Organic. 100% Sangiovese. Sourced from Janes Vineyard in Mendocino County. Deep-draining soils of mixed types of alluvium. Destemmed, but kept as whole berries. The idea behind this wine is to be fresh, full of energy and not extracted. To achieve this, there were no pumpovers or punchdowns. Instead, the cap was wet by pitcher, fermentation left to ride out naturally. Because this is a spontaneous fermentation, (and in order to keep the native yeasts healthy) the tank was drained halfway through fermentation, given a lot of oxygen, then pumped back into the ferment to finish. After press, the wine was aged in neutral barrels for only seven months.

Organic. 100% Trousseau. Sourced from the St. Amant Vineyard in Amador County. Very deep, well-drained soils of alluvial and igneous composition. Mike was inspired by a Tissot technique for making this wine: 70% was whole cluster that went into small tanks, then were pumped with Co2. This leaves the clusters intact, completely under Co2 for six weeks with no intervention, resulting in full carbonic maceration. The other 30% of the grapes were destemmed after harvest, then spontaneously fermented in a neutral oak tank. Pumpover was done daily here until dry. The two wines were then blended and racked into to neutral oak for élevage before bottling.

Organic. 100% Trousseau. The St. Amant vineyard in Amador County sits on prized granite and alluvial soils, with an igneous and granite bedrock, topped with fine sand and loam. The combination of high altitude and granitic soil in this area produces a wine that's balanced, with lots of sunny fruit but great acidity to keep things lifted and not too candied. The fruit was foot-tread and left to sit on skins and stems overnight, then pressed and settled into tanks; within a day the wine is moved to neutral wood barrels for fermentation and aging. 10 mg/l SO2 added just before bottling.

Organic. 100% Pinot Noir. In 2019, Rootdown acquired Cole Ranch in Mendocino county. At 457m in elevation, Cole Ranch rests between the valley floor of Ukiah and Anderson Valley. Originally planted in 1973 to 55 acres, becoming its own AVA in the 80’s--the smallest in the country--Cole Ranch has become a sought-after vineyard for its organically-farmed, high-quality fruit. Hand-harvested, 100% destemmed, native yeast ferment in an old open-top oak tank. To minimize tannin and to boost aromatics, the Pinot Noir saw only one pumpover per day until dry. After press, elevage is in 80% neutral barrels and 20% once-used French oak.

Organic. 100% Trousseau. In 2019, Rootdown acquired Cole Ranch in Mendocino county. At 457m in elevation, Cole Ranch rests between the valley floor of Ukiah and Anderson Valley. Originally planted in 1973 to 55 acres, becoming its own AVA in the 80’s--the smallest in the country--Cole Ranch has become a sought-after vineyard for its organically-farmed, high-quality fruit. Grafted from 2 different sources at Cole Ranch in 2020, this is the small but first release of Trousseau from the estate. All clusters were destemmed in order to keep the identity of Trousseau intact. 100% Destemmed and fermented in our poly egg tank. Mixed daily until fermentation kicked off then left untouched and sealed until it reached 5 brix. The idea behind this was to get a little Semi-Carbonic aromatic and not extract too much of the green tannin. Neutral barrel aged until June 2022.

Organic. 100% Savagnin. In 2019, Rootdown acquired Cole Ranch in Mendocino county. At 457m in elevation, Cole Ranch rests between the valley floor of Ukiah and Anderson Valley. Originally planted in 1973 to 55 acres, becoming its own AVA in the 80’s--the smallest in the country--Cole Ranch has become a sought-after vineyard for its organically-farmed, high-quality fruit. 2 clones of Savagnin are grown for this wine: Savagnin vert ("green") and Savagnin jaune ("yellow"). Both have their role in this wine as the jaune gives more aromatic flavors, and the vert lends its prized acidity. Savagnin is generally thought of as a vin jaune ("yellow wine"), where the wine sits in barrel for up to 6 years under a veil (a layer of yeast called le voile ("the veil")) giving the wine a nutty, spicy Sherry like character. This wine is made in the ouillé style (regularly topped), think fresh.

Organic. 100% Chardonnay. In 2019, Rootdown acquired Cole Ranch in Mendocino county. At 457m in elevation, Cole Ranch rests between the valley floor of Ukiah and Anderson Valley. Originally planted in 1973 to 55 acres, becoming its own AVA in the 80’s--the smallest in the country--Cole Ranch has become a sought-after vineyard for its organically-farmed, high-quality fruit. Directly bladder pressed, settled overnight and fermented in neutral French oak. 30% through fermentation is racked and the juice is returned to give it some oxygen and homogenize the native yeast. Post fermentation the barrels are kept topped with only 10ppm of Sulfur added until bottling. No lees stirring was done to this lot and the wine finished Malo naturally. Only 45 cases produced.