Known Everywhere, Named Nowhere
TASTING NOTES:
2020 Mokelumne River, Lodi - “Reaching down into the deep sandy soils of Somers’ Vineyard in the Mokelumne River AVA, these old Mission vines bring California’s past into the present, with notes of strawberry and watermelon mingling with fuzzy tannins, this wine presents a subtle yet exciting complexity that defies explanation. So instead of explaining, give a slight chill, pop and enjoy!” (AbV 13.5%, pH 3.7, TA 5.4)
6 months in neutral oak barrels
2021 Mokelumne River, Lodi - “Reaching down into the deep sandy soils of Somers’ Vineyard in the Mokelumne River AVA, these old Mission vines bring California’s past into the present, the 2021 pops with fresh cut strawberries, watermelon, orange rind, spiced cherry, and delicate, fuzzy tannins on the finish. Juicy and fresh, this elegant light red pairs perfectly with summertime and cookouts!” (AbV 13.08%, pH 3.73, TA 4.64)
6 months in neutral oak barrels
2022 Mokelumne River, Lodi - “Reaching down into the deep sandy soils of Somers’ Vineyard in the Mokelumne River AVA, these old Mission vines bring California’s past into the present, with notes of strawberry and cherry notes mingling with fuzzy tannins, made under native fermentation, this wine presents a subtle yet exciting complexity that defies explanation. So instead of explaining, give a slight chill, pop and enjoy!” (AbV 13.5%, pH 3.9, TA 4.7)
Native fermentation, 6 months in neutral oak barrels
VARIETALS: 100% Mission
BARRELS: 6 months in neutral oak barrels
PAIRS WITH: Summertime and cookouts
THAT REMINDS ME OF: The Mission grape.
California’s oldest cultivated grape variety has a genuinely weird origin story, and the weirdest part is that nobody is entirely sure what it is. The Mission grape arrived with Spanish missionaries in the late 1700s — planted up and down the California coast to produce sacramental wine — and it dominated California viticulture for nearly a century before the Gold Rush brought European settlers with European tastes and, crucially, European vines. After that, Mission got quietly retired to the footnotes. A grape that built an entire wine culture, edged out and mostly forgotten.
Here’s the thing that gets me though: for about 150 years, ampelographers (grape detectives, essentially) debated where Mission actually came from. Spain? The Canary Islands? A variety called Listán Prieto, brought by conquistadors to Mexico, then walked north over generations? The answer turned out to be yes — DNA analysis in the early 2000s finally confirmed Mission is Listán Prieto, a grape that had already been trekking across continents for a couple of centuries before it ever saw California soil. It’s one of the most widely traveled vines in history, and for most of that history, nobody knew its real name. It just kept going by whatever people called it locally.
Which makes Found Wine Co. sourcing it from old vines in Lodi feel oddly fitting. The grape that California forgot, found.
ICYMI, you have two choices:
- Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year!
- Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.
