Broc Cellars, "Ayay!" 2022, Fox Hill Vineyard, Mendocino, North Coast, CA

Inspired by an Italian pop song, this zippy wine sits somewhere between a rosé and a red. Enjoy with a slight chill and you’ll get notes of tamarind, mint, and licorice.

COUNTRY: USA

STATE: California

APPELLATION (AVA): Mendocino County

REGION: North Coast

SUBREGION: Alexander Valley

VINEYARD: Fox Hill Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2022

GRAPES: 80% Montepulciano, 20% Trebbiano

SOIL: well draining with gravel, quartz, and sandstone

PRACTICE: Organic

VINIFICATION: Field blend harvest, layered for co-fermentation with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tank with the Trebbiano whole cluster and the Montepulciano half destemmed and half whole cluster. Aged in concrete.

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Ruby

BODY: Light bodied

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: Overripe watermelon, orange skin, wet forest soil

FLAVOR: Cherry, fruit punch, licorice, zesty, gentle tannins

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL: 11%

SERVICE AND FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTION: Serve slightly chilled. Serve with poached salmon.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:  Chris Brockway

“Our goal in making wine is to bring out the natural expression of the grape. We use organically grown grapes and harvest early for more healthy grapes that retain their good acidity. This often results in lower alcohol wines and the lower Brix (sugar content) at harvest, which allows for easier fermentations. All Broc wines are made using spontaneous fermentation, which means only native yeasts and bacteria that exist on the grapes are used to make the wine. We may add a minimal amount of sulfur at bottling depending on the year, wine and style. We never add sulfur during fermentation and aging.” (broccellars.com)

ABOUT THE VINEYARD: Fox Hill Vineyard

“Fox Hill is one of the most unique vineyards in California today. What makes the 60-acre vineyard so special is the 25 Italian grape varieties that call it home. Fox Hill is owned and farmed by Broc Cellars. The vineyard came under our ownership in 2023 after a long partnership sourcing Italian varieties from Fox Hill for nearly a decade.  It is very rare to find such a wide variety in one place anywhere in Northern California and we are so excited by all the possibilities Fox Hill has to offer!

“Chris Brockway has helped manage farming operations for Fox Hill since 2021, continuing the early work of Sam Bilbro, joined by Evan Lewandowski, to help Lowell farm for more than a decade. The vineyard is organically farmed and uses cover crop as an important tool in our farming practices. Cover crop helps us farm in many ways from enriching soil health with necessary nutrients, boosting water retention, weed control, and support overall vine growth. In Spring, sheep graze among the vines, managing the crop cover and fertilizing the soil. The soil is predominantly mineral-driven redvine, river rock, and pebbly sandstone, with large quartz pieces that are easy to trip over when weaving between the vines. Fox Hill is nestled on the Talmage Bench, an uplifted former riverbed from the Russian River. Bunches of pennyroyal are found scattered among the 20+ year-old vines.” (broccellars.com)

FUN FACT: The wine is inspired by the song Cuccurucucu by Franco Battiato, an Italian composer and pop singer.