Visit us to shop and hang in person or order online for quick and easy pick up.
Address
210 EAST VERMILION STREET LAFAYETTE, LA 70501
Hours
Tues-Thurs
1pm-7pm
Friday & Saturday
1pm-8pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
21 and Over Only to Buy Wine.
Choose In-store Pickup To Order Wine Online.
We Do Not Ship Wine or Alcohol.
We do ship Everything Else!
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100% Primitivo from the earliest harvest of grapes. Whole cluster, brief 8 day maceration, natural fermentation in stainless steel before aging in stainless and cement. Super bright, super fresh, 11-12% ABV Primitivo that is best served chilled. Nico calls it "Blue Wine" because of the distinct blue/violet color of the freshly run juice.
Domenico (he prefers Nico) Mangione was a pharmacist by trade before becoming winemaker. He owned and operated his own pharmacy for over 20 years and has the exacting mind of scientist, yet in speaking with him you can sense there is an undertone of philosopher to his character. Nico fell into wine by accident and not by design. What was initially a favor for his father-in-law of tending to some vines and making a little house wine soon became a full blown obsession and passion of Nico's that changed his life forever.
In 2005 Nico planted 6 hectares of vines and started construction of his small winery two years later. The idea in the beginning was to simply sell off the grapes and possibly make some wine for his family and locals. In the end that's essentially how things have worked out. Nico produces from about 3-4 hectares of his land, which fills the capacity of his tiny winery in Lizzano (Salento), and the rest he sells off to help sustain the business.
In the beginning Nico was farming conventionally and using "modern winemaking techniques", i.e. yeast, sulfur, etc. that local enologists had convinced him were the only way to go. After the first couple of vintages Nico began to question the practices that so many people had told him were just fine. He noticed vineyards dying far to quickly and that the wines were not vibrant as he had hoped. These doubts led Nico to pull the plug and immediately go the opposite direction, one of natural farming and natural winemaking. In 2010, after three full years of chemical-free farming, Nico made his first natural wine with no yeast, no sulfur, just grapes.
Since 2010 Nico has been gaining experience and forging ahead on his natural wine mission. His neighbors look to him as if he were crazy yet he thinks the same thing about them. "The future of Puglia is in natural agriculture", says Nico..."there's no other way forward."
Denny & Katie
Owners
Your friendly neighborhood wine shop and tiny bar, focused on small production wines and conservas. Connect with us on Instagram for suggestions on your next bottle and to follow along in our downtown Lafayette wine journey.
Visit us to shop and hang in person or order online for quick and easy pick up.
Hours
Tues-Thurs
1pm-7pm
Friday & Saturday
1pm-8pm
Closed Sunday & Monday