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Martha Stoumen, Post Flirtation White 2019
This mineral driven wine gives off aromas of fresh ocean air, white pepper and kiwi. A beautifully light bodied wine that would complement a variety of foods from Dim Sum to oysters. At only 9.5% alcohol this wine is great from brunch to aperitif to dinner and after.
Origin: California, USA
Grapes: 33% Colombard, 26% Marsanne, 23% Roussanne, 18% Muscat blanc
ABV: 12.5%
Producer Profile
Martha Stoumen Wines was founded upon the desire to recapture a farming and winemaking culture that has all but faded away: a winemaking culture of patience.
For my wines I lease and farm around half of the vineyards myself. The other half are farmed by multi-generation farmers who understand their land, and their family's land, far better than I ever will, and who farm with my same philosophies in mind. Patience in the vineyard means composting rather than adding synthetic fertilizers, allowing predatory insects the ability to outcompete pests rather than spraying insecticides, and doing proper handwork, such as pruning for vine longevity rather than high yields.
In the cellar I use a minimalist winemaking approach. Patience in the cellar means letting the natural yeast and bacteria present on the grape skins perform fermentation, and allowing longer macerations and aging to provide stability rather than using added tannin, acid, or stabilizing agents in my wines. Above all, I strive to make wines that are delicious, joyful, and truly representative of California.
Grape Profile
Marsanne – Roussanne wine is the result of the marriage of two grape varieties from the northern Rhone Valley, a union that been replicated in the United States and Australia. The blend can show wide amounts of variation depending on environment and vine age, but generally amounts to a medium- to full-bodied white wine with honeysuckle, lemon and mineral properties. Marsanne and Roussanne are rarely seen apart in their native Rhone, and are particularly inseparable in the white wines of Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph. Marsanne makes a structured, full-bodied wine with a waxy, minerally texture. However, it lacks somewhat in depth of flavor and aromatic intensity. Roussanne, while light on texture, provides this aromatic component, offering up pear, honeysuckle and herbal characteristics to the wine.
Region Profile
Contra Costa County is an AVA directly east of San Francisco Bay in California's Central Coast AVA. The county sits on the edge of the San Francisco and Suisun bays at the entrance to where the Sacramento Delta begins to weave its way inland towards Lodi. Livermore Valley is directly south of Contra Costa County, and the city of San Francisco across the bay gives the county its name – contra costa meaning 'opposite shore' in Spanish. Most of the vineyards are in the eastern part of the county, surrounding the towns of Brentwood and Oakley. Contra Costa County has a hot climate, although this is moderated by the bays that border the area's northern side. Cool afternoon breezes from San Francisco and Suisun bays mean that the temperature drops at night, leading to a significant diurnal temperature shift. This cooling-off period means that the growing season is extended and grapes have longer to develop rich, complex flavors that do not come at the expense of acidity.
Viticulture
Roussanne, Marsanne, and Muscat blanc come from First Generation Farmers in Contra Costa County; practicing organic and in the three year transition to certification, sandy soils.
Vinification
● Manual harvest
● Whole cluster
● Direct to press
● Co-fermentation in stainless steel
● Indigenous yeast
● Ageing vessel: stainless steel for 6 months
● Racking: aged on lees, racked prior bottling
● Natural malolactic
● Filtration: gentle filtration prior to bottling
● No fining
● Sulphur use: small amount prior to bottling