If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, you may or may not remember the name Mark Grimaldi. He’s served on tasting panels for us in the past (including our Wines of the Year tastings), he used to coordinate our “Drink Local Dinners” when we had them and he’s also a personal friend of mine.
His wife Olivia owns a great little wine and cider shop in Ithaca, NY now, and he is a partner in the new Aurora Ales & Lagers Co. and with partners Eric Clemons (Coeur Wine Company) and Ian Barry (Barry Family Cellars) he’s working to make a second vintage of Fossil & Till.
You may remember that I included Mark and Eric’s first release (Ian wasn’t involved at that point) in our July 2014 wine club selections. That was the 2013 and they didn’t make any wine in 2014.
They are hoping to revive the brand with their Indiegogo campaign,
Even if a riesling pet nat isn’t your thing, some of the rewards for donating are nothing short of incredible.
Sure, you could give $50, which gets you a voucher for a bottle (expected release next summer) but as you donate more, you get much more.
Give $175 and you get invited to an all expenses-paid launch party in New York City.
Give $300 and you get that, plus a personal winemaking class taught by Ian for you and a guest. They throw in a $25 gift certificate to FLX Wienery too.
Give $550 and you and four friends can choose from a series of master classes taught by amazing folks like Pascaline Lepeltier, Master Sommelier and partner at Rouge Tomate, Master Sommelier Christopher Bates and Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson. Formerly of Eleven Madison Park and owner of Vallin.
These are some of the brightest and most respected wine people in New York today.
To date, they’ve raised almost half of their $10,000 goal and I certainly think it’s worth checking out what they are doing and donating to the cause if you’re so inclined.
You can get all the details on their campaign page.