GRAPES: 50% CLAIRETTE, 50% GRENACHE NOIR
SKIN CONTACT: 10 DAYS
REGION: RHÔNE, FRANCE
Vinification method: Before becoming a winemaker, a 20 year old Lolita Sene had another life as an artistic director of a nightclub. This inspired her to combine her loves of partying and science, so she returned to school to study agronomy. After school, Lolita worked in a cellar and as a sommelier in the U.S., passionately defending natural wine. After a few years of this, Lolita was tired of just serving and talking about natural wine, and so made the decision to move back to France to make her own.
Today, Lolita is the owner of a plot of land in the southern Rhône. Absolutely everything is done by hand, from working the vineyard to designing the labels. She utilizes a clique press, lightly crushes by foot, and fills her barrels by bucket. Bottling takes place on a small 4-bec machine.
"Ginger Sushi" is unconventional even by natural winemaking standards. Forced into an early harvest after hailstorms, the grape berries were very small. After 10 days of maceration in whole bunches for both varieties, there was hardly any juice. Even more bizarre, the juice that should have been nearly red in color was clear, and smelled strongly of ginger. A true intra-pellicular maceration had happened! After pressing, the juice was fermented and aged sur-lie in neutral oak vats. The finished wine was bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with zero added S02.
Tasting notes: medium-bodied, green apple, white peach, lime, spices, ginger!
Pairings: spiced duck breast
Mix and match 3, 6 or 12 bottles!
