2021 Idlewild Red Wine 'Flora & Fauna', North Coast, California (750ml)   

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Producer notes ~ "For 2021, the blend is comprised of roughly 48% Dolcetto, 48% Barbera, and 4% Nebbiolo and a bit of Freisa. The fruit comes from Fox Hill Vineyard and Lost Hills Ranch. Fox Hill lends depth while Lost Hills balances with vibrancy and bright aromatics. In the end, Mendocino is what is most on display with high and low tones and a very pleasant rusticity.

All of these varieties have structure and at the same time a joyous side. The focus in fermen-tation was to build enough structure for a very versatile food wine but also to emphasize the exuberant and delicious elements of each grape. To do this, the wines were left largely whole cluster and all fermentations started with carbonic maceration. That being said, none of them were pushed to be fully carbonic wines. Instead, the initial lift in aromatics and push on frothy fresh fruits was achieved, and then I fully treaded the wines to allow fermentation to switch to a more standard flow. This gave a backbone and savory qualities to act as bass notes to the carbonic high tones. All of the wines were pressed a touch early to ensure that the tannic structure was appropriate for a shorter time in barrel, just four months in neutral oak."