6 to Try: Small-Producer Wine Picks From The Ruby Fruit

One of our 2024 Imbibe 75 Places to Watch, The Ruby Fruit—a buzzed-about restaurant and wine bar in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood and the city’s first lesbian bar in years—is all about cultivating a welcoming, community-minded space. This inclusivity extends to how The Ruby Fruit owners Emily Bielagus and Mara Herbkersman curate their wine list, featuring sustainable, all-natural wines produced by women, queer, trans, and non-binary people. “I love highlighting women running the show,” Bielagus told writer Jennifer Fiedler for our January/February 2024 issue. With that in mind, we asked Bielagus to share her favorite small-producer wines of the moment.

Faccia Di Vino Lambrusco di Sorbara

Coly Den Haan of LA’s Vinovore, natural wine importer Amy Atwood, and family-owned winery Azienda Agricola Pezzuoli collaborated on this lighter-colored Lambrusco di Sorbara. Bielagus calls the sparkler “spring and summer in a bottle” with its soft bubbles and fresh, fruity notes. It’s “raspberry juice,” Bielagus adds. “Like the juice left over at the bottom of a fruit salad.” $22

RAM Cellars Roussanne

Vivianne Kennedy of RAM Cellars is not only an incredible winemaker, according to Bielagus, but she also raises money for LGBTQ-focused organizations, such as the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Portland’s Q Center, and the Trans Lifeline. Her Roussanne features a savoriness and herbaceousness with citrus acidity, perfect to pair with seafood and poultry. “This wine is so structured and elegant, like a very fashionable older lady,” says Bielagus. $22

Le Clot de L’Origine Macabeu “L’Original”

This biodynamic natural orange wine by Marc and Caroline Barriot of Le Clot de L’Origine in Roussillon, France, combines 50% Macabeu with 50% white Syrah. A bit of skin contact colors it pale yellow. “There’s some earthy stone fruit on the nose, which opens up to ripe apple, lime zest, and a hint of wet cement,” Bielagus says. “Refreshing and light, playful yet serious.” $22.99

Terah Wine Co. Falanghina

Terah Bajjalieh runs this tiny wine company in Clarksburg, California, as winemaker, operator, and owner. “A Q-BIPOC/woman-owned and operated winery!” notes Bielagus. Terah Wine Co.’s Falanghina is “a great ‘baby orange’ for all those orange wine skeptics,” she adds. It tastes of fresh green apples and bright citrus peel with “layers of brioche, dried apricots, and honeyed figs.” Its minerality balances a velvety texture. $29

Fongoli “Biancofongoli” Trebbiano Spoletino

Another orange wine recommendation. But this, made from 85% Trebbiano Spoletino and 15% Grechetto grapes, is one Bielagus would pour for someone who claims to not like orange wine. “I dare you to try this and then NOT order a second glass. Or a bottle for the table!” she says. It entices with a bit of earthy funk and almond and peach notes on the nose and minerality and bright acidity on the palate. $20

Birdhorse “Suisun Valley” Valdiguie

Winemakers Corinne Rich and Katie Rouse met and fell in love while pursuing their master’s in viticulture and enology at UC Davis in California. After studying wine in South Africa and getting engaged, they were inspired to create Birdhorse Wines, their Sonoma wine company that showcases often-overlooked regions and varietals. This berrylicious red wine, made from 100% Valdiguie grapes aka “Napa Gamay,” is “structured and tannic, but still light in body. A beautifully balanced wine that feels somehow fancy yet simultaneously easygoing,” says Bielagus $36.99