“Made in accordance with the traditions of Beaujolais, this gorgeous, expression of true Gamay comes from one of the only plantings in California”
– Bertus van Zyl, Winemaker
WINEMAKER NOTES
Like passed love notes during spring bloom, this wine is full of Little Secrets, not meant to be unveiled. But we’ll make an exception with this bottle. Because we’re talking about carbonic macerated Gamay, Beaujolais Nouveau style.
Gamay is hard to find, but that didn’t stop us. And after several years of searching, we finally landed at the Barsotti vineyard sitting pretty at 2,800 ft above Placerville in the El Dorado appellation of the Sierra Foothills. The grapevines were planted in 2005 by badass local stonefruit grower, Ron Mansfield for Bay Area winemaker, Steve Edmunds. Together, Steve and Ron envisioned growing the first true Gamay Noir in California in the decomposed granite soils of Barsotti. Days are warm and dazzling with cool and crisp evenings that ensure the fruit ripens slowly while preserving freshness. There’s something about the combination of Gamay and Granite that creates a wine with a huge personality.
Rather than destemming and crushing the grapes, we once again employed carbonic maceration, where whole clusters of grapes are sealed into fermentation tanks and pumped with carbon dioxide. Without any oxygen, fermentation begins inside the individual berries and the grapes end up crushing themselves from the weight of the alcohol produced during said fermentation. It takes approximately 5-15 days for carbonic maceration to complete and our Little Secrets spent 7 days carbonically macerating.
FLAVORS
TASTE PROFILE
ABOUT TANK GARAGE WINERY
When we opened Tank Garage Winery in 2014, we didn’t know if it would work. In fact, for a while, it seemed like it wouldn’t. Napa Valley just didn’t seem ready for an old garage pumping out eclectic wine blends and vintage vibes. The people that drove by looked confused and if they ever stopped, it was to try and get gas. Nobody seemed to get it.
But then, we found you.
And you told your friends about this weird little winery in Calistoga with cool labels and an affinity for the F word and they started coming too. Before we could even realize, Tank became a full-fledged movement. Fuck, are we forever grateful.
See, this project didn’t start in some focus group or corporate boardroom, it started as a dream. We built Tank as a bastion for dreamers and those looking to defy conventions. A winery that celebrates misfits, bootleggers, and daredevils. No business plan, no exit strategy, just a mission to do cool shit.
So if you are reading this, thank you for sharing our dream. We’ll keep pushing boundaries in winemaking. We’ll keep doing cool shit. And we promise to keep rockin’ and rollin’.