2022 Birichino Malvasia Bianca (Still)

100% Malvasia Bianca, a grape native to Mike’s family homeland of Calabria in southern Italy, sourced from a forty year old vineyard 500’ in elevation on deep sand atop shale on the western flank of the Santa Lucia Range.John Locke and Alex Krause have been using fruit from this site, Loma del Rio, since their days at Bonny Doon. For this wine, a nighttime machine harvest is employed at their direction, resulting in 12 to 14 hours of skin-maceration for maximum aromatic potential. The wine is fermented with native yeasts cool and slow in stainless steel until dry, and is kept on its fine lees without stirring for four to five months before bottling without fining or filtration.

Tasting Notes

This is wonderfully fresh, vibrant, and aromatic. It is bone-dry on the palate, with bright lime, white peach, and a very clean minerally finish that will have you going back for another glass.... and another.

About Birichino

Alex Krause and John Locke founded Birichino in Santa Cruz in 2008. Drawing on a combined four decades making wine in California, France, Italy, and beyond, they are focused on attaining the perfect balance of perfume, poise, and puckishness. Sourcing from a number of carefully farmed, family-owned, own-rooted 19th and early 20th century vineyards (and a few from the late disco era) planted by and large in more moderate, marine-influenced climates, their preoccupation is to safeguard the quality and vibrance of their raw materials. Their preference is for minimal intervention, most often favoring native fermentations, employing stainless or neutral barrels, minimal racking and fining, and avoiding filtration altogether when possible. But most critically, their aim is to make delicious wines that give pleasure, revitalize, and revive.

92 points, Wine Enthusiast. "Rounded aromas of pear, bright citrus and jasmine make for a floral nose on this bottling. The palate dries up very quickly, with orange blossom and plumeria flavors that persist as the moisture wicks away. Serve with ceviche, raw scallops and all sorts of sushi. Best Buy. ( MK)."