Jupiter Wine Co. Vermentino ‘RIOT!’
From the winemaker: We have an unapologetic love for the island Vermentinos of Sardinia and Corsica, and like both of those locations, sunshine is fortunately our birthright here in Northern California. Las Cimas Vineyard grows some pretty serious Vermentino, with a wine-torn-from-rock characteristic that is rich in concentrated fruit flavors laced with mineral notes. All grapes were foot-tread and macerated on skins and stems for 72 hours, then directly pressed into fiberglass. Fermentation took place spontaneously with wild yeasts from the vineyard, and the wine slowly underwent secondary fermentation throughout the winter and early spring. Aged for 10 months on all lees in fiberglass, then carefully racked by hand in the late summer. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with a small addition of less than 20 parts winemaking sulfur before bottling. Sea salt and flint notes compete with mature stone fruit aromas. Absolutely saturated Vermentino fruit flavors dominate the palate (think stone fruit cocktail), kept in check with cleansing lemony acidity and a sea salt spray for days. This wine finishes downright saline despite the dense level of fruit.
About the winemaker: Owners Thomas DeBiase and Michael Richardson started making wine with the express purpose of creating the ultimate California Sangiovese, derived from the Latin term for “blood of Jupiter.” After spending a career in the hospitality industry, they teamed up to form Jupiter Wine Co. in Sonoma, CA. Their mission goes beyond the low intervention wine and natural food movement. Jupiter Wine Co. aims to establish an economic engine that stands up to consolidated, corporate wine and the economic apartheid those organizations have created towards agricultural and hospitality workers in this community. These organizations have appropriated the term “sustainability” as a sales and marketing tool without considering the economic sustainability of the most fragile communities essential to its creation. Jupiter Wine Co. donates 100% of all profits to affordable housing solutions for the communities most responsible for its creation. We can cheers to that!!
Serve: With a chill.
Album pairing: Rêverie - Les Imprimés