2021 “Máslás” Piquette Red Wine

Piquette is a Low-Alcohol, Bubbly, Natural Wine

Once upon a time, on a continent far, far away, the vineyard and winery workers of the world discovered that if they added water to pressed grape skins (aka pomace), the little sugar that remained would ferment, and the result was a low alcohol beverage, spritzy and thirst quenching. Perfect for a midday sipper while there was still work to be done, and a reliable and clean source of hydration. The French call it piquette, we call it Máslás, which more or less means “copy” in Hungarian. Get it? In 2021, we couldn’t bear to part with the super aromatic pinot noir clusters pressed for our Rosé for the Bay, so we tried a red version of Máslás, stems and all. Nothing else was added, and the piquette wine is neither filtered nor fined. As natural as you can get. And boy is it refreshing. Big sweet & sour berry flavors, a bit dusty and herbal, like eating underripe blackberries off a dusty roadside bramble, with a side of umeboshi plums and blood orange.

Casey Graybehl, Winemaker