Birichino

California Vin Gris 2023

Name: California Vin Gris 2023
Brand: Birichino
SKU: BIRICHINOvingris23
Price: 20.0 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

$20.00

Sold out

Grenache 74%, Mourvèdre 9%,Carignane 8%, Cinsault 5%, Vermentino 4%

***

2023 was one of the greatest vintages we’ve seen in decades. Thanks to a long, cool Spring and Summer, we picked later than ever, and given the extended harvest window, it rendered even more challenging our tightrope practice of direct pressing, settling, racking and adding each variety as it ripens into one single stainless tank, effecting one sequential months-long, cool, native fermentation. Yet extra effort was rewarded, as we’ve internalized the wisdom of Hans-Günther Schwarz of Müller-Catoir, who once remarked that "acidity is the fundament of wine." The level of acidity in Vin Gris has never been excessive, though it has been one or twice, a tad shy. For this, and a few other arcane reasons, malolactic is inhibited, yielding a decidely uninhibited brighter, tauter, more vivid wine. Since 2020, we’ve sourced our Grenache for Vin Gris close to home on a sandy benchland on the Santa Lucia side of the Salinas Valley (not far from our Malvasia) lending more verve and freshness,and a heightened level of refinement and aromatic complexity. Old vine Carignane from Montague in Lodi planted circa 1927 again contributes a vivid violet top-note to the wine. These practices, along with the significant core contribution of Cinsault and Mourvèdre grapes from 19th century vineyards, and a traditionally meridional assemblage, result in [we hope] a wonderfully prismatic, elevenesque wine with great perfume and sustain; familiar, yet achieving an extra Tufnelian push over the cliff into the azure waters of the Mediterranean.

- Birichino

Vibes with:

Salad Niçoise
The dog days of summer.
Wearing your bathing suit as clothes.