Jupiter Wine Co. - 'Vibration' - Sangiovese - Mendocino, CA - 2021

@jupiterwineco

Notes from the Winery/Importer

Why Sangiovese? Sangiovese. A wine grape that derives its name from the Latin Sanguis Jovis, “the Blood of Jupiter.” Mythology tells the tale of a single Sangiovese vine growing from the soil where the blood of Jupiter spilled, and from that vine, all other Italian grapes were spawned. Now, genetic mapping has revealed the true tale of the origin of Italy’s thousands of wine grapes, but that doesn’t change the fact that Sangiovese is a wine of many things—sometimes all the things. It haunts us with its complexity and delights us with its refreshment, and we tried to capture our unbridled enthusiasm for this duality in the vineyard and the winery. Our picking decision always aims to capture more freshness than power, but Sangiovese will always give you a bit of both. This 100% Grosso clone comes from cuttings culled from Biondi-Santi in Montalcino, producing some of the most magical grapes at Fox Hill, in our opinion. Vinification: At the winery, half of the grapes were fully foot-tread and added to the bottom of the fermentation space. The other half of the grapes were left whole bunch and placed on top of the crushed fruit to begin their fermentation much later, and slightly carbonic. This technique greatly slows down the primary fermentation, so you get quite a bit of cold extraction on the front end. Once fermentation really starts to rip, we jump in the bins and gently foot-tread the fruit that was left whole. This late release of sugar from the later-tread grapes once again slows down the fermentation, allowing for more gentle extraction from the skins. As soon as we perceive some chewy tannin, we press the wine off the skins—usually a day or two early—and allow the fermentation to finish off the skins in fiberglass. 100% whole bunch, foot-tread, fermented with wild yeast and native bacteria from the vineyard, and allowed to rest on all lees for 10 months. Bottled with no fining or filtration, with a small addition of 20 parts winemaking sulfur right before bottling. Notes: Oodles of snappy, crunchy red and black cherry fruit, verve-y and lifted purple flowers, sweet earth, raw ‘nduja, and a welcome high-toned upper register that strolls pleasantly across both nose and palate, leaving refreshment and a strong sense of moreishness in its wake Artwork: Originally old photograph from 2009 taken on a beat up iPhone 3, repurposed for us by the brilliant Marta Harding to pay respect and admiration to a pop culture milestone that has influenced us countless times since its release in 1996... Vintage 2021 Varietal Sangiovese Appellation Mendocino Vineyard: Fox Hill Vineyard is located smack in the middle of Ukiah and Hopland on the Talmage Bench of Mendocino, a geologically uplifted former river bed that is primarily sandstone based, very rocky and pebbly with large pieces of quartz throughout. The 30 year old vines were converted to organic practices with no use of pesticides, herbicides, chemicals or synthetics by Sam Bilbro of Idlewild Wines several years ago. Most recently, the holistic approach to the farming has been under the guidance of Chris Brocway of Broc Cellars, whose stewardship promises a bright future for this weird and wonderful place.

Notes on the Producer

"Corporate Wine Sucks" We believe that those who seek out thoughtful wines are thoughtful people, and together we’re here to Raise Your Vibration. Jupiter Wine Co. is more than just wine (although we consider ourselves some of the biggest wine geeks in the business) and more than just a community of like-minded individuals that share a love for minimal intervention wines. We aim to establish an economic engine that stands up to consolidated, corporate wine and the economic apartheid those organizations have created towards agricultural and hospitality workers in this community. These organizations have appropriated the term ‘sustainability’ as a sales and marketing tool without considering the economic sustainability of the most fragile communities essential to its creation; and what they’ve given us are gross domestic products in their pursuit of Gross Domestic Product. When you support Jupiter Wine Company, you don’t just drink natural wines, you can have the confidence that 100% of the profits generated go to affordable housing solutions for the communities most responsible for its creation.