Region: Contra Costa County < California
Grapes: Chardonnay, Muscat Blanc, Malvasia Bianca
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; sandy Delta soils; grapes are harvested on the same day and co-fermented (to avoid blending trials) in neutral oak barrels for 8 months; bottled unfined/unfiltered with minimal added So2; 10.5% 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 unusual white blend of Chardonnay with two aromatic varietals -- seems like it wouldn't work, but wow, it kills it!  It's faintly tropical on the nose, but the aromatic varieties shine on the palate: white flowers, yellow peach, bitter almond, gentle acid -- yum!  And clocking in at a totally crushable 10.5% ABV, this is a wine we could drink all day long.  Breakfast wine, anyone?