GRAPES: 60% VIOGNIER, 35% CHARDONNAY, 5% GRENACHE BLANC
SKIN CONTACT: 183 DAYS
REGION: SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Producer information: Scott Sempler a.k.a. Scotty Boy launched The Central Coast Group Project – easier to call it CCGP – in 2012, an inclusive name that reflects how he sees the process of farming and harvesting the grapes, to making and then drinking the wine, as true collective involvement. His website states, "Members of our (CCGP) Group include (in no particular order) friends, family, financiers, vineyard owners & managers, field workers, truck drivers, scientists, philosophers, the history of wine & winemakers, artists, chefs, sommeliers, bottle shops, and you." Love this. Scott's winemaking, which blends the anti-establishment ethos of punk rock with old-school techniques from classic regions such as Barolo, is about measured risk, and pushing boundaries without veering into weird territory. Scotty-Boy! is the natty offshoot of CCGP, whose mantra is "nothing added/nothing taken away”. It's all about transparency – no inoculations, no additions, no added sulfur, native fermentations, always bottled unfined and unfiltered, with the grapes being the focus: they source only from small family owned vineyards, farmed at the very least without chemical spraying, if not organically and/or biodynamically; and are only harvested by hand.
Vinification method: Organic farming, 100% hand-harvested grapes; Viognier gets 42 days on the skins, Chardonnay gets 183 days on the skins, Grenache Blanc gets 48 days; pressed to tank, blended and settled for 5 months, racked once before bottling. All indigenous yeasts, nothing added, nothing taken away. Unfined, unfiltered, no added S02.
Tasting notes: nectar pea, forest floor, orange blossoms, savory sour pear, bright fresh apricot, tart citrus blast, whole lotta love
Pairings: crawfish boil
Mix and match 3, 6 or 12 bottles!
