Oregon & Washington Wine Specialists Since 1988
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Animale
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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 th
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MORE INFORMATIONSeattle 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."
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. |
