Broc Cellars "Amore Bianco" Tocai Friulano Mendocino, CA 2022

FROM BROC CELLARS:

THE WINE: Crisp green apple and jackfruit on the nose, mango and cracked pepper on the palate. This is Italian sunshine in a glass. Our first vintage was 100% Tocai Fruilano, later adding Trebbiano and now Ribolla Gialla to showcase the liveliness of an Italian skin contact wine with grapes all grown at Fox Hill Vineyard. All three Italian varieties fermented on their skins in sandstone jars. The Tocai Friulano and Ribolla Gialla cofermented together. Two-thirds of the wine was pressed back into jars and 1/3 in neutral French oak barrels to age for eight months. The sandstone jar gives the wine that luminous amber color and subtle structure from the tannins. We fall more in love with what the sandstone jars bring to the wine each year. It’s a great example of the role vessels can play in bringing a wine to life. Friendly with food or even a little cellar time.

THE PRODUCER: We make natural wine the way we believe delivers the best wines for us and the earth. We use only organically-farmed grapes. We use cover crops to boost soil health, water retention and biodiversity. Sheep help us manage crop cover and fertilize the soil. We harvest early for more healthy grapes that retain their good acidity. This often results in lower alcohol wines. The lower Brix (sugar content) at harvest allows for easier fermentations. We use native yeasts and bacteria that exist on the grapes and never add sulphur during fermentation. We occasionally add a small amount of sulphur at bottling depending on the wine, style and year.