This wine makes me feel like I am in a swim up bar drinking a daiquiri. It’s packed with fresh strawberry, tropical citrus and grapefruit, and a hint of lemongrass and some fun pyrazines. High mineral and gravely notes make way for a richer texture than I normally think of in a Sauv Blanc that is not going for that rich and creamy vibe, balanced with tart high acid tones so it just makes my mouth water. The combo of skin contact and carbonic fermentation give it a vibe of energy and tension that is all fresh fresh fresh.
Denmark St. Vineyard is in conversion to regenerative (no till, roller crimper, Organic sprays, light irrigation). Whole cluster fermentation, 1/2 of lot was punched down, 1/2 was carbonic. 9 days skin contact before pressing, finishing in stainless, and aged in french barrels for 4 months before bottling. 0/0 (no SO2 or other adds/removals.) Vegan.
450 cases produced
2022 Fres.co Fire Fuego Sauvignon Blanc
$27.00
“I work with Phil Coturri here at Magnolia. One of his employees was dropping fruit off. He was saying how he was wanting to make a barrel or two of Sauvignon Blanc. I told him I had been looking for Sauv Blanc. He said his family had a whole bunch just a mile up the road, and they were having a hard time selling it. I asked him if they farmed it organically? He said no, but he wished they were because Coturri is organic. Eric is very talented in farming, but the fate was in the hands of the parents who are from an older generation. They were outsourcing the farming to someone else who didn’t have that same aesthetic. I said to Eric, if I agree to buy the fruit, can you convince your parents to go organic and do the farming yourself? We took that to the parents and I met with them. They figured as the fruit was sold, it seemed reasonable. So we’ve converted that vineyard to organics. This is a real feather in my cap, and I hope the brand will continue to work with growers who are on the cusp- who want to go organic and we can help make that transition.
Organic is really just the baseline. Eric’s doing no till which is really fun. I want to focus on soil health that way. His wife works at Hanzell, which is a leader in regenerative farming. They’re doing lots of grazing and mixed animal husbandry, which is next level. So we’ll get there, but I was just out there the other day and it is beautiful and alive and there’s flowers everywhere. It’s really healthy.
Well, one thing we do with the Fire Fuego is that 1% of that goes to a fund that funds agricultural climate solutions. It’s called Zero Foodprint. Mostly restaurants are involved so far, but also some products now. People like my growers can apply to them. They’re saying we’re going to do this farming practice, which is going to sequester this amount of carbon. And so they’ll apply for implements that might be out of their reach otherwise. And the other thing we do is use exclusively domestically sourced glass, which cuts down that carbon impact quite a bit. And we have the lightest glass in the market. It’s called ultra light and it’s about 20% lighter than your average bottle. I think it’s the best we can do with what we have. Next year, we’ll talk about cans, and bag in a box.”