Winemaker Faith Armstrong (farmstrong...get it?) blended grapes from Mendocino, Contra Costa and Solano counties for this wine from three sustainably and dry-farmed sites with the “youngest” vines being 65 years old. The sites all have large diurnal temperature shifts (cold nights and hot days) which allows the fruit to hang longer, adding complexity while keeping sugars and acidity in balance. To further add to the complexity of the wine she ferments in open-top tanks and she includes a fair amount of whole cluster bunches during fermentation. After the native fermentation was finished the wines were put into barrels and aged in 9% once-used oak and 91% neutral French oak. Once secondary (native malolactic) fermentation was complete the blend was assembled and aged another 10 months in barrel. This wine has red and black fruit, mellow tannins, peppery, spicy aromatics, and pairs beautifully with tacos!