2022 Indica Red Table Wine, Mendocino County

Vintage 2022 marks a return to original form for Indica Red Table Wine—a LIOCO stalwart since 2006. The wildfires in 2020 necessitated a shift in fruit sourcing, and the extreme drought / massive winter frost of 2021 left us with too little fruit to bottle an Indica. In the winter of 2022, we expanded our grape contract at Bartolomei Vineyard and secured the future of this wine. The 2022 is a blend from three historic Mendocino ranches—some dry-farmed, old vine Carignan from Bartolomei (Talmage) and McCutchen (Pine Mountain), plus a healthy dollop of rare Valdiguie from Lolonis (Redwood Valley). The exceptional fruit quality and small clusters characteristic of the vintage enticed us to do 75% whole cluster, with two tanks going through carbonic maceration. Further, we pressed the juice off the tannic skins early and "went to barrel sweet" to highlight the crunchy freshness of this wine. The result is chillable, medium weight red that reminds of us Cote de Brouilly, but is unabashedly Californian. 

AROMA

black plum, mulberry, wild sage

FLAVOR

bing cherry, violet, rosemary

FOOD PAIRINGS

sausage pizza, pulled pork sandwich, street tacos