Lane Tanner (our winemaker) has always used lower levels of sulfur.
The idea of using fresh ginger root in winemaking is to act as an antioxidant thereby protecting the wine naturally.
Since ginger is an antioxidant, Lane found the need for sulfur is minimized.
NOT EVERYONE GETS IT
This is not a fruit wine. This is a white wine, made with Chardonnay grapes from Santa Barbara County. Ginger is part of the process.
TASTING COMPONENTS
A fresh, subtle note of ginger on the nose. This single-vineyard Chardonnay is lean with peach, sweet lemon balm and mineral notes up front, followed by a finish of creamy custard. There is subtle spice throughout, expressing the ancient benefits of ginger root. Sturdy enough to stand up to a Thai dinner, but interesting enough to ponder on it's own.
WINEMAKING PROCESS
Our Chardonnay goes through full malolactic fermentation. Since we do not use sulfur and we do not sterile filter, we want the wine to be as stable as possible. The fresh ginger helps tremendously, but also putting the wine through malolactic adds another layer of stability. We loosely filter the wine to remove any escaped ginger root and do a gentle fining with volcanic ash to improve clarity. Hey Ginger is a vegan wine.
PERSPIRATION
After pressing the Chardonnay grapes, the must is placed in stainless steel tanks and fresh ginger root is added to the must. The ginger root is placed in a large cloth sack which is then placed in the fermentation vessel. The ginger root is present in the must as it ferments and then stays in the fermented wine during elevage. It is removed just prior to racking and bottling.
NO SULFUR ADDED
There is no sulfur added to the wine at any point during fermentation, elevage and bottling. From a winemaking perspective it is completely SAN SOUFRE!
INGREDIENTS
Grapes, ginger, yeast.
GRAPES
100% Chardonnay from Goodchild Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley AVA.
Picked at 20 brix.
VINEYARD
Goodchild Vineyard sits in a cool climate, on the bench above the river in Santa Maria Valley and is sustainably farmed.
Fun fact: The Goodchild Vineyard was planted by Louis Lucas in the 90’s. Louis is the OG farmer in these parts, originally planted at Rancho Tepusquet in 1971 when nobody had any idea that wine grapes could be grown in the region of Santa Maria Valley.
TECH
Harvest date: September 22, 2021
pH 3.44 TA .54 ABV 12%
“Not to be Toyed With!”
Lane has been doing it her way since 1981 when she first started making wine in Santa Barbara. Lane is a woman who knows what she wants and knows how to do it!
Make no mistake, we are all a team, but the winemaking is all Lane. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Lane has been messing around with fresh ginger root in side experiments for years. This project finally puts it out there to the world.
If you appreciate women who take on the world and have been strong and proud even through the early 2000’s when picking your grapes for 12.5% alcohol was NOT COOL but still the right thing to do... If you think low alcohol wines came out of nowhere, think again. Actually, thank Lane.
And if you ask Lane why she picks grapes for12.5% alcohol, she’ll tell you, “ I don't pick grapes for an alcohol. I pick when it's time and I don't care what the alcohol will be.” So take that.
“Don’t Stop.”
Kali doesn’t stop and has been overachieving since she was twenty something living Tahoe. Her Grandfather used to say “Be the one who does the work, not the one who talks about it”. And so she did.
By the time Kali was 35 years old, she had opened 3 wine bars (Uncorked) in the Tahoe area, a restaurant in the Northstar ski resort and a soup joint.
Kali recently chucked it all for the dream of life and love on the Central Coast, opened up the best restaurant on the Central Coast (Pico at Los Alamos General Store) with her husband (more on that below) and planted 5 acres of Pinot Noir around her home in Santa Maria.
This Boston transplant has moxie and is the General Manager of every single thing she does, including Hey Ginger.
“The Dude Abides.”
It’s Will’s unabashed vision that calmly directs this ship. Ask Lane and she’ll tell you, “He doesn’t just direct the ship, he built it!”
Will wears many hats. He started a non-profit called “Save the Waves” an international foundation dedicated to protecting surf ecosystems for long-term coastal conservation.
When Will sees potential he finds a way to achieve it. In 2020 he and his wife Kali planted 5 acres of Pinot Noir around his home. The new vineyard is named after his late father, Warner Henry. Warner started the Henry Wine Group in 1985 which is arguably the very first example of a fine wine distributor in the US. So, is it any surprise that Will has bottled the first wine made with Ginger?
Being the first is kind of thing in the Henry Family and the Dude most definitely abides!
“Yes, we can!”
Anthony has been on the front lines in wine world for 20 years managing distribution for respected importers like The Rare Wine Co and now for Lumen, Lola, Villa Creek and Hey Ginger.
In 2010, Anthony made his first wine called “Jadis”, a 12.5% alcohol blend of Carignan and Grenache, 100% Whole Cluster, no new oak and minimal sulphur. Back then, this winemaking style was not en-vogue…YET! Guess who also sees a trend when it’s coming?
Anthony's way of breaking down blind tasting method has grown into a cult following being referred to as “The Anselmi Method”.
"Selling wine, making wine, teaching people about wine is all about educating them so that they have the tools to understand and make their own decisions.”
Anthony is our dogged Director of Sales.
Located in the hip town of Los Alamos CA
Wednesday- Sunday: noon to 5pm
458 Bell Street
Los Alamos CA 93440
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