Rumpelstiltskin Wines
2021 Dobričić, Hill Family Vineyard, Russian River Valley
2023 Trousseau Gris, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
2023 Trousseau Gris, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Dobričić is a rare heritage grape grown on the island of Šolta in Croatia that we are now growing in our family vineyard in the Russian River Valley. This 2021 vintage is a racy, fruit-driven Mediterranean style red wine showing black plums, red spice and ample freshness. Only 17 cases were produced. $30 / bottle. Purchase here
2023 Trousseau Gris, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
2023 Trousseau Gris, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
2023 Trousseau Gris, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Trousseau Gris is a rare, near extinct cultivar from the Jura region of France, near Switzerland. It is neither white nor red, but a pink-skinned grape called “Gris.” This wine was fermented on the skins for 5 weeks. The resulting wine is bright orange with considerable structure on the palate. Only 83 cases were produced. $32 / bottle. Purchase here
Appassimento
2023 Trousseau Gris, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Appassimento
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Made via the painstaking appassimento process and aged in cask for many years, the resulting wine is garnet with slight bricking toward the rim. It has deep and savory aromas of dark cherry, dried black figs, tobacco, weathered wood, tar, star anise and gunsmoke. On the palate the wine is explosively rich, full and concentrated. The tannins are nicely integrated. Our Appassimento wine tastes wholly Italian despite its Sonoma County heritage. $150 / bottle. Purchase here
94 points Best of Class 2021 West Coast Wine Competition
94 points Double Gold Award 2022 All Americas Wine Competition January 2022
91 points Gold Award Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge April 2021
90 points Wine & Spirits Magazine June 2021
Trousseau Gris
Rumpelstiltskin Wines is our endeavor to bring some of the more unusual and obscure wine styles from the old world but made from local grapes. Trousseau Gris is a rare, near extinct cultivar from the Jura region of France near Switzerland. It is neither white nor red, but a pink-skinned grape called “Gris”. This wine was fermented entirely with the skins for 5 weeks - as red wine is made. The resulting wine is light in color like a rosé, but with considerable structure in the palate.
We used low intervention winemaking procedures, many people call “natural wine”. It is fermented with the native yeast naturally present on the grapes. The acidity of the juice is not adjusted. Sulfur dioxide use is kept to a minimum. There is no fining nor filtration used.
The Trousseau Gris grapes were blended with 13% Malvasia Bianca to lower the potential alcohol and to add a bright, floral component. The wine was aged sur lies in neutral barrels for 12 months prior to bottling. Skin-fermented white winemaking originated in the Caucasus Mountains and other areas in eastern Europe dating back centuries. The result is multi-layered wine with considerable texture and structure.
Composition: 87% Trousseau Gris, Russian River Valley, Peter Fanucchi Vineyard. 13% Malvasia Bianca, Dry Creek Valley, Kevin Skene Vineyard.
2023 Rumpelstiltskin Trousseau Gris
Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley
$32
Appassimento
Rumpelstiltskin Wines is our endeavor to bring some of the more unusual and obscure wine styles from the old world but made from local grapes. Appassimento is both the name for our red wine and the name of a traditional winemaking process in Northern Italy that involves partially air-drying whole clusters of grapes after they are harvested. This technique produces a more concentrated wine than the grapes would normally make. The most well-known example of Appassimento is Amarone from Italy’s Valpolicella region.
We hand harvest whole clusters into table grape boxes that we’ve adapted for air-drying by cutting off the sides. The fruit must be placed in the boxes only one layer high, otherwise the grapes could rot during the drying process.
We hand stack the boxes in the drying warehouse, the “fruttaio”, with space between the boxes to allow for air circulation. Fans and humidity control are employed in the fruttaio to increase air circulation and discourage rot. Often we need to turn the clusters over several times during the drying process.
After a few weeks, the berries begin to wither and lose some moisture through the skins. The stems and seeds mature and turn brown. We select a few boxes to monitor weight loss from week to week. This particular batch of Merlot lost 25% of its weight. The Brix began at 22.6 and finished at 25.1 over 59 days.
Following a three day cold-soak, VQ15 (Rockpile) yeast is added to begin fermentation. The must is pumped-over two or three times per day, and after 12 days on the skins the wine is pressed off. Managing the fermentation is demanding since the wine can reach higher alcohols than many dry wines. We age this wine in large cask for a long periods of time to develop savory complexity and approximate a traditional style.
The resulting wine is garnet in color with slight bricking toward the rim. It has deep and savory aromas of dark cherry, dried black figs, tobacco, weathered wood, tar, star anise and gunsmoke. On the palate the wine is rich, full and concentrated. The tannins are seamlessly integrated. Our Rumpelstiltskin Appassimento tastes wholly Italian despite its Sonoma County heritage.
2007 Rumpelstiltskin Appassimento
Russian River Valley
Sonoma County
$75
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