Broc Cellars "Love White" North Coast, California 2022

FROM BROC CELLARS:

THE WINE: This is one of the more interesting and complex Love Whites yet. It’s evolved over the years from a Rhône blend of Marsanne and Roussanne and this is the first year we’ve added Orange Muscat to the mix. California is one of the few places Orange Muscat is grown and it is often made in a sweeter style wine. For us, we love the beautiful aromatics and charming texture it brings to the wine. Picpoul from Windmill Vineyard is more substantially featured this year, which brings a new brightness to the blend that makes it hard to put down the glass.

All white grapes receive a light footstomp on arrival at the winery. It’s an important step for two reasons: We like the complexity the short skin contact gives the wine and, more functionally, treading breaks up the clusters to better fit everything into the press. After a gentle press, the wine goes into mostly neutral barrique with a small fraction into stainless steel tank where it’s fermented and aged for six months.

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.