The Wild One

Vineyard

Love at first sight with the Somers Vineyard, a prehistoric feeling place on the banks of the Mokelumne River. Gnarly, towering (7-8 feet), head trained vines thrive in the deep, rich, silty river soils. The vines are thought to be over 50 years old; they look like trees. The vineyard owner’s house sits on a plateau above the vineyard, so all sprays are organic, and the old vines don’t require any irrigation (good thing because there isn’t any). This is one of the few vineyards left in California that still grows the Mission grape, known as Pais in South America and Listan Prieto in the Canary Islands. This grape is thought to be one of the first brought to what is now California by Spanish Missionaries.

A lifetime farmer and friend of the family owns a special vineyard outside Sutter Creek in Amador county. The unusual circumstances of 2020 provided us an opportunity to source fruit from this magical farm, whose fruit is perennially oversubscribed, so we jumped on it! We harvested a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Mourvedre from her practicing organic vineyard.

Winemaking

Mission – Fruit was 100% destemmed, fermented in stainless steel tank with pump overs twice per day. Brix was 21 at harvest. This grape is interesting in that it results in a light, ruby color with bright raspberry/watermelon/pomegranate flavors, but then it surprises you with a nice bit of grip (tannin) on the finish.

Tempranillo/Mourvèdre – This mountain fruit came in at 23 brix, was 100% destemmed, as we were looking to manage what can sometimes be a burly tannic structure, co-fermented in stainless steel tank, daily pump overs, and then racked to a mix of puncheons and tank for élevage. This wine displayed a reticent, ominous presence during fermentation, but has slowly begun to open up and show a pleasing profile reminiscent of blueberry/raspberry compote-filled chocolate truffles.

The Blend

The Mission is the lead singer and the Tempranillo/Mourvèdre is a guitarist with mystique—each have something to say—together they riff off of one another to create the idea of this red wine blend and make it delicious.