The 2022 Queen of the Sierra rosé was grown on the Rorick estate vineyard in Calaveras County at 2000’ elevation, featuring soils comprised of a layer of schist over dolomite-rich limestone. Composed primarily of Mondeuse and Zinfandel, with cameos from Tempranillo, Grenache noir, and Barbera, the wine shows all of the aromatic complexity and textural presence that are the hallmarks of wines grown on the limestone of our estate. It presents a wonderful dynamic tension between an entry that displays a hint of roundness and the bright, electric acidity that makes up this wine’s backbone. 

The fruit was hand-picked and whole-cluster pressed into stainless steel; fermentation was allowed to begin spontaneously with native yeast. The ferment proceeded with vigor and enthusiasm, and was completed in December following the harvest. We assembled all of the component wines in January 2023, and it was bottled unfined and unfiltered in February 2023. As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.

Queen of the Sierra white estate blend was grown on the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Calaveras County at 2000’ elevation, featuring soils comprised of a layer of schist over dolomite-rich limestone. Composed primarily of Chardonnay, Verdelho, and Muscat, the wine shows all of the aromatic complexity and textural presence that are the hallmarks of wines grown on the limestone of our estate.

All fruit for our estate white blend was hand-picked. Most lots were fermented separately due to different pick dates. Individual lots were racked and blended together; they remained in neutral oak or steel tank until being bottled unfined and unfiltered. As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.

What’s the big idea with a co-ferment? At RHV, we love the aromatic exuberance we find in our white varieties, and the reds can bring a bounty of bright fruit flavors to the wines they produce. So why not put those things together?? You end up with the best of both worlds – the co-ferment stands in the ground between red, white, and rosé. It’s eminently chillable because it has lighter tannins than a regular red, it’s got more flavor and aroma than a rosé by virtue of its longer skin contact, and it has all the savory tang of the limestone soils and cold nights here at RHV. So how did we do it? We picked reds, we picked whites, and we put them in the fermenter together to get the party started. As it happened, varieties from similar historical regions paired up for picking time: Albariño and Tempranillo hit it together, as did Barbera and Vermentino, Chenin blanc and Pineau d’Aunis, Trousseau and Chardonnay, and (let’s hear it for 1880s California!) Zinfandel and Verdelho. We pressed the ferments somewhere between halfway dry and all the way dry, depending on how they tasted and how grippy they were, and then the wines were put down to neutral 227L barrique or blended together in stainless. The ‘23 Queen Co-Ferment was bottled unfined and unfiltered at the end of May 2024. As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.