2020 Raft Wines Sangiovese

Region: Butte County < California

Grapes: Sangiovese 

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: uncertified organic farming; fermented in
stainless, goes through natural malolactic fermentation; bottled
unfined/unfiltered with minimal SO2; 12.3% ABV

Winemaker: Jennifer Reichardt

Born and bred in Sonoma County, California, Jennifer Reichardt's family raises Sonoma County Poultry and Liberty Ducks.  Barely thirty now, Jennifer grew up surrounded by quality food production, and the lessons she learned while immersed in the family business inform her winemaking.  While she still runs the family duck farm as her day job, she decided wine was more her thing, so in 2011, Jennifer started working harvests for neighboring vineyards in Sonoma.  She continued to cultivate her craft and in 2016 launched her own brand, Raft.   An homage to her roots, a "raft" is a community to waterfowl.  Jennifer's philosophy is to craft a wine to be shared with the community.

Jennifer sources her grapes from small plots of organically farmed vines, like this Sangiovese from the Nascere Vineyard in Butte County.  We love Jen's description of the wine: "On the nose, the first thing right off the bat is a note of earthy bing cherry - like a cherry still on the tree perfectly ripe just waiting to be picked. In the glass, it’s color is a beautiful true ruby red, as you swirl it practically sparkles! On the palette, it playfully dances across your tongue, but then those Italian tannins set in to be a great balance for food."  We agree.  This is a lovely Sangiovese, showing true varietal character with a Sonoma twist - the fruit leans more cherry than herbal, the tannins are less rustic, and there's a smokey edge that makes it an excellent pairing for anything grilled, along with the usual pizza/pasta/tomato-y dishes.