Skin Contact Wine of the Earth
Central Coast
Varietals & Vineyards:
52% Grenache Blanc- Beeswax and Windfall
42% Grenache Gris- Loma Del Rio
6% Orange Muscat- Carrasco
Winemaking: Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris fruit, picked separately at low brix- Grenache Gris harvested on September 22nd at 20.5 brix. Grenache Blanc harvested on September 9th, at 19.7 brix. Destemmed into rotary fermenters for approximately 4-5 days of cold soaking the must on skins. Fermentation on skins in rotary fermenter and stainless steel tanks for gentle extraction, another 8-10 days, then pressed to stainless steel tank. Fermented to dryness. The wine was kept very cold and no addition of sulfur from harvest until dryness. Extremely low sulfur addition before bottling.
Label Art: Vineyard artwork from 1855 edition of “Bordeaux Chateaux” . Spaceship courtesy of Jules Verne circa 1870.
Story: In 1954, the village council of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was quite perturbed and apprehensive that flying saucers or “flying cigares” might do damage to their vineyards, were they to land therin. So right-thinking men all, they passed an ordinance prohibiting the landing of flying saucers or flying cigares in their vineyards. The ordinance further states that flying saucers or flying cigares that did land were to be taken immediately to the pound.