California Stars, California
AOC: Redwood Valley, Sierra Foothills, Sonoma Valley
Varieties: Chardonnay, Orange Muscat, Cinsault, Grenache, Counoise, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Viticulture: Organic
Size: Purchasing/ farming grapes from approx. 45 acres of vines
Production: Around 350 cases a year
Terroir: Alluvial, Clay Loam
Varieties: Chardonnay, Orange Muscat, Cinsault, Grenache, Counoise, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Viticulture: Organic
Size: Purchasing/ farming grapes from approx. 45 acres of vines
Production: Around 350 cases a year
Terroir: Alluvial, Clay Loam
Selection Massale is proud to announce a new addition to our family of custom projects. California Stars was born when the *stars aligned* with producers we’ve always admired–Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig of Les Lunes–to collaborate on three cuvées together. These are Love me Love me Not (skin contact white), Fool Bloom (light chillable red blend), and Star Crossed (Classic California Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot).
Diego and Shaunt recently took us through the blending process and shed some light on their operations at their gorgeous new facility they’ve built in Richmond California (just outside of Berkeley). Richmond, which is a burgeoning winemaking community, is also home to Purity and Subject to Change. This new cellar is much larger than their previous space (Shaunt’s parents’ basement). Consequently, they were able to sign vineyard contracts to work with as much quantity and varieties as they wanted to. There are other newfound conveniences, such as being much closer to the vineyards and having more space for bottling. All of these allowed Shaunt and Diego to have the availability and ability to make these three amazing wines for us.
Diego and Shaunt recently took us through the blending process and shed some light on their operations at their gorgeous new facility they’ve built in Richmond California (just outside of Berkeley). Richmond, which is a burgeoning winemaking community, is also home to Purity and Subject to Change. This new cellar is much larger than their previous space (Shaunt’s parents’ basement). Consequently, they were able to sign vineyard contracts to work with as much quantity and varieties as they wanted to. There are other newfound conveniences, such as being much closer to the vineyards and having more space for bottling. All of these allowed Shaunt and Diego to have the availability and ability to make these three amazing wines for us.
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About the winemakers: Shaunt and Diego met at UC Davis but really became fast friends and partners while abroad in France staging separately in the Loire. They would meet up on weekends to have culinary adventures. Diego originally thought he would make beer but then shifted gears. Shaunt started off as a chemistry student but didn’t want to go into academia or research. Eventually he ended up making wine and his mentor pushed him to go to school, which suited his academic side. The rest is history. After setting up shop in California, the duo decided to lease vineyards but remain very hands on about farming. Currently they work with about 45 acres total and have collaborated with the same team for pruning and harvesting for the past five years or so. One tactic has been to source grapes from people they want to learn from– for instance, Larry Venturi. They’ve been able to convert quite a few conventionally farmed vineyards and begin working with them as well. Shaunt and Diego don’t buy grapes in Napa and Sonoma (too expensive), but they’re making serious wines that are akin to ones you find from that area, just sourced elsewhere.
The label art is a very big part of this project and we're thrilled to be featuring art from Giulia Fiorista (@liafiore), commissioned for these special bottlings. Giulia interviewed Shaunt and Diego about the things most important to them in California. Each label tells a story about California and the winemakers’ passions. The three-part story revolves around a love letter: a bear masked character writes a letter to a farming woman, who receives it while busy working in the fields. The letter is an invitation to dinner, which sees the two of them coming together eating fine food and wine.
The label art is a very big part of this project and we're thrilled to be featuring art from Giulia Fiorista (@liafiore), commissioned for these special bottlings. Giulia interviewed Shaunt and Diego about the things most important to them in California. Each label tells a story about California and the winemakers’ passions. The three-part story revolves around a love letter: a bear masked character writes a letter to a farming woman, who receives it while busy working in the fields. The letter is an invitation to dinner, which sees the two of them coming together eating fine food and wine.
WINES
Love Me Love Me Not (North Coast):
30% Direct Press Searby Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast), Dry-Farmed old vines direct pressed and fermented in stainless, aged in flextanks. 10% Macerated Searby Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast). Same vineyard as above, destemmed, 12 days on skin, aged in neutral French oak. 10% Carbonic Lolonis Chardonnay, Redwood Valley, Mendocino, Old vines, 5 day carbonic maceration, then grapes destemmed and pressed 10 days later when dry. 15% Macerated Lolonis Chardonnay, Redwood Valley, Mendocino. Same vineyard as above. Destemmed at harvest, 14 days on skins, fermented in flextanks. 15% Colombard, Green Valley of Solano County. Direct press, fermented and aged in flextanks. 20% Orange Muscat, Lodi, 6 days on skins, aged in flextanks. The multiple treatments of Chardonnay across different vineyards/regions give the wine a lot of depth and complexity while still maintaining lightness and freshness. The carbonic brings a great tropical/pineapple note, macerated more stone fruit and apricot, while direct press has apple juice and citrus character. The muscat brings a pop of orange/citrus and floral notes and Colombard adds nicely to the bright finish. 
Star Crossed
The Cabernet is coming from our own farmed vineyard (Stone Barn Farm Vineyard) in the Sonoma Valley right on the border with Carneros. We farm these grapes organically without any irrigation. You typically see more Pinot and Chardonnay in this area, but we like the cool climate so that we can get good hang time and maturity while preserving good acid and keeping the alcohol low. The soils are deep, well drained alluvial soils, which are well suited to dry farming in this climate. For vinification we simply destem the grapes and let them ferment in stainless tanks and they are pressed at dryness (in this case 15 days). We then raised the wine in a combination of neutral french 60 gal barrels and 300 gal HDPE flextanks. The Merlot is coming from Lolonis. The grapes were treated similarly to the Cabernet Sauvignon, destemmed and fermented til dryness (16 days maceration) and aged in stainless tanks to preserve freshness. The wines were blended just prior to bottling and 20ppm was added. |
Fool Bloom (Sierra Foothills):
40% Cinsault (20 mins away from Saureel), 40% Grenache (Saureel), 20% Counoise (Fernow). Grenache and Cinsault semi carbo (7 days carbo then take out of tank to destem it) Counoise destemmed and pressed to dryness. The semi carbo helps lift aromatics without overwhelming the structure. |