Martha Stoumen Post Flirtation Red 2020

54% Carignan, 46% Zinfandel. Martha Stoumen Wines was founded upon the desire to recapture a farming and winemaking culture that has all but faded away: a winemaking culture of patience. Martha went to work in the vineyard, olive orchard, and winery of a small farm and learning center in Tuscany after studying traditional agricultural systems and Italian during her undergraduate degree. Nowadays, Martha Stoumen Wines is a one-woman grape growing and natural winemaking project out of Northern California. Martha works with varieties historic to California, like Carignan and Zinfandel, as well as those she's helping pioneer under California’s sun, such as Nero d’Avola. Rare among California’s new guard, Martha leases and farms 75% of her vineyards. She focuses on biodiversity, and prunes with vine longevity in mind. Most importantly, to truly respect her Californian roots, she farms their vineyards in such a way that maintains healthy ecosystems. Although the farming and winemaking practices are traditional, the profiles of Martha’s wines break from the California standard in that they are light, electric, and digestible. Minimalist winemaking techniques are used in the cellar. Patience in the cellar means letting the natural yeast and bacteria on the grape skins perform the fermentation. Patience means allowing longer macerations and aging to provide stability rather than adding tannin, acid, or stabilizing agents in the wines. For the 2020 vintage of Post Flirtation Red, the Zinfandel comes from Del Barba Vineyard in Oakley, CA which is dry-farmed on sand. The Carignan comes from Ricetti Vineyard in Mendocino and was planted in 1948, it is dry-farmed on gravelly loam. Both grapes are 100% destemmed, fermented separately and aged in stainless steel tanks for 6 months before blending and bottling unfined and unfiltered. All of this combines to give a wine that tastes like a lively hibiscus agua fresca with notes of orange peel and juicy pomegranate. A kitchen chameleon and a balanced blend, Carignan brings savory flavors while juicy Zinfandel brings sweet spices like clove and cinnamon. Try serving chilled. We like to put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes before popping. Go see why everybody loves Martha's wines.