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VINIFICATION The fruit was hand-harvested in late August / early September and foot tread before being whole cluster pressed. The juice was fermented in 100% stainless steel and aged on the lees for 14-months. A gentle cross-flow filtration was done prior to bottling. SITE This wine is composed of several vineyards in the cooler western regions of Sonoma County. While each site is distinct, they share a common commitment to sustainable horticulture and strident farming. Our intention for this wine is to express the unique character of this region. Warm days and cool nights, tempered by consistent oceanic fog, yield nuanced Chardonnays balanced by brisk acidity. NOTES Vintage 2024 unfolded with remarkable precision. Abundant winter and spring rainfall replenished soils and established healthy water reserves ahead of the growing season. Flowering arrived under dry, warm conditions, encouraging excellent fruit set and uniform cluster development. Throughout summer, consistently warm days with cool nights allowed grapes to ripen steadily while preserving natural acidity. Notably, the absence of summer rain reduced disease pressure and gave us the freedom to fine-tune ripeness decisions and pick at optimal maturity. These balanced, on-time conditions translated directly into the character of the wines, particularly Chardonnay. The wines show fresh, lifted aromatics, vibrant yet integrated acidity, and impressive flavor intensity without heaviness. This SoCo installment features two exciting new vineyard sites that compliment the stalwart sources from John Balletto's ranches in the Sebastopol Hills. Namely some organically farmed, old vine Wente from Frank Johnson (17% of blend) and some top tier stuff from a cooler pocket of the Alexander Valley (Gamino Vineyard). Like the 2023, this wine was fermented and aged in 100% stainless steel — homage to the mouthwatering wine that inspired it: Louis Michel Chablis.

In 2022, a much tougher vintage, we declassified barrels of all of our single vineyard Chardonnays into Estero. The decision wrecked the COGS on the wine, but resulted in one of our favorite versions of this wine in some time. Maybe since 2015? In 2023, which was a near-perfect vintage with no heat, fires, or drama of any kind and October harvest dates (like we used to see in the 1990s), we decided to repeat the approach. So this Estero got a pedigree bump. It's 57% Burnside (borders Littorai) + 19% Piner + 10% Tidal Break + 8% Skycrest + 6% Casa Seca. And it's 100% delicious. We've also been over-vintaging this wine for the past few vintages, so it gets the long elevage and the complexity and Burgo redux that comes with it. The 3.3 pH means your mouth's gonna water.

Vintage 2024 unfolded with remarkable precision, as if the season followed a perfectly written script. Abundant winter and spring rainfall replenished soils and established healthy water reserves ahead of the growing season. Flowering arrived under dry, warm conditions, encouraging excellent fruit set and uniform cluster development. Throughout summer, consistently warm days paired with cool nights allowed grapes to ripen steadily while preserving natural acidity. Notably, the absence of summer rain reduced disease pressure and gave growers the freedom to fine-tune ripeness decisions. As harvest approached, conditions remained ideal—cool, sunny weather enabled calm, deliberate picking at optimal maturity. These balanced, on-time conditions translated directly into the character of the wines, particularly Chardonnay. The resulting wines show fresh, lifted aromatics, vibrant yet integrated acidity, and impressive flavor intensity without heaviness. Skycrest Vineyard stands out as an extreme expression of mountain fruit in this vintage. Elevation and site are unmistakable, delivering a pronounced chalky texture, distinct salinity, and striking minerality, all expressed with brightness, precision, and vineyard authenticity.

Vintage 2024 marks our sixth year at Casa Seca, a vineyard perfectly positioned between Kistler and Dehlinger on Vine Hill Road. The site, a former apple farm, still bears the presence of its 1880s brick “dry house,” looming over the vines as a reminder of its history. The Chardonnay block, planted in the 1980s on rare 8x8’ spacing on AXR-1 rootstock, features three Wente clone derivations. Our focus has always been on the “Curtiss Clone,” prized for vibrant acidity—a quality beautifully expressed in 2024’s conditions. Eva Dehlinger continues to bring thoughtfulness to vineyard management, with a deep commitment to land stewardship and a measured, patient approach that resists trends or dogma. Her philosophy translates directly into the wines, which convey a sense of place and timelessness. The 2024 Casa Seca Chardonnay captures the essence of classic Russian River styles, evoking the elegance and clarity of pioneers such as Tom Dehlinger, Joe Rochioli Jr., Joseph Swan, and Burt Williams. In keeping with LIOCO’s interpretation, this vintage features slightly earlier harvest dates, naturally lower alcohol, and zero new oak, resulting in a wine of balance, brightness, and precision.

SITE A selection of premier Mendocino County vineyards were selected for this wine, with an emphasis on dry-farming, older vines, and sustainable viticulture. Pinot Noir clones 115, 667, 777, 2A, Pommard, Beaujolais, and Martini compose the blend. The goal was to capture the unique character of this region defined by the proximate Pacific Ocean, coastal redwoods, and headwaters of two major rivers. NOTES We're gonna go on record and say it: this wine is ONE OF ONE. There simply is not another Mendocino Pinot Noir being bottled today that claims such a wide range of vineyard sources. This wine spans the entire county from Potter Valley (interior) to Comptche (far coast). As such, it may be the first time we can assess the true "characteristics of place" for Mendocino. Like the 2023 before it, the '24 installment is infused with an exciting new source in the heavily forested, near-coast hamlet of Comptche. The Comptche lots were blended with stalwarts from the Anderson Valley, The Cole Ranch, and the Potter Valley. The AV component adds characteristic purple berry/red floral notes. The Cole Ranch piece contributes a pleasing grip/structure. And the Potter Valley piece provides the high tones in the wine, care of some rare Beaujolais-Clone Pinot Noir. We feel this wine from disparate but essentially Mendocino ranches blends out to give a wide aperture view of this wild, evergreen county, and make an authentic expression of Mendocino Pinot Noir.

NOTES We went back to Pocket Canyon in 2024. A fellow winemaker we know from Punchdown Cellars farms it organically for Anthill Farms and LIOCO exclusively. This sweet little vineyard gave us pea-sized berries and a gusher of sour red fruit in 2023. The site is planted with prized Swan clone on a steep slope enclosed by redwoods in a fog-choked canyon west of Forestville. It's dry-farmed by default because the coyotes chew on the drip lines, rendering them ineffective. Micro yields and intense concentration result. The other component in the wine is Sealift Vineyard on the West Sonoma Coast near Annapolis. Just a few miles from the Pacific, Sealift is constantly lashed by ocean winds and fog and provides a savory, saline quality that marries well with the red-fruit notes. The wine showcases what we love about Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast — energy, mouthwatering acidity, and signature tone.

This is the follow up vintage to the first-ever bottling (2023) of Comptche AVA Pinot Noir. Comptche translates roughly to "the land of many potholes" ("potholes" here meaning natural bathing holes). After years of petitioning, frontier growers John Peterson and Saul Ramirez were awarded appellation status for their vineyards Peterson and Costa—two of just three vineyards that qualify for the new AVA. Comptche is defined by its low lying elevation (300-400') and proximity to the nearby Pacific Ocean (14mi) with it's damp fog and cool air. The proximate Albion Wind Gap plays an important role channeling the ocean influence into the coastal valleys. Densely forested, extremely remote, and alive with black bears, bald eagles and steelhead—this is wilderness wine. "Pristine water" is a reoccuring theme you hear from Comptche locals. The wines remind us of the best deep-end sites in the nearby Anderson Valley—shot through with dark berries, blue florals, and coniferous—but for half the price. New frontiers often bring value so go ahead and join the pioneer party!

Tucked between the first and second ridge, this neighborhood continues to stand out as a premier zone for high-intensity Pinot Noir. We selected a block along the spine of the property with an East–West row orientation and a true north-facing aspect, optimizing both sunlight and airflow. Even in these cooler sites, climate change continues to shape vineyard decisions. A decade ago, south-facing slopes were favored to maximize sun exposure; today, the priority is protecting fruit from harsh afternoon heat while preserving acidity and delicate aromatics. The nearby Pacific Ocean serves as a reliable natural air conditioner, allowing grapes to ripen slowly under hazy, cool light. This measured pace enhances photosynthesis while maintaining balance and complexity. In contrast to warmer areas like the Russian River Valley—where heat accelerates sugar accumulation and forces earlier harvests—this site produces Pinot Noir with greater nuance. The 2024 vintage captures both intensity and finesse, offering vibrant structure, layered aromatics, and bright, persistent acidity that defines this coastal appellation.

Vintage 2024 unfolded on time, as if the season itself had been orchestrated. Generous winter and spring rains refreshed the soils, giving vines a deep reserve of water heading into a warm, dry flowering that produced beautifully set clusters. Summer brought warm days and cool nights, allowing grapes to ripen slowly while maintaining vibrant acidity, and the absence of rain kept disease pressure low. Harvest arrived under cool, sunny skies, enabling careful, deliberate picking at perfect maturity. Edmeades Vineyard was LIOCO's first foray into the lower-elevation sites (250') on the south side of Highway 128—those with more shading from afternoon sun allowing the fruit to develop more slowly, preserving freshness and nuance. The resulting wines carry a lower pH than those on the hillsides across the street, and a palpable freshness and taught structure on the palate. In 2024, we harvested all three clones (115, 777, and Swan) on the same morning and co-fermented them with 10% whole clusters (which was a first). The resulting wine shows layered aromatics, supple tannins, and a natural vibrancy.

The wildfires in 2020 necessitated a shift in fruit sourcing, and the extreme drought / massive winter frost of 2021 left us with too little fruit to bottle an Indica. The 2022 was a return to form as we tapped all three original fruit sources, ramped the carbonic maceration, and bottled a wine that everyone agreed was flat out delicious. It sold out before we could get the 2023 to bottle. Fear not! The 2023 is now bottled and it, like so many of our 2023s shows the once-in-ten-years fruit quality that this vintage will soon be known for. It is a blend of three historic Mendocino ranches—some dry-farmed, 1940s Carignan from Bartolomei (Talmage) and 1960s McCutchen (Pine Mountain), plus a healthy dollop of rare 1940s Valdiguie from Lolonis (Redwood Valley). We rocked 50% whole cluster, with two tanks going through carbonic maceration. Further, we pressed the juice off the skins early and "went to barrel sweet" to highlight the crunchy freshness of this wine. The result is chillable, medium weight red—with some grip—that reminds of us Cote de Brouilly but is unabashedly Californian.

2.2 tons of Syrah hand-harvested and sorted on the chilly morning of Oct 12th. Fermented with 75% whole clusters on native yeasts. A 5-day cold soak preceded spontaneous 15 day fermentation with once daily punch downs. The wine was aged in used French oak for 20-mos. Bottled unfined/unfiltered.

A LIOCO Cabernet Sauvignon? How? Why? The short is: because Sara and I are geeks who enjoy authentic wines from all varieties, around the world. We love the old school Cali Cabs from the 1970s and 1980s and still have some prized bottles in our cellar. The inspo for Fondo was 1966 Mondavi Reserve—a wine at 12.3% abv, no noticable oak, with a streak of green pyrazine running through it. Could we still make wine like that in the era of climate change? Fondo explores this question. When our friends Morgan and Chris at Bedrock told us they had just wrapped the final year on a 30 year grape contract with Mondavi (long a source for that legendary estate's Reserve Cabernet), and offered LIOCO some of that old vine, field sprawl Cab, we jumped. Our inaugural vintage 2021 gave us the confidence to wade into the sharky waters of Cab Sauv. And our follow up bottling in 2022 has determined us to continue. LIOCO is now a Cab house ;). This wine is a barrel selection made from Bedrock and (California Grand Cru) Monte Rosso. It is a deeply saturated wine that still maintains buoyancy and drinkability.