Absentee 'Flaws' Red, California 2019 1.5L +14%

Winery: Founded 2016 by Avi Deixler in a barn on a working dairy farm in Point Reyes, Marin County — he's literally the only registered winery in the North Marin Wine District, a status he had to fight the Marin County Planning Commission to secure. Trained in California, Oregon, Australia, and France before starting his own thing, with a stated philosophy of using nothing but grapes: no additions, native yeast, hand-harvested, dry-farmed fruit. He's since expanding into a new facility in Mendocino County, sourcing largely from Poor Ranch in Hopland (organically farmed since the 1970s, sandy soils, old head-pruned vines 10–40 years old).

The grape: Abouriou is a nearly extinct grape from Villeréal in Southwest France. Its name means "early" in Occitan, for its early ripening. Phylloxera wiped out nearly all of it in the 19th century; it survived only because a farmer discovered forgotten vines still growing up the wall of a ruined castle, and a private breeder named Numa Naugé propagated cuttings from them starting in 1882 — the grape's alternate name, Précoce Naugé, honors him. Today there's under 900 acres of it planted anywhere in the world. Very few American producers work with it at all.

Winemaking: Manually harvested, whole clusters fermented in raw oak with barrel rolling (used here instead of punch-downs or pump-overs) for 10 days, pressed, then back into raw oak to age a full year. Unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites. 14.5% ABV.

Tasting notes: Fruity, lively, rustic — strawberry and vanilla aromatics, fruit-forward palate of red berries and cherries with a hint of spice, long tannins.

Food pairings: Grilled sausage, roast pork, charcuterie boards, tomato-based pasta — rustic food for a rustic wine.