Stirm 'Neptunite' Rosé
Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel, 2023
Cienega Valley > Santa Benito County > California
Fresh in from Central Cally, this unusual Rosé blend slaps! Ryan Stirm is praised as being one of the important young winemakers emerging from California’s new guard. But, he doesn’t get caught up in all the buzz, and instead obsesses over the process of making this boozy elixir we know and love. Neptunite is a rare gemstone found in a remote mine deep in the rugged mountains of San Benito County. It is found often alongside the also extremely rare Benitoite. The grapes that go into this Rosé are found alongside the rarer varieties that inhabit San Benito County. A mostly white blend with 4% Zin from 1902 planted vines.
Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel, 2023
Cienega Valley > Santa Benito County > California
Fresh in from Central Cally, this unusual Rosé blend slaps! Ryan Stirm is praised as being one of the important young winemakers emerging from California’s new guard. But, he doesn’t get caught up in all the buzz, and instead obsesses over the process of making this boozy elixir we know and love. Neptunite is a rare gemstone found in a remote mine deep in the rugged mountains of San Benito County. It is found often alongside the also extremely rare Benitoite. The grapes that go into this Rosé are found alongside the rarer varieties that inhabit San Benito County. A mostly white blend with 4% Zin from 1902 planted vines.
Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel, 2023
Cienega Valley > Santa Benito County > California
Fresh in from Central Cally, this unusual Rosé blend slaps! Ryan Stirm is praised as being one of the important young winemakers emerging from California’s new guard. But, he doesn’t get caught up in all the buzz, and instead obsesses over the process of making this boozy elixir we know and love. Neptunite is a rare gemstone found in a remote mine deep in the rugged mountains of San Benito County. It is found often alongside the also extremely rare Benitoite. The grapes that go into this Rosé are found alongside the rarer varieties that inhabit San Benito County. A mostly white blend with 4% Zin from 1902 planted vines.
Blend: Riesling (86%) Chenin Blanc(10%) Zinfandel (4%)
ABV: 12.5%
The Story: Ryan Stirm attended Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo because it had a great wrestling team but got sucked into their wine and agriculture program after a few seasons. Graduating with a minor in soil science he landed winemaking stints in California, Austria, and Australia, he was ready to start his own winemaking project. It wasn’t lab-grade, sterile wine that Ryan was after, however, he was most captivated by wines that reflected a sense of place, and poised to seek out the most unique and rugged vineyards found on the Central Coast. The grapes were picked by hand. At the winery the grapes were given 24 hours of whole cluster maceration (Riesling) to extract tannins, aroma, and flavor compounds in the skins, followed by pressing the grapes. No sulfur was added to allow the juice to oxidize. The Chenin Blanc was pressed directly after harvest. After a 36 hour cold settle in tank, the clean juice was racked off the solids to another tank for spontaneous fermentation. The wine was sulfured post completion of secondary fermentation with elevage in barrels on fine lees. Racked a month prior to bottling and blended. This wine is lightly filtered (not sterile) for clarity, but unfined. Minimal SO2 at bottling.
Personality: Expressive, aromatic and fun to drink. Fruity on the nose and true to its base of white grapes with juicy citrus notes.
Harmony: OMG, Sushi would be killer!