Forlorn Hope Queen of the Sierra Co-Ferment

Regular price $28.00

Winemaker: Matthew Rorick

Appellation: Calaveras County, California

Grape Varieties: Albariño, Tempranillo, Barbera, Vermentino, Chenin blanc, Pineau d’Aunis, Trousseau, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Verdelho.

What’s the big idea with a co-ferment? At RHV, we love the aromatic exuberance we find in our white varieties, and the reds can bring a bounty of bright fruit flavors to the wines they produce. So why not put those things together?? You end up with the best of both worlds – the co-ferment stands in the ground between red, white, and rosé. It’s eminently chillable because it has lighter tannins than a regular red, it’s got more flavor and aroma than a rosé by virtue of its longer skin contact, and it has all the savory tang of the limestone soils and cold nights here at RHV. So how did we do it? We picked reds, we picked whites, and we put them in the fermenter together to get the party started. As it happened, varieties from similar historical regions paired up for picking time: Albariño and Tempranillo hit it together, as did Barbera and Vermentino, Chenin blanc and Pineau d’Aunis, Trousseau and Chardonnay, and (let’s hear it for 1880s California!) Zinfandel and Verdelho.

All fruit for our estate red was hand-picked; fermentation was allowed to begin spontaneously with native yeast. Most lots were fermented separately due to different pick dates. All lots were pressed at dryness, averaging 14-21 days total time on the skins, and placed into neutral 227L barrique. After racking they remained in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel until being bottled unfined and unfiltered.  As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.

The Forlorn Hope wines are the result of a project devoted to displaying the wealth of California's viticultural potential -- as well as championing varieties less common. Taken as a departure from the stereotypical Californian product, the Rare Creatures of the Forlorn Hope display what is possible when great care is taken in combining soil type, climate/site, and variety to produce wines which require no manipulation.

Winemaker Matthew Rorick started Forlorn Hope in 2005 having inherited from his grandfather a love of wine’s central place at the dinner table between friends and family. Rorick is an eclectic autodidact and used his initiative and resourcefulness to take the Forlorn Hope name to the level of a cult-ed wine label that sits within the Venn-diagram overlap of what excites sommeliers and natural wine devotees.

Once a “one-man” operation just outside of the town of Murphys in the Sierra Foothills, Rorick has connected with a community of passionate wine lovers and colleagues over time. Danielle Shehab came on as the Director of Operations after working harvest in 2016 while she continues to work in the cellar, run sales and marketing, and beyond. And before that, vineyard manager Demetrio Nava has built up and worked the heart and soul of Forlorn Hope, the Rorick Heritage Vineyard (RHV), over 15 years.

The Rorick Heritage Vineyard, peaking up to 2000 feet above sea level, has its start in the 1960’s when the ranching land was purchased by Calaveras County wine luminary Barden Stevenot. While Stevenot put Calaveras viticulture on the map, he planted own-rooted Wente Chardon on Rorick’s future land in ‘74-’76, some of which still remain today. Rorick purchased the property in 2013 and began organic conversion. Today, the 75-acre vineyard is devoted to an eclectic range of varieties planted or grafted in the limestone soils under a layer of schist.

Forlorn Hope wines are “honest and pure representations of the site and variety” vinified with just as much respect and care as is shown to vineyard that the individual wine reflects. There are no chemical adjustments, additives, yeast, or bacteria; and there is no new oak allowed in the winery. Some wines will receive the minimum effective amounts of SOs are added either post-ferment or pre-bottling, while others are bottled with no sulfur added. The latest addition is a line of wines under the “Queen of the Sierra” label. They are fresh and vibrant wines that are highly approachable and are made with fruit grown in Rorick’s own Heritage Vineyard.

-T Edward Wines