2019 Deux Punx No Comply

Region: Carneros Sonoma County < California
Grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; whole berries are co-fermented
in stainless steel (18 days) then pressed to neutral oak for 4 months;
bottled unfined/unfiltered with minimal added So2; 13% ABV; 70 cases
Winemaker: Dan Schaaf & Aaron Olson

Dan Schaaf, former skateboarder now water-resources engineer, and his
partner Aaron Olson, former punk band drummer turned software
engineer, have no intention of ever trading the security of their
straight gigs for full-time winemaking. Because they don't want to be
dependent on the income from wine to put food on the table - lest it
change their motivation for natty winemaking and affordability.  They
met in 2005 and bonded over this shared punk attitude. Their motto:
“Deux Punx are the antidote the wine industry needs. Utter crassness!
No training, no affiliations and plans to keep it that way. Punk rock
ethos insist wines are made frugally and sold for honest prices.”

The parallels between their love of punk/skate culture and the
back-to-basics, anti-establishment ethos of natural winemaking are
clear.  They're all about risk and freedom, having skipped skilled
formal winemaking training, instead taking a DIY approach.  Schaaf
says: “Aaron and I have always said, ‘let’s not be influenced, let’s
be outsiders a little bit.” And while they've come a long way, they're
still on the fringe -- and happy to stay there.  They started with a
60 case production in 2007, and are now up to a whopping 700 cases
total across 8 or so different wines.

But the wines are good.  Really good.  Like this crunchy chillable red
that's just right for this time of year.  It's part of their No Comply
series -- same label, different varietal every vintage.  No Comply is
a classic skateboarding trick, and like every skate trick there are
variations. Last year this was Teroldego and Barbera; this year it’s a
Cab Franc and Merlot. About this wine, Dan says: "The fruit was
singing in early September and we wanted this one to be a summer
drinker. The simple approach in the winery keeps paying off. Minimal
SO2, neutral and stainless aging, and then to bottle. Fire up the BBQ
and learn a new variation of No Comply!"  We love how it starts off
crunchy and green, but evolves, opening up to the red-fruited,
chocolatey side of Merlot.  Dan calls it a summer drinker, but this
one screams FALL in our book, and we want it lightly chilled, with
mushroom pasta or roasted squash or dark chocolate.    The Deux Punx
boys like to offer musical pairings for all of their wines, and the
suggested song for this bottle is “Cherry Bomb” by the Runaways.
We'll be chilling a bottle and testing out this music/wine pairing
tonight!