JULIA + MARTHA

How it all began...


Julia was cooking on a vineyard while on her 2017 book tour when she reached for a bottle of housemade verjus. As she eased the cork from the bottle, a curious fizz materialized in the neck. A lightbulb went off in her head at the first taste of this Frankenstein of verjus. The volatile juice, with all its natural yeasts and sugars, had accidentally fermented in the bottle, making it lightly alcoholic and refreshingly effervescent. She downed the entire bottle. 

Jazzed by a gentle buzz, Julia was determined to recreate this happy accident. But winemaking is serious business! She would need the right partner. 

Seeking counsel from her most dedicated natural wine enthusiasts, all signs pointed to Martha Stoumen. Martha’s improvisational approach to winemaking would lend itself well to the creation of a product that defied definition -- once fermented, Jus Jus is no longer verjus, but with such a low ABV, it can’t be classified as wine. 

Just weeks after their first cold call, Martha and Julia met at 5am in a parking lot in Sebastopol, California. They drove North to Martha’s vineyard in Ukiah, picked 1,000 pounds of dry-farmed, organic grapes by hand, and pressed them the very next day. Six months later, they had the hangover-free bottle of bubbles of every pregnant wine-o and health-conscious tastemaker’s thirstiest dreams. 


cuyana18_julia-85-2.jpg

JULIA SHERMAN

Julia is the creator of Salad for President, an evolving publishing project that draws a meaningful connection between food, art and everyday obsessions. This online platform serves as a springboard for events, collaborations and public programming. Sherman’s cookbook, Salad For President: A Cookbook Inspired by Artists, was published by Abrams Books in Spring 2017; it is a compendium of inventive vegetable recipes, and Sherman’s intimate meals with exceptional people. 

Sherman, and her writing, have been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, T Mag, Domino, Art in America, Modern Painter’s, Triple Canopy, Cherry Bombe, The Paris Review, Martha Stewart, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit, amongst others.


MARTHA STOUMEN

Martha is the woman behind Martha Stoumen Wines, a label founded upon the desire to recapture a farming and winemaking culture of patience and respect for the terroir. For Martha, wine sets the pace and rhythm of the winemaker’s life, rather than the other way around. 


After her initial exposure to grape farming and winemaking in Tuscany, Martha began a series of apprenticeships, sandwiched around a Master's at UC Davis. Martha’s wine is a cult favorite amongst the natural wine enthusiasts. She has been featured in Bon Appetit, Sunset Magazine, goop, Vogue, Food & Wine, Milky Mag, SevenFifty Daily, The Thirty, Punch, Esquire, and the San Francisco Chronicle.