Andrew and Issamu on this wine: “Free Your Mind is a novel co-fermentation of skin-fermented Riesling and old vine carbonic Carignan. The idea is to be more than the sum of the parts. At its core, Free Your Mind is an aromatic skin-fermented Riesling. When the Riesling begins to ferment, pressed carbonic Carignan is gradually blended in via pump-overs. Our goal was to conduct a layered extraction of Riesling skins; first in a water matrix (Riesling must, with little to no alcohol), followed by an alcohol matrix (mid-ferment Riesling, with pressed late-ferment carbonic Carignan).”
Grapes: 50% Carignan, 50% Riesling
Vineyard: Sandy Lane Vineyard (120-140 yo head-trained vines of Carignan on sand, Contra Costa County AVA, Antioch, CA; sustainable), Zabala Vineyard (old riverbed in Arroyo Seco AVA, Soledad, CA; certified organic in 2010 (MCCO, CDFA).
Making of: Riesling was de-stemmed and fermented on skins with twice-daily punch-downs. At 1/2 Brix depletion, punch-downs were replaced with twice-daily pump-overs of pressed carbonic Carignan. Once the two cuvees were fully blended and fermented to dryness (14-day maceration), the lot was pressed to stainless steel tanks, where it underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged on lees. This wine was produced without fining or filtration, with 30 ppm sulfur (KMBS) added at bottling.
Personality: an extraordinary chillable orange-red wine hybrid!
Grapes: 50% Carignan, 50% Riesling
Vineyard: Sandy Lane Vineyard (120-140 yo head-trained vines of Carignan on sand, Contra Costa County AVA, Antioch, CA; sustainable), Zabala Vineyard (old riverbed in Arroyo Seco AVA, Soledad, CA; certified organic in 2010 (MCCO, CDFA).
Making of: Riesling was de-stemmed and fermented on skins with twice-daily punch-downs. At 1/2 Brix depletion, punch-downs were replaced with twice-daily pump-overs of pressed carbonic Carignan. Once the two cuvees were fully blended and fermented to dryness (14-day maceration), the lot was pressed to stainless steel tanks, where it underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged on lees. This wine was produced without fining or filtration, with 30 ppm sulfur (KMBS) added at bottling.
Personality: an extraordinary chillable orange-red wine hybrid!
