2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan, Redwood Valley
Tasting Notes
California’s answer to Cru Beaujolais. A soft tannin and stimulating acidity rise to meet this deeply fruited, social wine. The dry-farmed Carignan from this historic site carries whispers of a moonlit blackberry harvest with a warming cup of cinnamon tea.
Vineyard
Carignan from Ricetti Vineyard, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County; planted in 1948; head trained, dry farmed (non-irrigated), practicing organic vineyard; gravelly loam soils.
Vinification
Whole clusters (stems intact) of Carignan fermented in stainless steel. A mixture of punchdowns and pumpovers were used to gently extract tannin. Pressed prior to dryness and aged in neutral oak barrique for 9 months. Unfined. Unfiltered. Sediment expected.
Martha’s Note
The Ricetti family planted this plot in the 1940s and through the ups and downs over many decades (and especially over the last few years), the fact that these 75-year-old head-trained Carignan vines continue to persevere—and shine!—is remarkable and again highlights just how hard farming is. A late frost in 2020 severely limited the 2021 yield from this vineyard and made harvesting feel more like a multiple-day scavenger hunt (some vines produced ample fruit, some not at all), but you wouldn’t guess that from how balanced this wine is today. Carignan holds a special place in our portfolio as one of California’s shining underdog varietals. Each time we sit down to drink this wine as a team we’re steeped in gratitude for our home.
Enjoy With
The comfort of companionship. Roasted beets & fennel, sausage & polenta, chicken & wild rice, catching up & slowing down. Drink now if you’re leaning towards rich dishes, or age for 1-2 years for a more relaxed structure.
Drink When
You’re writing birthday cards, savoring a scrapbook, and finding the mementos you left in the pockets of your warmer-weather wardrobe.
Specs
Varietal Blend: 100% Carignan
Appellation: Redwood Valley
Alcohol: 12.5%
Free SO2: 8 mg/L
Total SO2: 41 mg/L
Production: 534 cases
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan, Redwood Valley Case:
12x 2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan, Redwood Valley
Martha Stoumen Wines was founded upon the desire to recapture a farming and winemaking culture that has all but faded away: a winemaking culture of patience.
After 8 years apprenticing around the world, Martha set out as a self-funded, first generation winemaker to answer the question, “What does California taste like?” In our hot little corner of Northern California, Mediterranean grapes thrive and healthy vineyards allow us to create joyful balanced wines. Our wines are made from unexpected varietals and offer new takes on California classics. We do things the right way even if it’s not the easy or cool way. Of the nearly two dozen wines we make every year, blends and flavors change but our desire to share the simple pleasures of natural wine remains the same.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
@tercerowines I don’t think so. it’s more like Darth Vader but starts with a Moo- like the cows said next to the parking lot outside the Tercero dorms back in the 80’s. And the Vader has the weird French sucked-in-R sound that we can’t make properly
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan - $60 = 23.07%
Email subject: “Wine is Coming Your Way!”
First line: “You have become an official Lab Rat and wine is coming your way!”
What better way to celebrate having family visitors in from out of town than to share in tasting a bottle of wine that up until now, the group of us had never heard of – Carignan (pronounced “care-in-yen”)?
Overall, we really enjoyed this wine. We probably should have opened it up a bit earlier and/or let it decant. Especially since the Wine Folly page about Carignan shares this – “TIP: Carignan can smell oddly meaty upon first opening a bottle, so decant for at least an hour”.
But we were eager to taste.
We opened the bottle to have with some homemade smoked chicken wings. Upon pouring, color was dark purple, and on the nose I got roses and red fruit.
Upon tasting, I got an initial tart/slightly acidic mouthfeel, including tart cherries and green apple, with a slight finish of citrus.
This wine was quite light, not what I was expecting since our normal go-to wines are more full bodied reds like cabernets and tempranillos. This Carignan was almost zinfandel-like.
Our group of four really enjoyed this 2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan. Thanks to Alice and the Casemates team for giving us this opportunity to share our review and experience!
Lab rab here! I was ecstatic when asked to review this bottle of 2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan because it’s a unique wine that I have personally never tried. Anyway, on the the review
Appearance: In the glass, it presents a deep ruby hue, hinting at its youthfulness and vibrancy.
Nose: The bouquet is lively and aromatic, with notes of ripe red berries, dried herbs, and a subtle earthiness that evokes the terroir of California.
Palate: On the palate, this Carignan reveals a medium-bodied structure with soft tannins. Flavors of cherry, raspberry, and cranberry dominate, complemented by savory undertones of black tea and a touch of spice. There’s a refreshing acidity that keeps the wine vibrant and balanced from start to finish.
Finish: The finish is clean and persistent, leaving a lingering impression of fruit and a hint of minerality that reflects its natural origins.
This wine is a delightful expression of the grape variety and the land from which it hails. It would pair beautifully with a range of dishes, from grilled meats to hearty vegetarian fare. For those who appreciate natural wines with character and integrity, this bottle is a must-try.
@Broski@losthighwayz I’m not saying, just sayin’, that yeah the wording of this means either a very happy casemates member who received a free bottle of wine, or else something written by a marketing person or even an AI. Maybe we are all learning to just emulate AIs because they are trendy and write stuff nobody disagrees with. But for me if the upbeat and happy word count relative to other words is >90%, I get skeptical.
Hi there! This lab rat report gave the entire team at Martha Stoumen Wines the warmest of fuzzies. Thanks for sharing our gem with your casemates! It’s truly rewarding (and informative) to enter such an engaged and curious community of wine lovers.
@losthighwayz it mostly it is, because there’s no such thing as natural wine, and the normal winemaker line about “pure expression of low intervention” makes it sound like you can trip over a bottle in a vineyard, and wine making is a lot of work and a lot of interesting choices. However, it’s also the label for people making a lot of interesting wines outside mass market convention. Tend to be older styles and grapes that have fallen out of fashion, smaller lots, so more expressive of a particular vineyard or vintage because they can’t be blended into commodities. It can mean swearing off all additions- acid, yeast food, fining, sulfur dioxide, to greater or lesser extents.
Some wines in this category end up as a hot mess as a result - Brett, VA, lactic bacteria spoilage, H₂S, and wear that as a badge of pride. But some wine makers instead make it a challenge because to make clean wines in that style you have to be incredibly fastidious.
@rjquillin well . . . it’s really difficult to tell. Logic would say that those lower number could, and I’m just guessing here, lead to quicker oxidation in the wine. BUT, and this is important, so much depends upon the chemistry of the wine itself and the processes done when creating the wine. So - that’s why I asked the question because I am truly curious. Hope that helps . . .
@rjquillin@tercerowines I did not hold up at all for me. Less an issue of oxidation, I think, but there were some development of off odors, some particular form of VA is my guess. It’s not the acetaldehyde/ethyl acetate-y notes I associate with acetobacter, but something more lactic adjacent, like sauerkraut or overripe sourdough. Wish it had been acetaldehyde, I’ve got so2 on hand that would take care of it.
I think they became more apparent as it opened up, but I’d have to open a new bottle and go looking for it to know for sure.
Bit of a bummer, I am a bit free opening interesting wines to try when I think I can use them to top barrels in the “experimental winery” (eg the garage wines I experiment with outside of the commercial wines) and I just couldn’t risk tossing it in, even though minus the off notes it could have been a nice little addition .
@novium@rjquillin curious to hear whether anyone else has had any kind of similar experiences with this wine. That is my only concern with wines made in this style. That is not to say that the Wine cannot be beautiful and age beautifully whatsoever. But curious to hear what others have experienced.
@rjquillin@tercerowines I will admit that I’ve bottled a fair few wines with fairly low free so2s at first accidentally and later intentionally. And I’ve had some very old wines that did the same. (So, basically, I was taught by my dad, who did 30 ppm additions at crush and at bottling back in his heyday. Many of his wines from the 70s are still kicking. But from better access to labs, I now know this method means if we ever got to 15ppm free we were lucky).
My experience, knock on wood, is that they age fine as long as they’re clean/stable, given appropriate acid/tannin/alcohol levels.
But I think that’s harder to do w/o inoculation (yeast and ml) and hitting 50ppm total so2, which seems to be the magic number for inhibiting a lot of opportunistic organisms.
Though perhaps one could skip innoculation and sterile filter instead?
@novium@rjquillin thanks for the reply - truly appreciate it! There unfortunately is no ‘magic pill’ because the matrix of variables on the winemaking process is so great. The pH of the wine has so much to do with SO2 effectiveness - and the ability for some wines to handle low free SO2 vs others. Also, what you do at crush and cold soak has a lot to do with it as well - along with potential bacterial issues. So much to talk about - we need a separate thread!!!
@rjquillin@tercerowines oh yes, of course. The wines in question had respectable but not amazing pHs (3.4-3.59) and were closer to macro ox than not, you know? That’s why free so2 was a bit of a lost cause; it pretty much was binding up immediately. Sorry, this is kind of a passion topic for me. Wine is wild, and so much of it is still not fully explained so it’s fun to think about.
@novium@rjquillin love the conversation, my friend. And as you said, Wine is wild and unpredictable. And that’s what makes it frustrating and beautiful at the same time!
@dawnlac thank you for the kind words - but don’t sleep on this offer if you like the varieties you got from me - don’t think you’ll be disappointed And I make some other interesting varieties besides the two in that pack - you should explore further
@dawnlac and thank you! I also do a carbonic Cinsault and include Cinsault in a blend I do along with Carignane and Counoise that I call Curiousity 1 . . .
@rjquillin trying not to hijack my friend - but it IS a coinkidink that 2 carignane were offered in a short amount of time - not something you find here or anywhere else very often. Kudos to @winedavid49 and staff for making that happen!
2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan, Redwood Valley
Tasting Notes
Vineyard
Vinification
Martha’s Note
Enjoy With
Drink When
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$528.00/Case for 12x 2017 Off the Press Red Blend, Sierra Foothills at Martha Stoumen Wines
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 5 - Tuesday, Aug 6
2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan
3 bottles for $64.99 $21.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Outstanding pricing on this compared to CT average of over $42 and currently a library release on their site at $44
@rjquillin Hoping for rats to push me over the edge. Love Carignan but I have no room.
Two Craignan (Carignane?) in a row? Cool.
Now bring on the Mourvèdre and tell me how to pronounce it.
@pmarin it’s pronounced Move Over Dear . . .
@tercerowines I don’t think so. it’s more like Darth Vader but starts with a Moo- like the cows said next to the parking lot outside the Tercero dorms back in the 80’s. And the Vader has the weird French sucked-in-R sound that we can’t make properly
@pmarin love this - and that’s when cow tipping was an official sport!
More carignan! The Casemates’ recent Tercero carignan was fire!
Really great stuff @tercerowines.
@TimW it’s a fantastic underrated variety - and when not picked too ripe makes such a distinctive wine . . .
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan - $60 = 23.07%
I recently got an email from Alice…
Email subject: “Wine is Coming Your Way!”
First line: “You have become an official Lab Rat and wine is coming your way!”
What better way to celebrate having family visitors in from out of town than to share in tasting a bottle of wine that up until now, the group of us had never heard of – Carignan (pronounced “care-in-yen”)?
Overall, we really enjoyed this wine. We probably should have opened it up a bit earlier and/or let it decant. Especially since the Wine Folly page about Carignan shares this – “TIP: Carignan can smell oddly meaty upon first opening a bottle, so decant for at least an hour”.
But we were eager to taste.
We opened the bottle to have with some homemade smoked chicken wings. Upon pouring, color was dark purple, and on the nose I got roses and red fruit.
Upon tasting, I got an initial tart/slightly acidic mouthfeel, including tart cherries and green apple, with a slight finish of citrus.
This wine was quite light, not what I was expecting since our normal go-to wines are more full bodied reds like cabernets and tempranillos. This Carignan was almost zinfandel-like.
Our group of four really enjoyed this 2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan. Thanks to Alice and the Casemates team for giving us this opportunity to share our review and experience!
Lab rab here! I was ecstatic when asked to review this bottle of 2021 Martha Stoumen Ricetti Carignan because it’s a unique wine that I have personally never tried. Anyway, on the the review
Appearance: In the glass, it presents a deep ruby hue, hinting at its youthfulness and vibrancy.
Nose: The bouquet is lively and aromatic, with notes of ripe red berries, dried herbs, and a subtle earthiness that evokes the terroir of California.
Palate: On the palate, this Carignan reveals a medium-bodied structure with soft tannins. Flavors of cherry, raspberry, and cranberry dominate, complemented by savory undertones of black tea and a touch of spice. There’s a refreshing acidity that keeps the wine vibrant and balanced from start to finish.
Finish: The finish is clean and persistent, leaving a lingering impression of fruit and a hint of minerality that reflects its natural origins.
This wine is a delightful expression of the grape variety and the land from which it hails. It would pair beautifully with a range of dishes, from grilled meats to hearty vegetarian fare. For those who appreciate natural wines with character and integrity, this bottle is a must-try.
@Broski thanks for the report but I’m going to push you a bit on your terroir comment. What is California terroir? Seems like a broad brush
@Broski @losthighwayz I’m not saying, just sayin’, that yeah the wording of this means either a very happy casemates member who received a free bottle of wine, or else something written by a marketing person or even an AI. Maybe we are all learning to just emulate AIs because they are trendy and write stuff nobody disagrees with. But for me if the upbeat and happy word count relative to other words is >90%, I get skeptical.
@Broski @losthighwayz great comment . . .
@Broski @losthighwayz @pmarin
TBH, that review does seem very AI-ish.
@Broski
Hi there! This lab rat report gave the entire team at Martha Stoumen Wines the warmest of fuzzies. Thanks for sharing our gem with your casemates! It’s truly rewarding (and informative) to enter such an engaged and curious community of wine lovers.
What exactly is a natural wine? Me thinks it’s a marketing ploy
@losthig composed entirely of molecules found here on earth? but still some uncertainty of how they got here in the first place?
@losthighwayz it mostly it is, because there’s no such thing as natural wine, and the normal winemaker line about “pure expression of low intervention” makes it sound like you can trip over a bottle in a vineyard, and wine making is a lot of work and a lot of interesting choices. However, it’s also the label for people making a lot of interesting wines outside mass market convention. Tend to be older styles and grapes that have fallen out of fashion, smaller lots, so more expressive of a particular vineyard or vintage because they can’t be blended into commodities. It can mean swearing off all additions- acid, yeast food, fining, sulfur dioxide, to greater or lesser extents.
Some wines in this category end up as a hot mess as a result - Brett, VA, lactic bacteria spoilage, H₂S, and wear that as a badge of pride. But some wine makers instead make it a challenge because to make clean wines in that style you have to be incredibly fastidious.
I am seriously impressed by this offering. Martha Stoumen is a damn fine winemaker.
Two excellent offers in a row!
In for one. My thanks to the rats for pushing me over the edge!
/giphy suppressed-ignorant-plate
Curious whether any of the rats saved one for Day 2? Curious to see how this holds up over time with very low Free SO2 numbers . . . Cheers.
@tercerowines
With those numbers, how might one expect this to evolve overnight; assuming half bottle and just recorked at RT?
@rjquillin well . . . it’s really difficult to tell. Logic would say that those lower number could, and I’m just guessing here, lead to quicker oxidation in the wine. BUT, and this is important, so much depends upon the chemistry of the wine itself and the processes done when creating the wine. So - that’s why I asked the question because I am truly curious. Hope that helps . . .
@rjquillin @tercerowines I did not hold up at all for me. Less an issue of oxidation, I think, but there were some development of off odors, some particular form of VA is my guess. It’s not the acetaldehyde/ethyl acetate-y notes I associate with acetobacter, but something more lactic adjacent, like sauerkraut or overripe sourdough. Wish it had been acetaldehyde, I’ve got so2 on hand that would take care of it.
I think they became more apparent as it opened up, but I’d have to open a new bottle and go looking for it to know for sure.
Bit of a bummer, I am a bit free opening interesting wines to try when I think I can use them to top barrels in the “experimental winery” (eg the garage wines I experiment with outside of the commercial wines) and I just couldn’t risk tossing it in, even though minus the off notes it could have been a nice little addition .
@novium @rjquillin curious to hear whether anyone else has had any kind of similar experiences with this wine. That is my only concern with wines made in this style. That is not to say that the Wine cannot be beautiful and age beautifully whatsoever. But curious to hear what others have experienced.
@rjquillin @tercerowines I will admit that I’ve bottled a fair few wines with fairly low free so2s at first accidentally and later intentionally. And I’ve had some very old wines that did the same. (So, basically, I was taught by my dad, who did 30 ppm additions at crush and at bottling back in his heyday. Many of his wines from the 70s are still kicking. But from better access to labs, I now know this method means if we ever got to 15ppm free we were lucky).
My experience, knock on wood, is that they age fine as long as they’re clean/stable, given appropriate acid/tannin/alcohol levels.
But I think that’s harder to do w/o inoculation (yeast and ml) and hitting 50ppm total so2, which seems to be the magic number for inhibiting a lot of opportunistic organisms.
Though perhaps one could skip innoculation and sterile filter instead?
@novium @rjquillin thanks for the reply - truly appreciate it! There unfortunately is no ‘magic pill’ because the matrix of variables on the winemaking process is so great. The pH of the wine has so much to do with SO2 effectiveness - and the ability for some wines to handle low free SO2 vs others. Also, what you do at crush and cold soak has a lot to do with it as well - along with potential bacterial issues. So much to talk about - we need a separate thread!!!
@rjquillin @tercerowines oh yes, of course. The wines in question had respectable but not amazing pHs (3.4-3.59) and were closer to macro ox than not, you know? That’s why free so2 was a bit of a lost cause; it pretty much was binding up immediately. Sorry, this is kind of a passion topic for me. Wine is wild, and so much of it is still not fully explained so it’s fun to think about.
@novium @rjquillin love the conversation, my friend. And as you said, Wine is wild and unpredictable. And that’s what makes it frustrating and beautiful at the same time!
@tercerowines TBH going to be hard to top your last wines offer on this varietal. We have really enjoyed both wines
@dawnlac thank you for the kind words - but don’t sleep on this offer if you like the varieties you got from me - don’t think you’ll be disappointed
And I make some other interesting varieties besides the two in that pack - you should explore further 
@tercerowines I definitely look forward to more offers! I have missed or skipped a few and will not again. Thank you Larry
@tercerowines Really loved the Cinsault!
@dawnlac of course - you could just knock on my door directly too - most of the wines I produce will probably not show up here
@dawnlac and thank you! I also do a carbonic Cinsault and include Cinsault in a blend I do along with Carignane and Counoise that I call Curiousity 1 . . .
@tercerowines
but the ones that do are generally well priced!
[talk about a daily thread hijack…]
@rjquillin trying not to hijack my friend - but it IS a coinkidink that 2 carignane were offered in a short amount of time - not something you find here or anywhere else very often. Kudos to @winedavid49 and staff for making that happen!
@tercerowines Due to your recommendation Larry I did jump in on this offer! Thank you for opinion & conversation