Tendu, which is a French term used in ballet meaning stretched, is a second label from Steve Matthiasson and Jill Klein Matthiasson that explores organically grown fruit from the areas outside of Napa and Sonoma that they use for their Matthiasson Wines. Both Steve and Jill have worked for decades in sustainable agriculture, with Steve being credited with creating the Lodi Rules in the neighboring AVA to Clarksburg that has been used as a template by many other regions attempting to codify sustainability, In addition to their Matthiasson winery, Steve is one of the most in-demand vineyard managers in Napa, with his client list reading like a who’s who. Clarksburg is a relatively unheard of AVA located just Southwest of Sacramento that sits within the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta and therefore receives cooling San Francisco Bay breezes and fog. The deep, fertile clay and loam soils have, so far, found only two grapes that produce distinctive wine: Chenin Blanc and Cortese, with the remaining 90% of the grapes grown here being blended anonymously into wines of neighboring regions. Cortese, you Kompas Clubbers may remember, is an Italian grape from Piedmont that has a long history of being interplanted with Nebbiolo so that the aromatic Cortese grapes would refocus birds’ attention off of the Nebbiolo grapes. The organically grown grapes are fermented by native yeasts in neutral oak fermenters and only a carefully calibrated dose of sulfur is added at bottling. The yellow apple, green melon, white blossom and apricot flavors are perfect for a fruit and cheese appetizer.