2016 Inconnu Kitsune

Region: Carneros < Napa Valley < California
Grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: organic farming, clay/loam soil, minimal added SO2, aged in used oak barrels, unfined/lightly filtered, 13% ABV
Winemaker: Laura Brennan Bissel

One-woman show Laura Brennan Bissel is a good friend, working mama of three, and total badass who started her own label in 2016. With an old-world elegance and balance to them, her wines drink on the classic end of the spectrum, proving that natural wine doesn’t have to be edgy or experimental-tasting. Like this old-school Bordeaux/California blend that channels the spirit of classic, early 1970’s or 1980’s Napa/Sonoma reds because it is produced with the same simple and classic methods.   Which hardly anyone else in the valley is doing these days, especially at this price.  Why?  Because Napa/Sonoma fruit has been in such high demand that Big Wine has been amassing larger holdings of the region’s already high-priced vineyard land -- which means fewer owners hold more vineyard acreage, making it increasingly (and often prohibitively) expensive for small, independent producers to bottle wines from vineyards in Napa or Sonoma AVAs. As a result, most small, artisanal and natural  producers are looking to less-famous grape varieties and/or less-prestigious growing regions. Which is why so many natural wines come from vineyards on the outskirts, in Mendocino, Contra Costa, Lodi, etc.

So, how the heck did Laura manage to bottle such an impressive and authentic expression of Carneros terroir at this super affordable price? Because she rolled up her sleeves and did everything herself. She doesn’t have the cash to compete for expensive, old-vine Cab and Merlot in the fancy Los Carneros AVA, so she approached the owner of one of her favorite vineyards there and asked if she could hand-farm a few rows of the property herself in exchange for significantly lower grape pricing. Then she did her usual low-intervention thing, which costs a lot less than using all the manipulations available in a modern winemakers tool box.  All work was done by hand —no mechanical sorting, no glycol temperature control, no complex filtration, no off-the-shelf additives, and no input from consulting oenologists. Like everything she makes, this is a hands-off, one-woman wine.