In a life marked by vintages, I think an awful lot about time. My first vintage in 2006, time expanded. I had space to admire the dew drops on a spider web, to nurse a (mildly) broken heart, to dance in the farmhouse with my newly taken Italian lover. Three months felt like a year. The 2020 vintage—also three months—only lasted a few blinks. A flash of dry lighting: blink. Nursing an 11-month old: blink.
Time expands and contracts, it weaves and contorts. Every vintage of wine contains all the years that came before it; my winemaking is a culmination of prior experiences. Even vines have memory, cluster primordia forming a full year before harvest. This club offering is the most dynamic I’ve ever released. It spans seven years, as I finally took time to taste through the small library I’ve been collecting. For 12-bottle members, that includes the last four cases of Syrah 2019, which is beautiful right now. For all club members, it includes two wines where time was reserved for play: Patatino, a nouveau-esque red/white co-fermentation, and Mystery Date, which is my invitation for you to weave your own story.
Mystery Date is a brand new cuvée with a mystery label so drinkers can fill in the blanks: a crowd-sourced blind tasting, if you will (just follow the QR code on the back label).
A few new Vermentino vines started producing at the Out to the Meadow vineyard, so this vintage is a bit lighter and snappier, but I’m sure its Chenin properties will fill out as it ages (I’d get another bottle for this).
I’d love for you to spend your time getting to know them for yourself, and enjoying your life, with all of its rich, woven moments. When you drink them, is time standing still? Or is it passing in a blink?
