January 4, 2012
California's Shoe Shine Wine Introduces New LGBT Labels
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
San Francisco, CA - Justice Grace Vineyards, a local, family run 400 case per year micro-winery, announced new releases of its hand-crafted Shoe Shine Wine� Petite Sirahs from the 2007 and 2008 vintages. Among the first in the industry, these releases feature new labels that proudly portray and salute loving LGBT relationships.
"These wines reflect many years of passion, labor, and commitment to showcasing the very best of an increasingly rediscovered California heirloom varietal," said owner/ winemaker Eric Cohen, who lives in the City's Mission District. "With this series of new labels, I am thrilled to offer wines that celebrate all loving relationships."
Uniquely focused on helping to renew California's Petite Sirah, Justice Grace Vineyards is dedicated to making world class, vineyard designated wines that are complex, elegant, and balanced. From carefully selecting exceptional vineyards and tending the vines during the growing season, to fermenting and blending, every step of Justice Grace Vineyard's natural winemaking is hands-on and hand-made by Cohen. Distinctive sources, showcasing the under appreciated range of Petite Sirah, include old vines from York Creek Vineyards on Spring Mountain, the biodynamic Golden Vineyards in Mendocino, the cold climate SIP certified sustainable Wolff Vineyards in Edna Valley, and organically farmed Tenbrink Vineyards in Solano County.
"My winemaking is deeply rooted in agriculture and artisanal trades and connected with nature by the cycles of the seasons," Cohen said. "I constantly explore and experiment with the endless possibilities driven by skin contact, lees, barrels, and unusual blends. I am humbled by the hard work and labor required to deliver a wine worthy of my ideals."
Cohen hand bottles and applies each label, secures each fabric top (rather than using the non-environmentally friendly capsules used industry-wide), and ensures that the wine is an authentic representation of each vineyard source in time. In a nod to transparency, Justice Grace Vineyards is one of the few wineries to list all ingredients on its back label, proudly displaying its non-interventionist approach to winemaking.
Shoe Shine Wine's original label, "straight kiss," features a young woman and man leaning in for an embrace. One of the new LGBT labels, "male tango," captures two men dancing, their black dress shoes gracefully intertwined. The other new label, "female footsie," depicts two women in a flirtatious moment.
Prior vintages of Shoe Shine Wine have been available at Bi-Rite Market and Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco and on the menu of several Bay Area restaurants, including Saison, Pizzetta 211, Mission Beach Caf�, Millennium Restaurant, and Encuentro Wine Bar, and available directly from the winery at www.shoeshinewine.com and via its online store at: https://www.facebook.com/JusticeGraceVineyards
Distribution is currently available in San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, and the immediate Bay Area.
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
