Augur Wine Co. "Auspice" 2021 Cabernet Franc Paso Robles

750ml bottle

11.9% abv

Sourced from the biodynamically-farmed Parvenah Vineyard in Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County

Half partial carbonic / half aerobic fermentation aged in neutral puncheons

pH - 3.64

TA - 6.96 g/l

SO2 - 35ppm

HARVEST DATE- 9/8/21

BRIX @ HARVEST- 21.8

100 Cases  

Vinification Notes - Half the fruit was de-stemmed and fermented in open-top vessels and completed fermentation in 2 weeks. The free run juice and the pressed off juice went into old neutral puncheons. The other half underwent carbonic maceration for 5 weeks in T-bins. The carbonic free run and pressed off juice also went into a separate puncheon and was aged separately through élévage. The two puncheons were blended together, with minimal SO2 added just before bottling.

Tasting Notes - Boysenberry, wild radish, roasted tomatoes, sweet peppers, St. Louis ribs.

As I was looking to expand my fruit sources I came upon this lovely site which is owned by Homan Hadawi. It appealed to me right away when I learned of the biodynamic agricultural approach, its diverse and nitrogen-rich topsoils - and the romantic in me loved that he named the vineyard after his mother who’s nickname was Butterfly (Parvenah translates to butterfly in Farsi)

Situated roughly 20 miles as the crow flies from Big Rock in Morro Bay, the natural terroir of Parvaneh Vineyards consists of soils derived from solid bedrock, weathered granite, and marine sedimentary rock of the Miocene-age Monterey Formation, featuring calcareous shales, sandstone, diatomaceous, and volcanic earth dating back several millennia. 

AUGUR WINE CO. was born in the summer of 2014 after a surf session I had at The Hook in Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Point. While sitting on the beach after my surf, enjoying a bottle of Clos Cibonne’s Tibouren Rosé from the Côtes de Provence, I had a premonition. Maybe it came to me because I was buzzing from the great session I just had. Or maybe it was because of how tasty that wine was with my proximity to the ocean. Whichever way it came to me, the tickling feeling was undeniable - I knew my path would lead to producing California wines that had a similar oceanic minerality. After visiting and tagging along with some of my favorite producers that were making wines from Santa Cruz, Sonoma Coast, and Santa Barbara during their 2014 and 2015 harvest, I decided to launch into my first vintage in 2016.

I chose the name AUGUR to elicit that feeling I had on the beach, of good omens, the foretelling of great events, and to evoke the poetic tether we each possess to the spiritual unknown. Viticulture and vinification has always been celebrated in mystical and religious ritual throughout time and to me the two are deeply intertwined. My mom, Tina, helped me understand this belief as she is an intuitive and clairvoyant who interpreted dreams and practiced Tasseography with an ethereal and potent accuracy. I consider myself fortunate that she bestowed onto me a regard and inner understanding to the relationship of the physical and metaphysical. It felt fitting to select AUGUR as a label name to pay homage to her and to my deep adoration to all things related to spirituality and wine.

My approach to winemaking is subtle and anchored in a natural process. I start by sourcing grapes solely from single vineyard sites in coastal and cool climate regions that are certified organic or practicing the same methods of vineyard care. At the winery, all fermentations are spontaneous with low intervention processing that centers on higher quality fruit, without putting in additions that would make the wines over executed or removing any parts that would compromise purity and integrity. Relying on intuitiveness to guide my practice, I produce my wines with a hope that they’ll be equally enjoyed at any dinner table, pool party, beach towel, river bank, campsite, festivity, or gathering that one, or many, can divine.