From: North Coast, California, USA

Varietals: 48% Valdiguié, 41% Petite Sirah, 8% Zinfandel, 3% Sangiovese

Nouveau is the name Las Jaras gives to the first wine of each vintage. The style originated out of Beaujolais, just south of Burgundy where they make wines from Gamay Noir, using the technique carbonic maceration. In carbonic maceration, open-top tanks that have been inertized with carbon dioxide are filled with whole cluster grapes and then sealed for a number of days. Pioneering wine chemist and natural winemaker Jules Chauvet employed the technique in the mid 20th century to make light, fruity and delicious wines

This is essentially how this wine was made! Part of this blend is made up of old
vine Valdiguié (also known as Napa Gamay) that underwent carbonic maceration; this was also the method for the Zinfandel. The Petite Sirah in this blend was a special lot where we performed “reverse saingée” to make a lighter-style wine. The Sangiovese was added to tie it all together.

Tasting Notes: A nose full of blackberry, plum, and cocoa leads to gobs of black plum and chocolate-covered cherry, and boysenberry on the juicy, zippy palate. The acidity is bright on the finish, where a cocoa powder-like tannin keeps the wine fresh as you sip.

Las Jaras on vineyard sourcing: "We have been working hard to find more sources of Valdiguié because we love the bright, fruity and spicy tones that it brings to our wines. We started working with Frei Vineyard Valdiguié in Green Valley last year. These spry old vines vines are 40-70 years old. The Petite Sirah and Zinfandel come from Gary Venturi Vineyard, which is situated in Calpella, just north of Ukiah on an east facing bench. We have been working with this vineyard since the beginning of Las Jaras and are very happy to have taken over the whole property and converted it to organic practices. All of the grapes used for this blend are farmed organically."

Label Art by Sara Rabin