Beauty isn’t always what we expect. Sometimes it lies beneath the mundane or blooms in the chaos. It’s not something we can predict or control. It’s just beauty—and beauty is not perfect.
Our Wines
There’s a place where worlds meet. Where expectations fall away and distinct notions of beauty coexist.
That place is here, in wines that take everything irresistible about the Alsatian style—the grace, the food-friendliness, the pull-up-a-chair approachability—and evoke it from sunny Central Coast vineyards.
The results might be unexpected. Pink Gewürztraminers, dry Rieslings, Pinot Gris, carbonic reds, and skin-contact whites that prize elegance over power, joy over pretense, and community over just about everything else. Call it niche, or strange, or under the radar. We call it the wines we love. Wines made for the here and now. Because the table is set, the night is young, and demain c’est loin—tomorrow is far away.
Winemaking
“The wine will tell you as much as you want to hear.”
-Xavier
Xavier is always listening closely, because the grapes have a lot to say. Sometimes, they shout through their acidity in the vineyard. Other times it’s in the cellar, where grapes whisper their guidance. Let’s rest on the skins. I like my lees. Blend me with that one. I’m ready. He’s not bending the fruit to his will. He is letting the wine lead, without intervention—tasting diligently, thinking deeply, and waiting patiently until it reveals its character.
Those voices often lead Xavier down unexpected paths. They guide him toward long skin contact, creating wines that develop slowly over an autumn sunset. Or carbonic maceration, leading to wildly refreshing, summer-afternoon wines. No matter where the grapes lead, they end up as endlessly approachable wines that disappear in social moments.
But it all comes back to joy. About the atmosphere in the cellar. Joyful winemaking leads to joy in the bottle, in your glass, and at your table. For Xavier, there’s nothing better.
Joyful Elegance: The Making of Skin Contact, Orange, & Carbonic Wines
Some might call Xavier’s methods unusual. Unique. Creative. But to him, they’re just what comes naturally. Ways to honor the grapes’ desires and evoke their true character.
Take skin-contact wines, the practice of briefly soaking white wines on their skins before fermentation, imbuing them with texture and body. Or orange wines (aka amber wines), fermented on the skins to draw about tannin, color, and pure emotion. These wines are breakers of expectation, purveyors of surprise, a constant stream of surprising aromas and flavors—revealing themselves gradually in the glass like a long and captivating story.
Or consider carbonic wines. Initially fermented inside whole grapes, these are the good-time revellers of the red-wine world. Red wines in white jackets, with juicy exuberance and refreshing, one-more-glass charm. Carbonic wines bear flavors you can’t get with any other type of fermentation, revealing a side of red grapes we rarely see. Best of all, they’re just as fun to make as they are to drink.
They’re just as fun to make as they are to drink.
Wines are made in the vineyard.
Cool breezes off the Pacific. Slopes awash with golden sun. An undeniable chill in the night air. In these vineyard sites, Xavier finds his inspiration. Sustainably farmed and free of pesticides, a taste of these grapes evokes visions of the wines they want to become—visions that guide every winemaking decision that comes after.
Acidity is the name of the game. It’s the driving force behind the energy and pour-me-another zeal in Union Sacré wines. So Xavier chooses sites where sweeping winds and stark diurnal temperature swings keep that acidity vibrant and fresh. Pair that with enough sun to encourage gentle ripening, and it’s a recipe for happy grapes and elegantly balanced wines.