2020 - 50% Riesling, 50% Gewürztraminer
Not quite sure what to call this method of achieving bubble. Ancestral? Taking suggestions for portmanteaus of Ancestral + Champenoise + Pet Nat. Maybe, Ancestropetnoise? Beauty of a sparkler - fruit-forward with tons of pear, grapefruit and green apple skin over a solid mineral backbone.
They direct pressed the Riesling and the Gewürztraminer separately, to ferment in neutral oak. A little under a quarter of the Gewürztraminer was fermented in open bins on the skins until dry, then pressed off into barrels. When they pressed the Riesling, they took a bunch of it and put into 5 gallon buckets and threw them in their chest freezer. From there they essentially made still wine. Just after the primary fermentation of the Riesling was through, they racked the wine(s) into tank. From there, they thawed out a particular amount of the frozen must they held back at crush, threw it in the tank, stirred it all up and bottled it. No added sulfur. Unfined/Unfiltered.