Philosophy

Simply put, we agonize about purity and balance. 

We seek perfect ripeness, and we seek to accurately inscribe it. Our goal as winemakers is simply to extract the natural beauty that these sites can offer up. To do justice to them.

During the growing season, we identify the strongest vines to remember come harvest. As harvest approaches, we quicken our step and visit vineyards methodically when we start to see sugar levels around 25 brix. This is when we begin to taste, taste, taste—and once we’ve identified the approaching intersection of acidity, brix level, full phenolics, and brown seeds, BAM, we pick, and the resulting must usually ends up around 28 brix. Picking dates are so crucial to the style we want to achieve: a day earlier or a day later could make for a different wine. Acidity is important because not only is it crucial for aging the wine, it helps to mitigate the perception of alcohol on the palate—so crucial to harmony in the glass. 

After de-stemming, we sort not only by hand, but also using an optical sorter. We then pursue a long, cool fermentation, and a gentle extraction regime to coax forth the purest fruit and tannin. We separate the free run and press wine to evaluate later. 

After 22 months of aging, only the best barrels make Vice Versa. The best of the best make Magnificent Seven. This draconian approach to classification is rare because it yields so little wine, but we find what remains is the purest expression of a vineyard’s identity and in turn, the wine’s spirit. We consider these wines works of art that we share with our friends while spreading joy, depth, provenance, and our passion.