Frenchtown Farms 'Meadowlark' 2023 Red Wine Sierra Foothills

750ml bottle

13.9% abv

Vibrant, juicy, intense. Grippy palate of black fruit with herbs & bright acidity.

40% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Petit Verdot
Grown by Aaron & Cara Mockrish

Meadowlark is a new blend we started making in 2023 and are very excited to release. All three grape varieties are grown on the same block in the Naggiar vineyards in Grass Valley, a gently sloped south-facing hillside at about 1200 feet of elevation. For lovers of Chasse Patate, this wine is made in a similar style - half of the fruit was crushed by foot, the other half left whole-cluster and then all loaded into a 2000L stainless steel tank. The must was gently foot stomped every day, progressively crushing more fruit and releasing juice to continue feeding the fermentation. The wine was pressed off after two weeks into neutral French oak, and aged for 24 months before bottling.

This wine is an older cousin to Chasse Patate - a bit more structure and texture, but plenty of fruit and acidity to remain playful.

30ppm total SO2 at bottling.

"We interact with every vine personally, making decisions that shape the future of the vineyard as well as the final wine in bottle for that vintage. We consider the events of the past season, try to predict the coming months weather, and attempt to give each vine exactly the amount of work that it wants to do for the year."

Aaron & Cara Mockrish ended up in North Yuba County with the intention of establishing a farm, but a bottle of Clos Saron Black Pearl 2008 sent them off on an unexpected path to winemaking. Having tasted the wine, they found that the man who made it lived near to their farm. It was there, in Oregon House, California, that they found Gideon Beinstock, his tiny home vineyard, and their future.

They began learning from Gideon, working in the vineyards to the winery and everything in between, and it was clear that not only was this the life for them, that this was a singular place and the wines were unlike anything else. Shortly after producing their first vintage in 2015, they were able to secure access to a large portion of the Renaissance Vineyards, where they have been carefully farming multiple blocks of old, own-rooted, and dry farmed vines. In addition to their work at the Renaissance Vineyard, Aaron and Cara are establishing new vines on the steep, rocky slopes of their home vineyard, as well as tending to a 12-acre plot of mixed varieties in Grass Valley.

The hard work in the vineyard and cellar are clear when you taste the wines of Frenchtown Farms. They are part of a tradition while carving out a singular voice of their own.