The grapes come from organically grown vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills along Santa Rosa Road: La Mesa, La Encantada, La Rinconada, and Sanford & Benedict. The soils are sandy loam, clay loam, chert and shale. This wine best represents the potential of the region. It is fermented with whole bunches, on average 50%, using only indigenous yeasts. It is crushed and punched down. Fermentation takes approximately three weeks and then the wine is aged in 228L barriques.
Aging: 18 months in French oak barrels (15% new)
Production volume: 1,294 cases
Yeast: Indigenous yeast Racine, which means grape root in French, is a winery specializing in wines from the Santa Rita Hills AVA in California, born from the collaboration of four people. The idea for a collaborative winery came from the ideas of two people: Étienne de Montille, the owner of Domaine de Montille, based in Volnay, Burgundy, France, and Brian Sieve, an American who serves as the Domaine's chef de cave.
In 2016, the two planned a trip to the wine regions of California and Oregon, and conducted a month-long tasting tour. At that time, the two became very interested in the Santa Rita Hills AVA, and were particularly impressed by the high precision and expressiveness (nuance) of Tyler Winery in Santa Barbara. The two approached Justin Willet, the owner and winemaker of Tyler, about collaborating, and they hit it off by creating the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that are unparalleled in Santa Rita Hills. A year later, Etienne's friend, Rodolphe Péters, the ever-popular Champagne récoltant-manipulant Pierre Péters, joined the project, and in 2017, they released their first wine as a multi-collaboration winery that crossed the borders of France and the United States. Rodolphe is in charge of producing authentic sparkling wine using the same Santa Rita Hills grapes selected and produced using the Champagne method (scheduled for release in Japan in fall 2022). Etienne, Brian, and Rodolphe. For these three, Racine is like a blank canvas where they can use their imagination and craftsmanship without being bound by the history and traditions of the two great French wine-producing regions of Burgundy and Champagne. The goal is for the partners, from different generations, to bring their expertise and experience to express the terroir of Santa Rita Hills, which is attracting attention as one of the world's leading cool-climate regions for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, through wine. This project started with just four people, but now Justin has been replaced by local Santa Rita Hills specialists Ryan and Betsy Hannaford, who are also cultivation partners.
Chardonnay, planted on diatomaceous earth that was once the bottom of the sea, is brewed using techniques used in Burgundy and Champagne, with an emphasis on "energy," "transparency," and "precision." Pinot Noir is fermented using whole bunches of grapes, and aims for a style that is well extracted, full-bodied, and long-lasting, while pursuing "elegance," "refreshment," and "spicy."