buona notte.
ITALIAN VARIETALS AMERICAN MADE
Winemaker, Graham Markel
Buona Notte is driven by wine, but ruled by its belly.
We believe in the profound connection that can be made when there is a beautiful plate of food in front of you and a gorgeous wine in hand.
wines.
HANDCRAFTED WINES FROM THE COLUMBIA GORGE
SANGIOVESE
CENTO
PER
CENTO
750ML | $30
CASE | $300, OR FREE SHIPPING
1500ML| $60
Cento Per Cento or “a hundred for a hundred” (100% Sangiovese) has high tones of cherry, plum and fresh cut, young roses anchored by sagebrush, dust, and whole cluster baking spices. Full of flavor yet light on its feet, it's great with classic Italian dishes like Pappa al Pomodoro and pizza. Cento per Cento shines on its own, best shared amongst family and friends.
13% ALC/VOL
75% WHOLE CLUSTER
COLUMBIA VALLEY AVA
SYRAH
BRUTTO NOBILE
750ML | $50
CASE | $550, OR FREE SHIPPING
1500ML| $100
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Brutto Nobile or the “Ugly Noble” is Syrah from the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA. The Rocks sits just below the Washington border in the Walla Walla AVA. If you ask me, the terroir from the small AVA is as unique as the Willamette Valley. As soon as you stick your nose into a glass of this Syrah, you know exactly where it came from. You can smell the river rocks. Those rocks, that the AVA are named for, are baseball-size, blueish, brown, and go 100 feet down before there is any sort of hardpan. The vines translate that terroir into black olives, violets, and a lovely aroma of wet stone linger from start to finish. Who wouldn't want to drink this with a lamb tagine?
THE ROCKS GARDEN VINEYARD
95% SYRAH, 5% ROUSSANNE
12.5% ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
PRESSED WITH A HAND CRANKED BASKET PRESS
SAUVIGNON BLANC
IL NIDO
750ML | $30
CASE | $300, OR FREE SHIPPING
1500ML| $60
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Il Nido is Italian for, “The Nest” as this Sauvignon Blanc vineyard is perched in Underwood, Washington overlooking the gorge. The grapes were picked late in the year around 24brix when they tasted of honey and ripe apple. This wine is a combination of two barrels. One barrel of wine spent two days on the skins before being pressed, and the other spent four days on the skins. Both aged in neutral French oak for six months. Il Nido is a tropical and a playful food pairing for spicy and fatty foods.
13.7% ALC/VOL
NEUTRAL FRENCH OAK
COLUMBIA GORGE AVA
SOLD OUT
ROSÉ OF DOLCETTO
ROSA
750ML | $30
375ML | $20
Rosa is a textured rosé blend of two and a half barrels from the Allegre Vineyard in the middle of the Hood River Valley. I took the bottom half of the vineyard that was a little more vigorous and a little less ripe and made a rose. The first barrel is from grapes pressed immediately, the second barrel is from grapes that spent two days on the skins, and the last half barrel had four days of skins contact. I blended them back together to find the balance of acid and structure. Good for a summer lunch al fresco.
12.5% ALC/VOL
NEUTRAL FRENCH OAK
COLUMBIA GORGE AVA
ROSÉ OF PINOT NOIR
VERMOUTH
750ML | $30
375ML | $20
This demi-sweet vermouth is made from Rosé of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and lightly sweetened with Local honey from the slopes of Mount Hood. With a balance of elderflower, chamomile, licorice, citrus, and bitter roots, Buona Notte Vermouth is made to be enjoyed on ice accompanied only by an orange peel. The formula is strong enough to withstand whiskey and delicate enough to add vodka or gin for a beautiful, new twist on a martini.
17% ALC/VOL
BLEND OF 10 HERBS AND BOTANICALS
YAMHILL-CARLTON AVA
about.
A BUONA NOTTE STORY
Buona Notte is very much a family endeavor. The team consists of my father, and business partner, Jeff Markel. Emily Skawinski assists with the Marketing and Design; and my mother, Peggy Markel (if I don't add her she'll be mad). Last but not least, there’s myself, Winemaker, Graham Markel.
This project is the fruit of a life full of travel and exploration by the Markel Family. I was lucky enough to explore the world with my mother, father, and sister from an early age. At five I was eating kangaroo in Australia's McLaren Vale, and at ten I was already drinking Campari and soda in the Florentine Palazzo’s (What?.. we didn’t realize it had alcohol).
From an early age I learned how to cook at my mother's Tuscan culinary school from some of the best chefs in Italy. At 21 I got my first cooking job at The Kitchen back in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado. I moved over to bartending after a year and began learning about wine and cocktails. This is where the idea of crafting my own beverages was sparked.
I graduated from Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and got a job at Antica Terra Winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. For seven years I worked under Antica Terra’s Maggie Harrison and Hiyu Wine Farm’s Master Sommelier, Nate Ready. I learned many things from those two, but the number one thing I learned was to think deeply about winemaking and how to add beauty to every step of the process. No matter how arduous or tiring, every action must be taken to make the best wine possible.
Living at Hiyu Wine Farm in Hood River opened my eyes to the many winemaking possibilities that there were on offer in the Gorge. There are so many microclimates creating different opportunities to explore fun, exciting varieties. Gewurztraminer from the bluffs on Underwood, Mencia from Mosier, and of course the Sangiovese from east of The Dalles resonated the most.
Many people say that if you squint hard enough, the rolling hills of The Dalles look somewhat like the hills of Chianti. It reminded me of some wild hybrid of the American West and Tuscany; two places near and dear to my heart. The opportunity was too excellent to pass up. It was time for me to make my wine.
Here in the snow-capped volcanoes, rolling hills, and big rivers of the Pacific Northwest, we have found gastronomic poetry. Oregon has a deep food and wine tradition, driven by the unique culinary culture of Portland and the world famous wines of the Willamette Valley. It’s the Buona Notte mission to add to that lineage.
I still love to cook, and I'm always looking to push the boundaries of creativity in the world of food and wine. It's been my pleasure capturing this time and place in the best bottle of wine I can make.
The Buona Notte team hopes our wines bring you as much joy as the journey in creating them has brought us.
Buon Appetito!
Graham
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