Jeff Nelson had already enjoyed a long career as a sales director for various storied French wineries, such as Veuve Clicquot Champagne, when in the late aughts he realized that while he ate local he didn’t drink local and decided to do something about it. Liquid Farm sources grapes from the coolest climate in California, the Sta Rita Hills, to create wines that naturally leave room for the mineral and earthy aspects that are so admired from the old world. Styled in the manner of Chablis, the White Hill bottling is sourced from vineyards with diatomaceous soils, quite similar to the chalky soils in Chablis: Hilltop, Clos Pepe, Spear, Kessler-Haak and Rita’s Crown vineyards. The wine was barrel fermented with native yeast in neutral oak and then aged, a-la Chablis, in stainless-steel barrels for ten months where the wine goes through native malolactic fermentation. The result is hedonistic yet food friendly: Quince, African bananas, pineapple, mineral, yogurt and sesame paste flavors are supported by acidity that would happily combine with any French dish using poultry or fish in a cream sauce or pork chops with apple sauce and browned potatoes.