A blend of Rhone varieties from the famous vineyards of El Dorado
Brand: Donkey & Goat Winery
Product: The Bear
Vintage: 2018
Color: Red
Origin: California / Sierra Foothills
AVA: El Dorado
Capacity: 750ml
Grape varieties: Counoise, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne
DINING
It pairs perfectly with fatty sausages, sauerkraut, and sweet roasted fall squash.
TASTING
As the name suggests, this is a wild wine. It has aromas of fresh earth, mulberry and wild grass. It is a very complex wine.
COMMENT
Donkey & Goat Winery (donkey = donkey, goat = goat) is an urban winery run by female winemaker Tracy in Berkeley, San Francisco.
He studied winemaking in the Rhone region to master the basics of winemaking, and founded Donkey & Goat in 2001. Utilizing the time-honored traditional technique of "natural winemaking" he learned in France, he practices winemaking that makes the most of the grapes grown in the region.
It has now grown into one of California's leading wineries for "natural wine."
WINEMAKING
This is a blend of grapes from Fenaughty and Lightner, which are grown at an altitude of about 2,800 feet in El Dorado. Donkey & Goat has taken the Rhone variety that was started in the Sierra Foothills in 2003 and further evolved it in their own way. It would not have been possible to complete this wine without the power of this vineyard.