Natural Winemaking:
Co-Winemakers, © UC Davis
Our deep reverence for the Life that actually creates the wine— within the collective microbiome of vineyard, winery & barrel (and winemaker)— defines our natural winemaking.
We listen, and act only when there is a need to help refine what has been created.
Natural wines: the Art of Simplicity
Wine Ingredient Labeling
Since 2006 vintage (above image), our back labels have either transparently listed ingredients or include QR codes with quick links to all Ingredients.
Wine Additives:
If any additions to the grapes, they are limited to:
Water: (Reds only) long periods of barrel aging, and water evaporation from barrel, takes it too far away from the expression of the grapes at harvest. We would prefer to eliminate this effect if too pronounced
Sulphur Dioxide: Minimal, occasional no sulphur added (our first zero sulphur wine was made 2008)
"Removals": Our wines are heavy in lees. Vast majority of wines not racked. But if they are, yes, there are some elements lost in sediment left behind. Never fined/ filtered.
Note: previous transparency included rare use of organic yeast nutrients. Have not used for any lot in several years.
Our intent is making wine w the character of:
Old and New World wines together
Tension between Sweet & Savory notes
Crafted for Food, and ageworthy
Honoring the Life within...
We create wines of distinction > not wines-by-numbers ...
Display of typical wine additives at SFMOMA exhibit
“There are other things the first California wine makers never dreamed of... filtering machines, which gently remove from the wines the sediments which were once thought essential in the bottom of any good bottle”