Wildflower Winery - 'Wild Delight' - Grenache - Santa Barbara County, CA - 2023

Satellite's Hot Take

Something we don't carry a lot of: Dessert wine. But there's a reason I brought this one in. Truly stand out with a sense that you might have more than a single cup! It's fortified with a grape brandy from Ventura Spirits and comes to the fore with a complex and so fun palate:

It's delicately floral with a rose petal backdrop. Use this to pair with dessert or cheese at your next holiday gathering and be the hero no one knew they needed!

Notes from the Winery/Importer

- 100% Grenache

• Zaca Mesa Vineyard
• Santa Ynez Valley
• 19.7% ABV and 8.8 grams/100ml of residual sugar
• Picked Nov. 2, 2023
• 37 cases produced
  Inky late harvest Grenache grapes from Zaca Mesa Vinyard fortified with grape brandy from Ventura Spirits. Aged 9 months in neutral American Oak barrels. Our ruby port-style dessert wine! Notes of candied wild strawberries with layers of caramel! A special treat, best paired with a bit of chocolate, that is Wildly Drinkable! Only available to club members in this special allocation before public release in November!

  Notes on the Producer

  We have created beautiful wines which highlight the terroir of the vineyards in Ventura Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties. Starting with quality grapes, we pick them for optimal acidity and sugar so the wine does not need additions such as: water, acid, tannin. We use a minimalist winemaking approach in the cellar so the natural yeast present on the grape skins perform the fermentation to preserve the influence of the terroir. We present dry wines with no new oak so you taste the unique and individual flavors of each grape varietal. This low intervention approach leaves our wine naturally vibrant, fruit-forward, and wildly drinkable.

Born and raised in California, Natalie’s love for wine began as she was surrounded by bold reds from the Central Coast, then the various wines grown and made in Temecula/San Diego County in California. When she and her husband, William, moved to Sicily, her world and palate expanded as she lived on Mount Etna and tasted the mineral, volcanic wines from the region. While touring and wine tasting throughout Europe, Natalie’s passion for tasting different varieties grew. On a whim, she took the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 1 certification exam. From there, she began to research taking the leap from tasting to making as she dug deeper into the science behind wine through the UC Davis’ winemaking program.

Upon moving to Ventura County in January 2020, Natalie sourced grapes grown locally in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and started making wine during harvest of 2020 out of a passion for adventure and exploration. She intends to create fresh and unpretentious wine that does not need to be saved for a special occasion, as the style of young and crisp wines was something she knew she would miss from Sicily. She completed the UC Davis Winemaking Certificate Program and is WSET Level 2 certified.

Wine is a beautiful accompaniment to any celebration, and Natalie believes that every day should be celebrated.