August 2021 Wine Club
California Innovation
This month we’re excited to share two different natural wine producers out of California! Both of these red blends are delicious to sip and savor in the summer!
Region Focus: California
Odds are that you’ve had wine from California. Accounting for 81% of US wine production and 95% of US wine exports, California is the 4th largest wine region on the planet and a dominant force in American winegrowing. This is especially impressive considering that California’s vineyards were decimated 100 years ago by Prohibition, with a scant few grape growers hanging on by bootlegging, producing juice or concentrates, or securing a religious exemption. We can understand this resurgence in a few ways. California has some of the best climates for winegrowing in the world, with much of the state enjoying a coastal Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. California also has one of the most developed agricultural systems in the United States, thanks in part to tireless work by public servants, trade associations, and activists but also to the mass farmer migrations of the early 20th century which saturated California with skilled agricultural laborers looking for jobs.
I think the most interesting aspect of California’s winemaking is the state’s reputation for innovation and experimentation. The wine scene in California benefits from large public investments in winemaking expertise such as UC Davis’ world-renowned viticulture and oenology programs, decades of public education about wine through the work of Kermit Lynch, Alice Waters, and (no joke) Trader Joe’s, and generations of risk taking, forward thinking winemakers. California has drawn perhaps the world’s greatest concentration of mavericks and iconoclasts. We’ll present a few of them today, and we’ll be enjoying the fruits of their efforts this month!
Forlorn Hope, Queen of the Sierra
Forlorn Hope is vigneron (wine maker) Matthew Rorick’s wine label, showing that California can produce gorgeous wines that lean on the natural characteristics of grapes, native yeasts and enzymes, and terroir, rather than relying on new oak aging and higher alcohol levels to meet the demands of the mass market.
We love witnessing how Matthew and his crew are bringing fun, humor, and education into the vineyard and the tasting room. If you haven’t checked out Forlorn Hope’s Instagram, take a couple of minutes to scroll through the photos (and some of the accompanying locations!) and ponder how personalities affect wines. It takes boldness and strength of character to produce quality wines that go against the grain.
Forlorn Hope owns a gorgeous 75 acre parcel of land in the foothills of the Sierras that goes by the name of Rorick Heritage Vineyard. All grapes are organic, and it is only these fruits that are used for the Queen of the Sierra wines. 2,000 ft elevation and a top layer of schist over dolomite rich limestone is the terroir here. Elevation helps moderate the ripening process, which contributes to balanced acidity, texture, and flavor. It also helps keep alcohol levels down, which means you can enjoy drinking a little more!
What we love about Queen of the Sierra
Grape varietals: Zinfandel, Barbera, Tempranillo, Troussea Noir, Mondeuse
The different lots of grapes were hand harvested over several days and spontaneous fermentation was allowed to occur separately. Nothing was added to alter this natural chemistry, meaning that there were no introduced yeasts or enzymes. The grapes spent between 14–21 days on the skins. They were then placed in 227 liter barriques. The wine was then placed in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel containers with the intention of showing off the flavor of the grapes throughout this minimal processing with no chemical additions besides a very minimal amount of sulfur. The result has wonderfully structured tannin that uphold floral and herbal aromatics which linger through a long and balanced finish.
Les Lunes, 2020 Astral Blend
Shaunt Oungoulian & Diego Roig farm 8ha of vineyards in Sonoma. Their focus is on restoration of vineyards and development of terroir-driven natural winemaking techniques. They use novel pest control methods, such as handmade scents which disrupt pheromone distribution and insect reproduction cycles and seaweed and oak teas and tinctures which boost their vines’ natural immune systems. They also do the classic work of soil restoration using cover crops and compost made from winemaking pomace. For example, they leased an old vine Cabernet plot that was producing at 1/4 ton per acre and brought it up to 2 tons per acre without using outside inputs.
As young winemakers, they are still getting started. They don’t own vineyards in the astronomically expensive Sonoma AVA, but still invest heavily in the soil and vine health and do all their vineyard work by hand.
Their winery is the basement of Shaunt’s parents’ house.
2020 Les Lunes Astral Blend
Les Lune’s 2020 Astral is made from 100% Organic grapes, 80% from their own vineyards with the remainder from Redwood Valley in Mendocino county. Grapes are 20% Pinot Noir, 45% Zinfandel, 11% Sangiovese, 17% Chenin Blanc, and 7% Columbard. They are fermented using all indigenous yeasts and a dizzying array of techniques, from direct press rose to short carbonic to a 2 week maceration, pressing only after complete fermentation. The Pinot noir was hand destemmed. Aging was completed in a mix of neutral polyethylene tanks and neutral French oak, with only 18ppm sulfur before bottling. True to their intention, this is a refreshing and juicy light blend, with plush tannins, excellent expression of fruit, and a slight bitterness to clean up.
Want in? Want more?
If you’re not part of our wine club already, or you are and you would like to stock up on these beautiful wines (subject to availability), hit us up at orders@grandiflorawine.com.
Cheers,
Jason
