2019 Margins Muscat Blanc Cecchini Ranch

Region: Contra Costa County < California

Grapes: Muscat Blanc

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming with loads of biodiversity + regenerative practices; half of the grapes in the final blend were de-stemmed and skin fermented for two days with one punchdown per day. The other half of the grapes were whole cluster pressed the day of picking. The two blends were aged separately in neutral oak for 5.5 months and blended before bottling. No fining, no filtration, and no other modifications or additions except 20 ppm of sulfur dioxide the week before bottling; 11.5% ABV; 96 cases

Winemaker: Megan BellMargins Wine is a small personal project of an idealistic twenty-something called Megan Bell, launched in 2016 with a Kickstarter campaign. Having earned her BS from UC Davis and worked in vineyards from Napa and the Willamette Valley to New Zealand and the Loire, Megan settled in the Santa Cruz Mountains for a job – assistant winemaker at Beauregard Vineyards – but set her sights on making her own wine using grapes from as many underrepresented vineyards, regions, and varietals as possible. We love her philosophy: “we are part of the growing movement in California to make wines from sustainably farmed vineyards with little to no additives, showcasing the vineyards they came from. Much like people living on the “margins of society,” vineyards can be outcasts too. Most consumers of wine are only familiar with a handful of grape growing regions and types of wine.” She aims to change that homogeneity by making great, terroir-driven wine from these fringe grapes and getting them some much deserved attention. Like this gorgeous Muscat from a regenerative, biodiverse farm in Contra Costa County (the vineyard shares space with First Generation Farmers, an organic community farm/education campus that teaches the highest standards of organic farming in the USA!) This pretty wine is super aromatic -- it smells like rosewater-infused Turkish delight -- but drinks bone dry with crispy stone fruit, honeysuckle, Asian pear, and insane acid.  A lovely white to sip very cold on a hot day -- or all day.