Natural, low-intervention wine!
Vineyard Notes: Gary Gonsalves farms about 100 acres of grapes in Contra Costa County, many of them 100+ year old plantings of intermixed Carignane, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, Grenache & Alicante Bouschet, among others. Horse Ranch Vineyard lies within the city of Antioch, less than a mile from the famous Evangelho Vineyard & on the same dry sandy soil. It is a mixture of Mourvedre, Carignane & Alicante Bouschet planted around the turn of the 20th century. Alicante itself is an interesting grape - one of the few teinturier varieties, meaning the flesh of the grape is also red. This gives it an intensity of color that is hard to match.
Cellar Notes: For the second year in a row, we brought in 1 ton of these grapes & used a no-intervention approach in our winemaking. The bunches were foot-treaded into a macrobin with no sulfur or any other additions for a natural fermentation. The wine reached dryness in 15 days & was pressed to tank 2 days later. It was then racked into neutral oak - again without additions - until May of 2021, when it was bottled with no filtration.
Tasting Notes: A deep, dense wine with aromas of dark cherries, blackberry, coffee & dark chocolate, with grace notes of nutmeg & allspice. In the mouth, it is equally complex, with a juicy fruit attack, savory black olive notes & cocoa-like tannins on the finish.