2020 Indica, Mendocino Red Table Wine
The chaos of the 2020 vintage provided an opportunity to return to a former Carignan source in the Redwood Valley. The historic Casa Verde Vineyard was planted in the 1940's on a wind-swept pitch north of Lake Mendocino. It is one of the Redwood Valley's neatest heritage plantings with white and red grapes co-mingling in an old-school California sprawl. Over the ages, the Russian River and erosion from the hills have added an alluvial quality to the distinctive red color soils, known as Pinole Gravelly Loam, which yield low pH wines. We attempted to field-select for the Carignan, but while harvesting inadvertently picked bunches of French Colombard, Barbera, and Grenache which all co-fermented. The 2020 Indica is a deeper, darker version of itself—clearly impacted by the intense drought. Explosive aromatics of Italian plum, blackberry, tar, and wild herbs. The attack is more restrained, medium weight with polished tannins, and more black fruits and savory herbs. Frankly, it leaves every jammy Zinfandel in the dust. BYOB to your next outing to Korean BBQ.