Florèz Wines "Lovebirds" Coferment, Santa Cruz Mountains, California 2025

FROM JENNY & FRANCOIS:

THE WINE: 50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir. Initial inspiration stemmed from learning about natural winemakers in warm regions blending or cofermenting white and red grapes to make lighter styles of wines in regions so capable of ripeness and power.

THE PRODUCER: Florèz Wines was founded by James Jelks in 2017. Born in Santa Cruz and raised in Davis California Jelks is a west coast kid. After a decade of wine fascination, attending the UC Davis E&V program, and working worldwide Jelks set his sights on producing wines in Santa Cruz county. He is farming some vineyards himself, always dry-farmed, and is also sourcing some fruit from organic and sustainable vineyards. He always works with native yeasts, does not use additives except for a minimal amount of sulfur at bottling, and does not filter the wines.