Field Recordings Super Gnario #2 2024

Field Recodings' adventure continues with Italian regional grapes planted along the Central Coast. No secret shortcuts on this route: For almost a decade, they’ve struggled with a test plot of grapes from Veneto. The varieties are tricky to farm and require a lot of hand work to get dialed in. It all clicked this past fall, when they decided to follow an old-time raisin production method of cutting the canes on the vine about three weeks prior to the actual harvest. This allowed the clusters to dry on the vine  and keeps them protected while creating extra concentration in the wine. It has taken them over eight seasons of trial and error to get things right in this vineyard.

VINEYARD
Guglielmo Giovanni

FERMENTATION
The canes in the vineyard exactly 20 days before the actual harvest of the grapes. This allowed the grapes to dry gently on the vine. This concentrated the flavors while keeping the fruit intact and clean on the vine. Once the partially dried clusters are harvested, the grapes were destemed and fermented it in open top bins for 34 days.

ELEVAGE
10 months in French oak, 20% new

Cranberries, orange peel with a touch of white pepper and bittersweet chocolate.

Field Recordings is winemaker Andrew Jones’ personal catalog of the people and places he values most

Andrew went to college at Cal Poly after receiving a football scholarship. He majored in agricultural business with a minor in viticulture. Jones, who was completely captivated by grape cultivation, initially worked as an intern at Gallo on the Sonoma Coast. During school, he worked part-time at a grapevine nursery and after graduating from college he continued to work there.

By Andrew’s account, he has stood in nearly every vineyard on the Central Coast. Traveling throughout California to work with growers helped him developed a keen eye to determine the quality of the fields and vines. Once in a while he would come across wonderful vines, like diamonds in the rough, that he felt though they are not famous, the vines had the potential to produce high-quality wines. He feels that every field and every wine has its own story.

Field Recordings was born when he got his hands on a lot of Chenin Blanc grapes from an old Firestone vineyard called Jurassic Park in 2007. From there, his lineup has continued to expand. The Wonderwall series was added to focus on Edna Valley where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are grown in extreme, coastal locations.  As friendships are made and opportunities are embraced, Andrew produces small quantities of soulful wine from these unusual, quiet vineyards.