Blend: 87% Carignan, 13% Valdiguie
 
Winemaker Note
Vintage 2024 is a classic installment of Indica, Red Table Wine—a LIOCO stalwart since 2006. The wildfires in 2020 necessitated a shift in fruit sourcing, and the extreme drought / massive winter frost of 2021 left us with too little fruit to bottle an Indica. In the winter of 2022, we expanded our grape contract at Bartolomei Vineyard and secured the future of this wine. The 2024 is a blend from three historic Mendocino ranches—some dry-farmed, old vine Carignan from Bartolomei (Talmage) and McCutchen (Pine Mountain), plus a dollop of rare Valdiguie from Lolonis (Redwood Valley). The exceptional fruit quality and small clusters characteristic of the vintage enticed us to do 100% carbonic maceration. We food tread the tanks, pressed the still-fermenting juice off its skins, and went to barrel sweet to highlight the crunchy freshness of this wine. The result is chillable, bone dry, medium weight red that reminds of us Cote de Brouilly, but is unabashedly Californian.