Winemaker: Chris Christensen, Bodkin Wines
Location: Sebastopol, North California
Vineyards: the grapes are sourced from organic and sustainable vineyards in Northern California
Soils: alluvial, gravelly loam
Main varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Syrah, Petite Sirah
Winemaking: minimal – spontaneous fermentation and aging on lees mostly in stainless steel, some acacia/oak vats involved. Minimal SO2 additions.
Fun facts:
- Jenny found Chris by luck when looking for a good source of friendly-priced natural wines from California, in January 2020
- The name Where’s Linus? follows the tradition of giving Jenny & Francois house labels congenial first names
- As an African American vintner, Chris works to promote diversity and inclusion in the wine industry through speaking engagements, podcasts, and mentorship opportunities for aspiring vintners and winery owners.
- Chris is a true medieval-history nerd, even naming his own winery after a battle in the Hundred Years War.
Winemaker’s note on this 2022 novelty: “This wine is its own animal… It’s more of red wine with a ‘pigmentation deficiency’ than it is traditional white grape wine. The vineyard is a great location for growing the notoriously tricky white Rhone varietals, such as our Viognier here. The wind-battered South-Western facing slope gets hot in the day and cold at night allowing the fruit to get ripe but also hold on to its intensity of flavor, which was key when choosing a vineyard we could make a skin-fermentation white wine from.”
Grape: Viognier
Vineyard: Shannon Ridge Vineyard’s Home Ranch at 2000 feet of elevation overlooking the Eastern End of Clear Lake, in the town of Clearlake, Lake County, CA. CCOF certified
Making of: The grapes spontaneously fermented and were pumped over once a day for a 12-day period. Obce pressed, the wine then spent a few months in a stainless steel tank with mixing (batonnage) every 3 weeks to introduce a greater depth of flavor and also smooth out the tannins. No sulfur added, bottled without fining or filtration.
LOW SULFITE. ORGANIC. MINIMAL INTERVENTION. VEGAN. NATURAL. BLACK WINEMAKER. ORANGE WINE.
