Sable & Stem started as a shared fermentation bench inside a fabrication studio, with tanks divided by movable curtains.
The edge of the glass
Before aroma, a wine offers light. A watery rim can suggest one kind of structure; a saturated core suggests another. Neither is a verdict. Color is the first question, not the answer.
Temperature changes the signal
The same glass looks different at ten degrees and at eighteen. Condensation softens the view, movement changes opacity, and a colder pour can make a vivid wine appear tighter than it feels.
Then we taste
Only after the visual study do we reach for fruit, herb, mineral, or spice. Starting with color slows the rush to name things. It leaves a little more room for what the wine is actually doing.
“Structure gives experimentation somewhere to land.”Back to all notes