Queen of the Sierra Co-Ferment 2023

What’s the big idea with a co-ferment? At RHV, we love the aromatic exuberance we find in our white varieties, and the reds can bring a bounty of bright fruit flavors to the wines they produce. So why not put those things together?? You end up with the best of both worlds – the co-ferment stands in the ground between red, white, and rosé. It’s eminently chillable because it has lighter tannins than a regular red, it’s got more flavor and aroma than a rosé by virtue of its longer skin contact, and it has all the savory tang of the limestone soils and cold nights here at RHV. So how did we do it? We picked reds, we picked whites, and we put them in the fermenter together to get the party started. As it happened, varieties from similar historical regions paired up for picking time: Albariño and Tempranillo hit it together, as did Barbera and Vermentino, Chenin blanc and Pineau d’Aunis, Trousseau and Chardonnay, and (let’s hear it for 1880s California!) Zinfandel and Verdelho.