Medium Plus

I am super excited to be hosting a tasting featuring the wines of Kobayashi this Friday at 7pm. Winemaker Travis Allen will be in the house!

Having become a powerful force on the Washington scene over the last decade, Travis and his wife Mario have developed a vibrant following for their wines. The program highlights Rhône grape varieties, along with innovative production techniques, Japanese family heritage, and energetically delicious flavors. Their production volume is intentionally capped, allowing quality to be maintained, although the wines now sell out faster than ever.

I first met Travis and Mario back in December of 2019 at an event with Modernist Cuisine, shortly before the world changed for a while, and I was able to unearth a photo from that evening, seen below. Since then I have been lucky to get to know them as friends, while following the ascent of Kobayashi as the wines continue to gain fame.

Travis takes direct inspiration from the likes of Gangloff, Allemand, and Selosse, and elements of those legendary producers shine through in the wines. Sidestepping the increasingly busy appellation structure within Columbia Valley, the labels typically carry the unassuming title of Washington State, although exceptional vineyard sources are used, including WeatherEye near Red Mountain. This reminds me of the great Tuscan producers who have opted to use Toscana IGT in lieu of the tangled web of Chianti and other appellations, allowing the wines to speak for themselves with less noise on the label.

Speaking of Tuscany, Podere Il Carnasciale of that region has become a collaborator with Kobayashi in recent years. They became famous for their emphasis on the unique Caberlot grape variety, which they favor bottling in magnum as a default format. The collaboration bottling of “Kobayashi x Caberlot” is a superbly rare release, and we are excited to feature this wine in the lineup, along with other Kobayashi treats like the Light of The Night Marsanne dessert wine.

RSVP available on the Medium Plus website.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you can join for the event, or another one of our tastings coming up soon.

Best,
Nick

Medium Plus, Seattle

Archetype ULTRA - our most ambitious tasting of the year, featuring the theme “French Masterpiece Showdown”. Highlights included Chave Hermitage 1999 from magnum, Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 2006, and Rousseau Chambertin 2021.

We host monthly tastings in Seattle, and will soon publish our events for early 2026. 🍷

Delicious and fun social dinner with the Blind Tasting Buddies, last night at Lupo in Fremont.

Great food, fantastic hospitality, and fun wines. What more could one ask for!

Cacio e Pepe was a favorite for pizza, along with burrata, prosciutto, chicories, and matcha ice cream too.

Delish! Thank you to the Lupo team.

Our community events are open to all - just contact us to stay in touch!

Blind Tasting Buddies - Aromatics and Pigments.

An exciting exploration of styles, with a focus on deductive tasting techniques, and the evolution of older vintage wines.

Our first Archetype Tasting event of 2025! We had a juicy good time, with a theme of Pinot Noir and Friends.

Standouts included Prieuré Roch VdF 2022, Dujac Echezeaux 2003, and Simon Bize Corton-Renardes 2014, with Daniel Twardowski 2014 as an added Mosel surprise, plus many others.

Next event is Sunday, May 4th (Blind Tasting Buddies: Aromatics and Pigments)

Alsace, in northeastern France, is one of the most unique regions in the wine world. Up against the border with Germany, the region takes a lot of cues from both French and German traditions. The official language is French, but a lot of folks will speak German too, which influences a lot of the wines of the region in terms of wine styles.
Four noble varieties—Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Muscat—define Alsace’s wine identity, complemented by Pinot Noir for reds and additional varieties like Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois, creating a diverse grape-scape.
Ranging from bone-dry to lusciously sweet, Alsatian wines showcase remarkable versatility. The region’s white wines are particularly renowned, with Crémant representing their sparkling wine tradition. Produced using the traditional method (méthode champenoise), Crémant d’Alsace is typically crafted from Pinot Noir for rosé and a blend of local grapes like Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Auxerrois for white varieties. Botrytis, known as “noble rot,” plays a crucial role in creating the region’s most extraordinary sweet wines. This beneficial fungus dehydrates grape clusters, concentrating sugars and creating complex flavor profiles, transforming them into luscious dessert wines.
France’s sunniest region, Alsace enjoys a distinctive microclimate created by the Vosges Mountains’ rain shadow, providing optimal conditions for viticulture with dry, sunny conditions that nurture exceptional grape development. There’s also a really wide mix of soil types in the geology. Alsace’s terroir offers winemakers a complex canvas of soil types that contribute to the nuanced character of its renowned wines.
There are over 50 Grand Cru designated vineyards in Alsace, and that can often appear on the label. The Grand Cru system, established in the late 20th century, meticulously categorizes vineyards, each with specific regulations governing grape varieties and winemaking practices, embodying the French commitment to terroir-driven production.
Visit the link below to explore our selection from the region.
https://www.mediumplus.com/product-category/wine/france/alsace/

This very unique bottle of wine is the 2016 Agustí Torelló Mata Cava Brut Nature Gran Reserva Kripta. Cava is a sparkling wine of Denominación de Origen (DO) status from Spain, meaning it can only be produced with grapes from delimited regions, and with specific style rules. In the case of Cava, this region is typically Catalonia; unlike Champagne, Cava’s denomination spans some 8 different wine regions across Spain.

Kripta remains to be one of the greatest masterpieces by producer Agustí Torelló Mata. First bottled in 1978, this Cava wine is produced from only the highest quality vintages (Gran Reserva) and requires no added sugar (Brut Nature). Macabeo leads the blend, supported by Parellada and Xarel·lo. The odd-shaped bottle is a nod to ancient Greek amphorae which were used for storing and transporting goods like oil, grains and wine.

Although some producers have aimed to set themselves apart from the industrial Cava reputation, such as Gramona with Corpinnat, and Raventós with Mas del Serral, high-quality Cava still exists, as epitomized by the craft and detail of Agustí Torelló Mata.

A beautiful selection of wines from producer Paolo Bea out of Umbria in the heart of Italy🍇🇮🇹
Now available in our cellar!

Happy First Thursday for all lovers of fine art and fine wine. 🎨🍷 Here’s a close look at one 2013 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay from Margaret River in Australia. Each vintage from this series of wines showcases artwork commissioned by some of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. This bottle from 2013 features a painting by Tim McMonagle, entitled ‘A Fixed Address (fish & marron)’