Summer Wine Pack Offer
2022 Rosè of Carignan, Mendocino County
The 2022 vintage was...complicated. In short, it was a near-perfect growing year until Labor Day Weekend when a "heat dome" event changed the calculus. The entire West Coast saw a week of unprecedented temperatures, punctuated by a September rain a few days later. That all said, these octogenarian Carignan vines weathered it extremely well. In fact, there was almost no sign of stress on the fruit itself owing in part to a healthier canopy and more shading this year. The fruit came in on the mornings Sept 10th and 12th, with textbook chemistry: 20 brix / 3.2 pH / 7.0 g/L and finished with 12.5% abv. To manage color uptake on these smaller clusters, we elected not to crush the fruit before pressing it. This direct-to-press method reduced our juice yield but gave us a pale salmon colored wine with a depth of flavor we haven't seen in a few years. The hallmark characteristics are there--the white strawberry, guava jelly, crushed chalk, rosemary blossom...but Sara noted something *new* in the wine...a mouthwatering tangerine oil note (!).
This Old Vine Carignan Rosé is special. It's crushable for sure, but it's serious enough to bring to a summer dinner party. We have allocated 100 cases for the mailing list.
2021 Sonoma County Chardonnay
All of the unhinged hyperbole about the 2021 vintage may be justified. A second year of extreme drought in California set the table for a record-small crop and put the vines into high stress mode. The intelligent plants, struggling in soil devoid of any moisture, responded by setting very few clusters in the Spring. The clusters that made it were miniaturized, doll-house, baby clusters. Growers were not pleased. Winemakers were though. As is the case in Burgundy, Piedmont, or in California—the truly extraordinary vintages of the last 50-years have been those with small crops. The tiny yields made for immensely concentrated juice, packed with flavor, acidity, and buttressed by the low pH seen in extreme drought years. This 2021 SoCo showcases the three perennial RRV vineyards farmed by John Balletto, and was enhanced by the addition of a choice Old Wente vineyard in the Alexander Valley. As we have done in recent years, we declassified a few barrels of top tier Chardonnay into the big SoCo tank. The result? Sonoma Blanc!
2021 Mendocino Pinot Noir
Vintage 2021 will be remembered for the extreme drought conditions and the luxurious, ultra-concentrated wines that ensued. There are two new vineyard sources featured in the 2021. The first, a dry-farmed, hillside vineyard located at the western headwaters of the Russian River Valley gives a powerful mid-palate structure that tastes like $50 Pinot Noir. The other, on the far Mendo coast facing the Albion Wind Gap delivers that electric blue-fruited wine only found near the ocean. These two exciting sites were blended with our now perennial site in the Potter Valley, making for a complex version of this wine with increased amplitude. This one punches above its weight class. Enjoy it!