2020 Sparkling Wine

100% Certified Organic Carignan from Old Vines

Ricetti Vineyard, Mendocino County

Produced + Bottled by Las Jaras Wines, Healdsburg, CA

Label art by Jen Stark

Description

This is the fifth vintage of our sparkling wine utilizing the unique method that we call methode untraditionelle. We have found that many sparkling wines can be quite gauche as a result of the compromises the winemakers have to make with the traditional method. Our unique method results in a wine that is very refined and elegant with nothing forced. Here we find a copper hue, a nose of green strawberry, hay in the breeze, toasted hazelnuts and marshmallow. On the palate there is apricot, comice pear and cocoa enveloped in a fine texture. There is a long finish with crisp lime like acidity. This wine will age beautifully over the next several years.

Vineyards

100% Carignan from Ricetti Vineyard located in the Redwood Valley, which is in the cool northern end of the Ukiah Valley in Mendocino County. This is a certified organic vineyard farmed by Pamela and Tom Ricetti. The old vines are dry-farmed and the soils are gravelly loam.

Winemaking

The hand-picked grapes were whole cluster pressed to a tall skinny stainless steel tank. After racking the clear juice at about 250 NTU, we warmed it up to initiate fermentation. When the wine started to tick, we set the cooling on the tank to 68°F and let the wine ferment naturally. We gradually brought down the temperature while it was fermenting until it was around 50°F. When the wine reached about 2 brix we chilled the tank to arrest fermentation. The juice had other plans and actually tried to keep fermenting, even with the tank at 40F! We had to filter the wine to get it to stop. We let the tank sit cold for several weeks to naturally cold stabilize. When it was time to bottle, we racked the wine, added a small amount of organic yeast extract (food for the yeast) and a Champagne yeast culture. The wine was stored sur latte (on its side) for 15 months before it was disgorged. We simply topped the bottles after disgorging and did not add any sugar or sulfur.

Technical Data

Download a technical data sheet here.

Important Shipping Information

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