Margins Wine, Negrette San Benito Red 2021

Producer: Margins Wine
Region: Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Grape Varieties: Negrette
Viticulture: Certified Organic
Category: Red
Size: 750ml bottle

Margins Wine produces low-intervention wines using grapes from underrepresented regions, vineyards, and varietals. We are part of the growing movement in California to make wines from sustainably farmed vineyards using little to no additives during the winemaking process, thereby showcasing the vineyards the grapes 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. Margins draws attention to vineyards and varietals throughout northern and central California that find themselves on the margins without the recognition they deserve. Margins Wine is a small winemaking project of Megan Bell, a winemaker living and working in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Prior to settling on the central coast of California, Megan received her BS in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis and apprenticed in wineries and vineyards in Napa, Livermore, the Willamette Valley, Central Otago, and the Loire.

74 cases produced. From the Calleri Vineyard in the AVA San Benito County. 100% destemmed, soaked on skins overnight and pressed the next day. Aged in neutral oak for nine months. Native fermentation, no fining, no filtration, no other modifications or additions except 20 ppm of sulfur dioxide the week before bottling. Négrette is a red variety native to southwestern France that winemaker Megan had not only never tried, but never even heard of a couple of years ago. She met the grower and started experimenting without any preconceived notions of what the wine should become. The 2021 version is quite light and chuggable, bursting with fresh grapes, grapefruit, and balsamic notes.