2023 Broc Cellars Nouveau Red

Region: Mendocino < CA

Grapes: Valdiguié + a co-fermented blend of 30+ grape varieties

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; Valdiguié from Shell Creek Vineyards is the base of this co-fermented blend of white, rosé and red wine -- basically everything they brought in and made in 2023. After each pressing, they capture a little juice from each lot into a stainless tank as a combination of free run and pressing, which then underwent natural fermentation in the tank; bottled unfined/unfiltered with minimal added SO2; 12% ABV; 400 cases

Winemaker: Chris Brockway

• Berkeley, CA-based Broc Cellars is one of California's OG natural wine projects
• Nouveau is their snapshot of the season, bringing together 30+ grapes done every which way into a co-fermented light red blend
• Translucent ruby in the glass, this is light, fresh and fun like a juicy cherry Jolly Rancher
• The ultimate chillable red
• Dangerously crushable - just try to stop at one glass!

More about Broc Cellars

Like our Donkey & Goat friends and so many natural winemakers in Cali, Chris operates more like a négociant in that he don't own any vineyards (nearly impossible in CA), but manages the farming for most.  He works out of an urban winery in Berkeley (an old ink factory that he transformed) across the street from a cement plant and a motorcycle-repair shop.  Also, like many vintners these days, he didn’t start in wine, but found his way moving to California to study oenology, first at UC Davis, then at Cal State Fresno, from which he emerged with the technical skills to make conventional wine.  It wasn’t until he read Patrick Matthews’s Real Wine: The Rediscovery of Natural Winemakingthat he began to explore the possibilities of making wines focused on vineyard health and as little manipulation as possible in the cellar. Chris is definitely one of California’s OG natural producers, but his wines ride the classic line, palate wise. He says, “I’m not trying to out-weird anybody or obscure anybody,” he said. “We’re trying to get back to a more traditional concept of what wine used to be. Also, we like to drink wine, so lower alcohol is important.”  A NYT article from a few years back nicely spins the Broc story, and describes the New California négociant model as “a future that depends on vision, hustle and entrepreneurship rather than, as in Napa Valley, inheritance or making a fortune in another business to finance wine ventures. It’s a vision that may seem cutting edge but in fact is a throwback to California’s past, both stylistically in terms of Broc’s wines and financially, in terms of its shoestring budget.”