AROMA: lemon balm, yellow plum, white sage
FLAVOR: lemon meringue, oyster liqueur, fresh thyme
FOOD PAIRINGS: razor clam crostini, uni pasta, burrata and peaches
VINIFICATION: 1.34 tons hand-harvested on Sept 3rd. Fruit was crushed, pressed, and fermented on wild yeasts in 500L neutral oak puncheons. The wine completed a spontaneous malolactic fermentation, and was aged in barrel for 10 mos. Racked to steel for an additional 6 mos of anaerobic aging. Bottled unfined/unfiltered.
SITE: This choice little "home vineyard" is tucked into a fog-choked valley four miles from the cold Pacific Ocean. It grows on colluvial soils of golden sand and calcareous deposits. Clonal material is Old Wente, planted in the mid-1980s at <600ft elevation. This uniquely temperate region is defined by its relationship to the sea, reliable fog, and coastal redwoods. The vineyard was recently acquired by the Novick family and is managed by local legend, Prudy Foxx.
NOTES: Formerly known as Howard Family Vineyard, this sweet little home vineyard was purchased in 2021 by Ari & Kim Novick. They renamed the vineyard Kimari—a blend of their first names. The Novicks and their star viticulturalist Prudy Foxx are making all the right moves here: amending depleted soil, trimming back the encroaching forest, converting everything to biodynamic farming. They occasionally let their horse run through the vine rows. And they planted a vine nursery to preserve the integrity of their 1980s dry-farmed, old Wente Chardonnay (one of the oldest plantings in Santa Cruz). This is a damp site 4-miles the sea and it will seemingly always be a race against botrytis, but drinking the last few vintages determines us. This wine is chiseled from stone. Pure mineral energy. At 3.2 pH and 7.2 g/l TA it delivers a focused beam of flavors. Our mouths water for ocean delicacies or Sara's favorite summertime treat— burrata & peaches.
