Roussollin Rangers?  Maybe not yet maybe...

Well theres global warming and theres an idea of terroir that shapes so much wine making selling and loving. and theres a reality of avoiding heat stroke in the vineyard.  And there’s working openly in the cellar and thoughtfully in the vineyard. Theres a collection of great wines and talented vignerons from places with climates that are similar to many areas in Ca. that I love, like Knightsen, Lockwood, Lodi, Alexander Valley.

But its more inspiration than geographic over graphing.California is unique, and california is hotter by the season.Its 1000 places at the end of the continent and its changing rapidly.has been since zinfandel was planted 150 years ago. 

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it can be graceful and simplified: working towards more land, human and climate sensitive farming, always: Using native yeasts:Allowing native malo to take as long as it needs, when it needs.

Using an absolute minimum of sulphur. 

bottling with no additions, finings or filtrations.

None of these processes are unique, yet used together they give what I feel is the best shot for the finished wine to be unique

transparent... and fuckin Delicious!

Are these natural wines? 

Well theres a can of worms. Are these living wines? another can… The interaction of native yeasts in competition and a complex micro biome is what makes many of the wines I love so complex yet immediate. Its a respect for the work of the land, and awe for the well understood majic these biomes create that guides my hand in the cellar.  Learning ever, learning to have answers as to why not to do something.  Inaction is key in the cellar, but without being informed of your choice to not act then its just a combination of empirical observation and luck. I like science. I like science because the universe if huge. because its under attack. When I don’t sulphur a wine, when I let a wine go wild, when I do sulphur a wine. These choices are informed by a growing understanding of how to usher a biome through its life cycle to produce the most complex thing, the most simply. Like good math, this approach to winemaking seeks elegance  in process, and result. And yes there can be failure, and yes there can be partisans that use an idea of opposition to sell wine, not to resist the strong monopolistic forces that drive the likes of constellation brands.