2021 Andis Painted Fields Curse of Knowledge Sierra Foothills 750 ml

Philippe Melka and Maayan Koschitzky, the 100-point duo behind this wine, didn’t just casually choose to throw together a Sierra Foothills wine. They grasped the region’s immense potential and decided to go all in with Andis. 

The pair applied the same attention to detail that allows them to churn out chart-topping Napa Cabs with impressive regularity. They extensively researched the wine’s five sun-drenched, high-elevation vineyards, digging into soil samples and performing clonal analysis on dry-farmed vines up to 60 years old.  

The Sierra Foothills has become a magnet for winemakers in search of top-quality fruit at unmatched bargains. Andy Erickson, Annie Favia, and Helen Keplinger source Rhône grapes in the rapidly rising region, and not that long ago, Wine Spectator’s Tim Fish declared that an Amador County Zinfandel had spurred his “aha” wine moment of the year.

Working with Andis co-founder Andrew Friedlander, Philippe and Maayan have helped spread the news that a viticultural gold rush is afoot in the area. We couldn’t help but pop a second bottle of the 2021 Curse of Knowledge over lunch at Marin Joe’s with our friend Lorenzo. The Blossom Dearie tunes playing in the background faded away as we savored the wine, which slid across our palate like cashmere, leaving cocoa-dusted tannins in its wake.

We locked up every bottle we could right then, knowing our members would love this Cabernet-dominant, Bordeaux-style blend. Maayan and Philippe ferment each variety separately and age them separately for the first four to six months, then use their considerable blending prowess to assemble the final wine, which spends another eight to ten months harmonizing, for a total of about 14 months in 25% new French oak.