Âmevive - 'Ibarra-Young Vineyard' - Mourvèdre - Los Olivos, Santa Barabra, CA - 2023

Notes from the Winery/Importer

We have half an acre of Mourvèdre planted at Ibarra-Young. Along with the Syrah, the Mourvèdre is part of the original planting at the vineyard. This block is old and wise, there is even an old abandoned bunker buried under part of this block. If you look at the vineyard tab on the âmevive website, there is a photo of Charlotte Young riding her mule, Agnes, through the vines of the Mourvèdre block back in the early 70s. This block continues to impress me more and more each year. The production is tiny and the wine is delicious. In hopes of gaining a little extra texture on the back end, the 2023 Mourvèdre was fermented gently with 60% whole cluster in an open-top fermenter for about 2 weeks. Everything was pressed lightly preceding elevage in neutral French oak. This is a very limited two-barrel blend! The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered in July of 2024. Like iced hibiscus tea in a dusty field of golden grasses, chilled wine on hot sunny days, elegant on the palette, a lot of good things going on aromatically, and a kiss of grip on the final swallow. - 12.8% ABV - 48 cases produced - Regenerative organic grapes managed holistically, minimal effective sulfites

Art: Painted by Eileen Anderson, Ardea alba, is flying on the front of this label. I wanted to pair this delicate bird with this airy expression of Mourvèdre. In the winter and springtime, we often see these great egrets hunting for lizards and mice around brush piles at the vineyard. They are shy and mystical, but if you approach them slowly, it is fascinating to watch them hunt. And they are surprisingly very tall, about 5 ft! The silly looking western fence lizard, aka blue belly, on the back label was painted by me. They are often prey to the great egret on the front, but they also put a big dent in the bug population around the vineyard. These little guys are hungry and everywhere!

Notes on the Producer

Pronunciation: "ahm-veev"
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​Translation: soulful, lively soul, living soul
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the emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.
high-mindedness; noble warmth of feeling, spirit or courage.
the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity and separate from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.

We lease and farm the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos District A.V.A.

This vineyard was planted by Charlotte Young in 1971 and is still owned by her three daughters. Charlotte's right-hand man, Miguel Ibarra, Helped her plant the vineyard in 1971 and continued to work on the vineyard for more than 40 years. Today, we celebrate this duo by designating these 10 acres as the Ibarra-Young Vineyard.

Ibarra-Young Vineyard was one of the first vineyards planted in the Santa Ynez Valley and has so much soul you can feel it. The first 3 acres were planted in 1971 and 3 more acres were planted in 1973. In the late 90's and early 2000's Bob Lindquist completed Ibarra-Young's planted acreage with the "young" vines in the rockier section of the vineyard.

The vineyard is planted to Syrah and Mourvèdre planted in 1971, Marsanne planted in 1973, as well as suitcase clone Tempranillo and Graciano planted in the late 90's. Everything on the property is own-rooted and has been farmed organically since 1993. We began leasing and farming this special place at the beginning of 2020 and employ regenerative organic and biodynamic practices.
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Our goal is to rebuild an ecosystem of native species that live alongside our vine rows, regenerate soil health, and grow the highest quality grapes this site can give. We believe the best wine grapes are grown with minimal inputs and conscious vineyard management. We reject a systematic schedule for viticulture and farming in general. We believe that by working in conjunction with nature we can increase biodiversity and soil health, minimize unnecessary sprays, minimize tractor passes and compaction, decrease water use, and reduce our carbon footprint.

We look forward to taking you along on this journey of unconventional viticulture with us. We hope to convince you that with a lot of passion and hard work, world-class wines are made with minimal intervention in a vineyard that grows alongside a healthy living ecosystem.
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