with a varied mineral essence. The vineyard was planted 30-years ago by the enigmatic Steve Hill, who continues to farm it, impeccably, with his viticulturalist son Ned.

This wine was hand picked and sorted, whole cluster pressed, and fermented with a wild yeast in 100% stainless steel (no oak). A naturally-occuring malo finished completely. The wine rested on its fine lees (no batonnage) until bottling, which was done without fining or filtering.

Though this wine isn’t oaked, it has a stunning richness, complexity and length.  The exotic blend of peach, lime, orange peel, and mineral is a fitting match for fatty fish like sea bass, for foie gras terrine (we can’t drink Sauternes every day!) and grilled or poached salmon.  Drink now – 2018.