A touch of Iberia in Salinas
Driving through the Salinas Valley, you could not feel further from Spain, and yet, there is something that strikes you. And it must have felt the same for transplants to the valley, planting vines that seemed at home there, because there happens to be some amazing old vine material hidden in the hills, valley, and plateaus. Ian Brand has spent decades building a network of relationships with growers, providing him with access to these remarkable cites. La Marea is his project dedicated to the grapes that hail from the Iberian Peninsula, but have thrived on his home dirt. Ian has two other labels. Paysan, a love letter to the daily drinking wines in the Rhône Valley, and I Brand, the very best of his best. Each project is an expression of this remarkable place, and Ian’s effort to showcase it for the world. In a glass!
