On Wednesday, September 4, 2024, we once again interviewed Kira Ballotta. Kira is the owner and winemaker for Olivia Brion and Cantadora wineries. She is an impressive woman and a great storyteller. She also does a lot to support women’s causes and donates some of the proceeds from her Cantadora wines to those causes. In our Zoom interview, we covered five of her new-release Olivia Brion wines and three of her Cantadora wines. Our previous interview with Kira was in June of 2023. We then covered four of her Olivia Brion wines and three of her 2019 Cantadora wines. Check out what we learned from Kira this time.
Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits Kira shared.
• All of Kira’s wines are made at Obsidian winery.
• Taquine White is a blend of 50% Falanghina & 50% Cortese. Cortese is the main grape of Gavi wines.
• The Gewurtztraminer is from 55-year-old vines from the Harvest Moon estate.
• The “Mon Amour Interdit” is a chillable red wine. The blend is 50% Grenache & 50% Syrah
• All the fruit in Kira’s wines is organically farmed.
• The Cantadora “Heart of Gold” of Chardonnay is from the Linda Vista Vineyard in Napa Valley. It is organically farmed by Steve Matthiasson. This wine celebrates the story of Dr. Michelle Asha Albert.
• The Cantadora “Energizer For The Ages” red blend is 40% Grenache, 40% Mourvedre & 20% Syrah. This wine celebrates the story of Janet Y. Spears.
• The Cantadora “Dream Builder” Tempranillo celebrates the story of Nancy Hom.
1. Olivia Brion 2023 White Blend “Taquine White“ (California) $32 (KWGTP 91)
2. Olivia Brion 2023 “Le Capitaine Pinot Noir Rose” (Santa Cruz Mountains) $32 (KWGTP 91)
3. Olivia Brion 2023 Gewurztraminer “La Photographe” (RRV) $37 (KWGTP 90)
4. Olivia Brion 2022 Red Blend “Mon Amour Interdit” (Amador County) Chillable $40 (KWGTP 90.5)
5. Olivia Brion 2021 Pinot Noir “Willowside Vineyard” (RRV) $50 (KWGTP 93)
6. Olivia Brion 2021 Pinot Noir “Black Ridge Vineyard” (Santa Cruz Mountains) $55 (KWGTP 93)
1. Cantadora 2022 Chardonnay “The Heart of Gold” (Napa Valley) $45 (KWGTP 91)
2. Cantadora 2021 Red Blend “The Energizer For The Ages” (Amador County) $50 (KWGTP 92.5)
3. Cantadora 2021 Tempranillo “The Dream Builder” (Amador County) $50 (KWGTP 93.5)
You can find reviews of past and future Olivia Brion wines that we cover on the Olivia Brion KWG winery page on our website. For Cantadora wines, please check out the Cantadora KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! Ken