by Andrew Chalk
Fruit-forward and ripe, Sosie Wines likable example of the grape that is up front in California characteristics of ripeness but also has undertones of forest floor one associates more readily with Burgundian examples.
From grapes grown in west-facing vineyards at 500 feet elevation in Steinbeck and Los Osos soils. Comprising Calera, Swan, and Pommard 5 clones, all on rootstock 105-114. Only 5 barrels of this wine were made. 10% whole-cluster fermented, 17 days on the skins, with native yeast. Aged for 16 months in Louis Latour cooperage French oak, 25% new.
Did a miracle occur in the production of this wine? The front label says that it is the 2015 vintage. Elsewhere on the label it states that the harvest date was 7 September 2016. The same problem appears on the company website. In other words, the grapes were harvested a year prior to when they ripened! This can be explained either as a miracle (doubtless a byproduct of climate change) or, more prosaically, as a typo in one of the pieces of information. I suspect that this is actually the 2016 vintage. Either way, this just contributes to the mystery of an already interesting wine.
Given the small production, order direct from the winery.
Sample
[Update 2019-04-01: A representative for the winery clarified that this is the 2015 vintage]