It all began with our singular vision to create a wine as distinctly elegant as the aged French Bordeaux but also exemplifying the intense ripeness and nuances of fruit grown in Northern California. In our quest to find just the right balance of warm valley sun and cool bay influences we discovered a hillside vineyard unlike any other. Hillside viticulture forces grapevine roots deeper for their precious nutrients adding complexity and intensity to the fruit. We knew from the first taste, this vineyard would make incredible wines.
Quercus (Latin for oak) is where it begins in our strong commitment to barrel aging. Each year the Quercus vintages are aged in a combination of French, Hungarian and American oak barrels. We focus on ultra-small boutique style wine. Ultra-small lot meaning our wine is created entirely by hand with less than 1000 cases total production. This means we can focus our attention on making wine our way using old and new world techniques.
First, we decide when the fruit is at its peak for harvest, and this doesn’t always mean physical ripeness but also physiological ripeness. We can (and do) drive our grower crazy as we stretch his limits of patience in our pursuit of the perfect grape. Next, we hand sort every cluster to remove any unwanted leaves, stems and clusters that may be unripe or over-ripe. Then we gently crush the fruit and fill small 5x5 fermenters and begin a cold soaking process to extract the most color and intensity possible.
Small batch fermentation ensures absolute control of the rate, temperature and completeness of the fermentation process. This also allows each lots' personality to surface and provide the opportunity for us to determine which type of oak barrel will coax out individual characteristics. After extended time in contact with the skins and seeds we gently separate the juice and begin the 18-24 month barrel aging process with each small bin selected to fill either French, Hungarian or American Oak Barrels. The final stage involves evaluating each barrel over and over again throughout the aging process to determine how we’ll construct the final blend we call our Rubra and Rubra Reserve. Through each step of the winemaking process we let our senses be the guide!
Cheers!
--Steve Lisec & John "Flip" Gilpin
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