Farming : Organic

Winemaking : Hand-Picked Grapes | Native Yeast Fermentation | Carbonic Maceration | Old Vines

Region : North Coast, CA

Grape : 48% Valdiguie | 41% Petite Sirah | 8% Zinfandel | 3% Sangiovese

Alcohol by Volume : 12.62%

Notes:

A Nouveau is born! Nouveau is the name given to the first wine of the vintage. The style originated out of Beaujolais, just south of Burgundy where they make wines from Gamay Noir using the technique carbonic maceration. In carbonic maceration, open top tanks that have been inertized with carbon dioxide are filled with whole cluster grapes and then sealed for a number of days. Pioneering wine chemist and natural winemaker Jules Chauvet employed the technique in the mid 20st century to make light, fruity and delicious wines.

This is essentially how we made this wine! Part of this blend is made up of old vine Valdiguié (also known as Napa Gamay) that underwent carbonic maceration; this was also the method for the Zinfandel. The Petite Sirah in this blend was a special lot where we performed “reverse saingée” to make a lighter style wine. The Sangiovese was added to tie it all together.

The wine is mega delicious. It has a nose full of blackberry, plum and cocoa. There are gobs of black plum, chocolate covered cherry, and boysenberry. The palate is juicy and zippy with really balanced acidity. On the finish is cocoa powder-like tannin that keeps the wine fresh as you sip.