Hello Everyone,
Sunny days call for chilled bottles and warm nights call for firing up the grill. Luckily, we have new Filomena wines to pop for both occasions! We are thrilled to be offering three wines: a classic Filomena favorite in 2018 Griffin’s Lair Syrah, the beautifully honeyed citrus of our 2022 Unti Vineyard Vermentino, and an entirely new wine in our lineup, the juicy and crushable 2022 High Camp Vineyard Cabernet Pfeffer. All three wines are delicious and all three wines scratch different itches. Just a few logistical things to mention before some info on each of our new releases.
All wines are sold on a first come, first served basis, there are no allocations or restrictions. For local Napa and Sonoma County residents, there is a "Pickup or Local Delivery" option, which we will coordinate with you after the order is placed. For shipping customers, please note that we will hold the wine until temperatures are safe along the entire route as to ensure the safety and quality of the wine. For any questions about pickup or shipping logistics, feel free to reach out to Kat.
2022 Unti Vineyard Vermentino
The heat of the 2022 vintage was certainly a test of both patience and one’s palate; not just for fermenting wine, but (arguably more importantly) for the juice samples out in the field. The growing sweetness contrasted with bright acids can play tricks on your mind (and your pick calendar). My anxious need to get up to Unti for sampling as early as I can each harvest has become a ritual the last few years since we’ve been lucky enough to work with this vineyard. What has also become a ritual is every year I remember just how much Vermentino loves the warm Dry Creek days and simply laughs at my refractometer. The 2022 vintage proved to be much more anxiety-inducing, but Vermentino was my calming spirit. I sampled this vineyard on the first day of the heat wave that would give Labor Day a giant hug and was happy to see that I wouldn’t have to clean the press for at least another week as the Verm was checking in at a racy 19.8 brix. Knowing that I had at least 10 more days of warm hangtime matched with an equivalent amount of citrus flavor evolution was a welcome feeling at the beginning of a rapid-fire harvest.
The grapes were foot trod prior to pressing to help release juice and break up the thick Vermentino skins. The juice fermented natively in barrel (stainless steel and neutral French oak) for about a month before being sulfured to arrest malolactic fermentation. I transferred the wine to all neutral oak barrels, including an adorable Taransaud half barrel, and it rested 9 months before being bottled at the beginning of June. The resulting wine showcases a beautiful bouquet of citrus flowers and bright Asian pear with refreshing acidity quenching your thirst on each sip.
50 cases produced - $28
2022 High Camp Vineyard Cabernet Pfeffer
A truly unexpected addition to the Filomena lineup and a most welcomed one at that! We stumbled upon the lovely folks from High Camp through a WineBusiness classified ad on a frantic harvest Friday evening in mid-August. We were looking for something that could potentially take the St. Laurent’s place in 2022 as late frosts and low yields were threatening to deprive us of our beloved esoteric Carneros grape (Never fear, we ended up getting a couple tons!). I had exhausted all the interesting looking ads when I noticed “Red Blend” and gave it a click for curiosity’s sake. To my pleasant surprise, I saw the words “Cabernet Pfeffer” pop up on the screen. I had been wanting to work with the grape again ever since making our beautiful Rose from Enz Vineyard in 2020 and now I was a short email away from getting that chance again (spoiler warning, we’re making two Cab Pfeffers in 2023!).
We were standing in High Camp Vineyard in the Estrella District of Paso Robles two days later to drop off bins and taste the fruit. The heat wave had begun early in Paso, as it does, so I called the pick for as soon as they could get a crew in three days later, wanting to retain as much of the pretty red fruit and spice I could. I trucked the fruit back up to Napa on what would be one of the longest harvest days I’ve ever experienced. It was certainly all worth it to be able to make this delicious, aromatic Cab Pfeffer.
We fermented this wine indigenously with 20% carbonic maceration to promote a bit of aromatic complexity and bright red fruit. We pressed the fruit at dryness and barreled down to 4 neutral oak barrels. It aged for 9 months before being bottled at the beginning of June. Raspberry and cranberry aromas hit the nose first, with bright strawberry and stem spice rounding out the juicy palate. Throw a chill on this bottle and bring it to the next summer BBQ.
100 cases produced - $24
2018 Griffin’s Lair Syrah
The trouble with getting older is trying to remember harvests as they stack upon each other year after year. The much more enjoyable benefit of getting older is revisiting old bottled friends and tasting all of those memories in your glass. Our Griffin’s Lair Syrah from 2018 certainly fits that bill, reminding me of new lifelong friends coming into our lives, new steps in Kat and I’s relationship (the long overdue move-in together), and new stewards of Griffin’s Lair taking the reins from Joan and Jim Griffin; the Colb and Flynn families, experienced winegrowers with literal roots in the Casablanca Valley of Chile. Serendipitously enough, the same two industry pros, viticulturist and owner of Shake Ridge Ranch, Ann Kraemer, and winemaker, Byron Kosuge, were brought on to consult for the planting of both Griffin’s Lair AND the Colb’s family ranch in Chile. While we were sad to see Joan and Jim pass along Griffin’s Lair, we couldn’t be more excited to see where the Flynn’s and Colb’s take this Petaluma Gap benchmark.
This wine fermented indigenously 100% whole cluster. It was pressed after 30 days on skins and aged 16 months in neutral French oak puncheons. The 2018 is showing a bit of subdued dark fruit surrounded by all the savory and briney notes lovers of Griffin’s Lair have long known. Sweet blackberry and green olive aromas jump out of the glass and morph into sanguine, black cherry, and ferric notes on the palate. Decant for at least an hour to reveal more hidden fruit. I am drinking this while finishing the release letter and munching on the Porchetta from Valley on the Sonoma Square…My, oh my!
45 cases produced - $42
To wrap things up, a bit of exciting news to share with our Filomena friends and family; I recently accepted an offer to become the Winemaker for Kivelstadt Cellars in Sonoma! I have learned so much from my time as Assistant Winemaker at Green & Red (making some damn good wines in the process) and am very grateful to Tobin and Ray for entrusting me with all things G&R, allowing me to grow as a winemaker, and supporting our Filomena project every step of the way. And an Assistant Winemaker can’t assist without a Winemaker; an immeasurable thank you to the Mayor of NoYo (North Yountville, get with it), the purveyor of The Porch, a true Renaissance man, and one of the most genuine humans I have the luck to call a friend, Aaron Whitlatch. You are the man and I wouldn’t be taking this next step without you. Also, do yourself a favor and go check out his awesome new Pinot project, Syntropy Wines!
Finally, we would like to share even MORE exciting news with all of you. Kat and I are expecting our very own little cluster of grapes (well, just one grape, not twins *phew*) this November! I just felt the first big kicks and tumbles through Kat’s adorable tummy and I swear I can still feel them on my hands as I type this to all of you. Gah! We couldn’t be more thrilled (and a bit scared) for the journey ahead, incredibly happy to have you all along for the ride!
Cheers & Love,
Luke, Kat, & Kuma
