Ashanta Wines 2022 'Brutal!!!' Elderberry Petillant Naturel, California
Item Number: 21241
UPC: None
Country: USA
Region: California
Sub Region: California
Appellation/AVA: California
Estate Grown Wine: No
Vintage: 2022
Grape(s): 40% Viognier / 20% Elderberry / 10% Vitis Californica / 10% Chardonnay / 10% Mission / 10% Riesling
Type: Wine - Sparkling
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 12
Closure: Crown Cap
Alc by Vol(%): 12.5
Viticulture: Practicing Organic
Case Production: 45
In 2020, Ashanta made their first Brutal!!! It was inspired by their backcountry hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains, where they spotted wild elderberry bushes growing in granite soils at an elevation of around 6,500 feet. Days after bottling the Brutal, the Bobcat Fire struck, burning 115,796 acres in the central San Gabriel Mountains, including where they had harvested the elderberries just weeks before. Overnight, the habitat that bore them fruits for their first wine of 2020 was altered for generations, if not forever. However, a year later in 2021, they returned to the same site and discovered that while the surrounding forest had indeed burned, the elderberry trees miraculously had not.
In 2022, they returned to this same site for their third year in a row, the elderberry trees flourishing. Ashanta feels honored to be able to express the San Gabriel Mountains terroir once again - the wonders of a magnificent alpine landscape full of canyons, swimming holes, waterfalls, rushing creeks, incense cedar, bristlecone pine, and indigenous wild elderberries.
Winemaking Notes: The elderberries were hand pressed and co-fermented with direct pressed Viognier and Riesling from the South Coast, Chardonnay from Sonoma Valley, and foraged ancient vine Mission from the Russian River Valley. This co-fermented for one week, then was bottled at 1.5 Brix. The wine was laid down for 1.5 years on the lees, then meticulously hand disgorged and given another 6 months of bottle conditioning.