Caleb Leisure Impostora Red 2023 750ml

PRODUCTION NOTES: Fermented whole cluster in qvevri, pressed after 10 days, elevage in qvevri.

VARIETAL: Hard to say. Something(s) Sicilian. The grapes come from a project in begun by the incomparable winemaker Bryan Harrington. I'm the very fortunate inheritor of this viticultural riddle. In 2015, cuttings believed to be Nerello Mascalese were shipped from a Mt. Etna vineyard to California. After a two year quarantine, they were grafted over Viognier at Sumu Kaw Vineyard. A year in, DNA testing revealed that the varietal was not Nerello Mascalese nor any other of the 28,000 varieties in the DNA database! Also, there were two different varietals. Could be Sicilian clones of Grenache and Mourvedre. Or not.

APPELLATION: El Dorado, Sierra Foothills

SOIL: Volcanic loam, decomposed granite

VINES: 25 years old (6 year old grafts)

-Caleb Leisure