This wine is very pretty, with hints of freshly dug soil and cheerful aromas of plum, violet, and black pepper. It is simpler than I expected to taste, but it is still a delight. The aftertaste of clay, cocoa, and cinnamon lingers forever. Cruise's first Petite Sirah is made from grapes grown biodynamically in a volcanic soil field located right next to Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County. The vines are about 30 years old and are lovingly cultivated by a French family. The carefully selected grapes are placed in concrete tanks without destemming or adding sulfur dioxide, and fermented naturally. Punch down is done several times a day, and delestage is done once at the beginning of fermentation. After pressing, the wine is transferred to barrels for malolactic fermentation. The period from harvest to bottling is about 10 months, and sulfur dioxide is added only once before bottling. "Cruse Wine Co." and "Ultramarine" are the California brands that are currently attracting the most attention from around the world. Michael Cruse, the owner and winemaker of these two brands, majored in biochemistry at UC Berkley and after graduating, he learned winemaking from a scientific perspective at SutterHome and Starmont. He did not receive any formal winemaking education, but instead taught himself wine science through trial and error and on-site experience, and founded Cruse Wine Co. and Ultramarine in 2013. Just three years later, he was selected as Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle, and was in the spotlight as a maverick in the California wine industry. The "Cruse Wine Co." brand produces wines with the pure fruitiness and transparency unique to California, as well as a strong structure, and the "Ultramarine" brand produces fragrant, handmade sparkling wines from single vineyards and single vintages, inspired by Champagne's Recoltant Manipulant. Even star-ranked restaurants in the US only allocate a few bottles per year, making this a popular wine that many sommeliers and wine buyers are desperate to get their hands on. As if symbolizing California wine in an age of diversity, they create complex, distinctive, and fresh wines without being confined to traditional styles or grape varieties. They actively use word-of-mouth and social media as marketing tools, and are making a leap into the world as an up-and-coming winemaker who will lead the next generation.