Animale

Seattle winemaker Matt Gubitosa masterfully blends an academic background (two degrees) in geology with a passion for making intense, highly-extracted red wines. Matt’s approach to winemaking can be aptly described as "pragmatic poetry."

"I love the romance, the alchemy that winemaking can be," said Gubitosa. "But I also scour the Yakima and Columbia valleys to look for vineyards that offer the optimum in soil chemistry, drainage and sun exposure. The bottom line is that grapes are only as good as the ground they come from the ground." Matt’s background in chemistry is also helpful in guiding and monitoring the subtleties of fermentation....what he considers "the magic of winemaking."

Animale label

A ten-year veteran of the Seattle local wine making scene – he’s one of David Lake's Columbia Winery alumni – in his own words, Matt makes "modern red wines dense, dark, full-flavored and full-bodied, dominated by intense fruit, jam and spicy qualities, while true to their varietal character."

Matt's passion for wine and winemaking began at home, part of the rich culinary tradition of his Italian-American family. "Wine was on the dinner table...every night", Matt confesses, "Along with lots of great food. For years during Prohibition, my grandfather made wine at home, supplying family and many friends."

Countering a "Troubling" Trend

Stylistically, Matt strives to counter what he sees as a "troubling trend" in winemaking since the early 1990s: reliance on new oak barrels - which frequently impart flavors of sawdust, charred wood and acrid smoke. "When I taste wine," said Matt, "I don't want to feel like I’m chewing on a baseball bat." By deftly blending barreled wine with that from stainless steel tanks, Matt infuses his varietal and blended wines with "a nuance, an intimation"of french oak.

An Oregon Pinot noir made by a Washington winemaker, at an Oregon vineyard. It's a big, juicy, lush bomb of a Pinot, made from a tiny vineyard in the Yamhill-Cartlon area. The two acres of Pinot grap
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Brawny and ebullient, with aromas of fresh blackberries, hints of fresh ground peppercorns; a mouthfilling experience of concentrated fruit and spice, with a lingering, tangy finish. A syrah which pro
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Parker's Wine Advocate rating 90 points

The 2005 Maria Carmela (58 cases) is 41% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 8% Sangiovese, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. It delivers an at
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Animale winemaker Matt Gubitosa makes wines that express the varietal character of the fruit. He's not into lots of toast, or lots of extraction, and sometimes his wines seem quite different from oth
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