…it just may be the coolest name ever.  Luckily, I popped out the womb a Ballstein, so I’ll accept a very close second…this time.

Anyways, who is Savio Soares?  A brooklyn-based wine importer from Brazil who focuses on natural, sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines from Germany, Austria, France, Italy & Portugal and let me tell you, his portfolio ROCKS!!

I was cordially invited to attend an intimate tasting and lunch with Savio at my now new favorite restaurant, Il Buco (www.ilbuco.com) in Soho.  It was a whirlwind of a trip that included 9 hours of travel and 6 hours in the NYC that still seems more like a dream than reality.  The follow-up e-mails prove I was there though.

Quick Recap of the Juice:

Simply put- AMAZING!!  Rarely do you have wine epiphanies and this particular tasting made me reevaluate my entire approach to wine and Social’s wine program.  It’s like the  the bottle of ’98 Prieuré-Roch Vosne-Romanée ‘Aux Reas’ or the first time I went to Terroir wine bar (www.wineisterroir.com) in the East Village.  It makes me question my existence.

Here’s the best part of the whole story:  Best in Show- Domaine l’Octavin Chardonnay Pamina 2008 from Arbois in the Jura region of France.  WHAT??  That’s right.  My arch-nemesis Chardonnay bringing home the gold- this is the main reason that I was pretty sure I had dreamt this whole experience.  However, this obviously ain’t no ordinary Chardonnay.  It comes from 35 yr old vines in Limestone soils and is naturally fermented in oak without sulfur and not filtered.  It is the definition of natural wine and has some serious funk to it in that awesome blue cheesy kind of way.  Has some stank but you just can’t get enough of it.

This wine makes me seriously happy (like a teenage girl who just met Justin Beiber happy..I felt new, oddly pleasing sensations)!!

Moving on- I can’t go wine by wine because there were too many I freaked out over, but I will be featuring more of Savio’s juice (www.savinho.com) in “New Favorite Wine Ever of the Week”.

Ballstein