Etteilla - 'Dimoni' - Cabernet Sauvignon - Testa Vineyard, Mendocino, CA - 2021

Satellite's Hot Take

A stand-out new winery run by a squadra of dynamic young women -kicking ass making old school elegant again in CA.

Notes from the Winery/Importer

2021 DIMONI Testa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (with a bit of Carignan and Petit Sirah) Cali Cab Sauv - a Bacchus delight of blackberry balsamic, white pepper, and dark chocolate ganache. A perfect balance of tannins and alcohol only achieved after 30 (!!) months in barrels. A wine to drink with your grandpa over pasta & meatballs. A new release from an old vintage (& our first as Etteilla!), made at Coturri winery in 2021. The Cabernet Sauvinon was harvested before sunrise under the full-moon on September 21st from a block of vines along the Russian River at Testa Vineyards - a fifth generation family vineyard in Calpella, Mendocino. In classic Coturri style, the cab was destemmed, crushed, and left to ferment open top with two punchdowns a day. The grapes were pressed once dry in Tony’s 40 year old basket press - sent directly to barrels. The wine was racked once in the winter of 2022, then sat untouched until bottling in May 2024.

Notes on the Producer

Etteilla Wines is a small project by Anne Disabato and Noelle Vandendriessche. Best friends turned winemaking partners - the pair met in Austin, Texas and bonded over their shared connection and love of the transformative powers of fermentation. After harvests in Sonoma, South Africa, and Australia, Noelle and Anne wanted to create hand-crafted wines that celebrate the Northern California terroir and community.

The name Etteilla is inspired by the connection between tarot and the metaphysical aspects of winemaking. They have found that making zero-zero wines requires the same level of faith in extreme plasticity as Tarot. It’s light and profound, linear and multidimensional, gamelike and complex. Like tarot, wine refuses to be reduced to any one of the countless possibilities it opens.