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. Just like its red wine counterpart (Benitoite) the grapes that go into this rose wine are found alongside the rarer varieties that inhabit San Benito County. We utilize Chenin Blanc from the historic Gimelli Vineyard (aka El Gabilan) from plantings dating to 1997, Riesling from a 1964 planting at the Wirz vineyard and Zinfandel from a 1902 planting also at Wirz.

Vineyards

Gimelli Vineyard, Cienega Valley (Chenin Blanc)

Wirz Vineyard, Cienega Valley (Riesling, Zinfandel)

Winemaking

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 off fine lees a month prior to bottling and blended. This wine is lightly filtered (not sterile) for clarity and unfined. The only addition we ever use is sulfur, 57 ppm total SO2 at bottling. Bottled March 3, 2024. 230 cases produced.

Wine Stats

Varietal Composition: Riesling (86%) Chenin Blanc(10%)  Riesling (9%) Zinfandel (4%)

Brix at harvest: 22.5 / 21.2 / 23.1            

Titratable Acidity: 6.1 g/L        

pH: 3.26                         

Residual Sugar: 0.0 g/L              

Alcohol: 12.5%                                            

Fining: none