Petite Sirah, Zinfandel & Nero d’Avola, Mendocino County, USA

Lighter than previous vintages in body, mind AND spirit, this breezy summer red is your chillable poolside angel, adultified CapriSun, the switched-on lovechild of a blue freezie & can of Beach Plum Lacroix. All three grapes in the blend were fermented separately in small batches (whole cluster for the Zin and Petite, destemmed for the Nero), then pressed & barrel-aged for 6 months off lees. Accounting for 40% of the blend, Petite Sirah is the star of the show here, carbonically-macerated and replete with maximum blueberry energy, though not without a moody dash of black pepper like a well-placed slow jam in a sea of summer bangers. Zin is always here for a good time, bringing juicy bright fruit like a cannonball swimming pool splash, with worldly Nero d’Avola adding a touch of sophistication to the blend. The Mendocino Benchlands red is inspired by the Italian farming tradition of grapes being planted on the poorer, uplifted soils of a given valley, with the rich valley floor soils reserved for vegetables— all the vineyards in this blend planted on those uplifted benchlands. This is a wine that feels very easy to coexist with— throw a bottle in your favourite tote bag, kick your shoes off, be like, “the only rule of today is that THERE ARE NO RULES” & see where Mendocino Benchlands takes you!