Snapshot Series

2021 "Vexing Tyche" White Blend
Snapshot Series #07
North Coast—California

51.2% Grenche Blanc
20.9% Sauvignon Blanc
17.4% Viognier
10.5% Chenin Blanc

13.7% Alcohol by Volume
120 cases produced
Released 2023

In Greek Myth, Tyche is the Goddess of fortune. She is the arbiter of luck and controls the destiny of a community; a (capricious) protector that gifts prosperity and dispenses ill fortune. In 2021—after a string of wildfires, pandemic, and drought—we decided to take things into our own hands. Instead of playing it safe in a precarious moment, we went on a rampage of taking chances and pushing our boundaries. This blend is entirely compromised of those chances. Don't get me wrong—I'm not forsaking Tyche—but I'm not waiting around either. This wine is the liquid equivalent of "fine, I'll do it myself". And in making it, we made our own fate. - Lucas Meeker

2021 Snapshot #1.2:  No Siesta 

51% Syrah
49% Zinfandel
North Coast—California
15.1% Alcohol by volume
99 cases produced

The first vintage of No Siesta was the result of a moment of clairty that left me feeling grateful and determined. Like the first vintage, this wine is a love letter ti the grind of winemaking; a thank you note to nature and heritage; and a faded polaroid that reminds me of my roots. It's also a to-do-list:  a) continue making honest wines, b) share them with love and integrity, c) chase that clarity, d) write less pretentious back labels.

2021 "Type Two Fun" Red Blend
Snapshot Series #08
North Coast—California

43.2% Grenache
42.7% Mourvedre
14.1% Syrah

14.9% Alcohol by volume
158 cases produced
Released 2023

This is our second collaboration with my friend and pro cyclist Pete Stetina. Pete loves wine, and I love bikes. I wanted this wine to remind us of the strong overlap between the cycling and winemaking communities. We've gone back and forh theorizing the on the cause, and we settled on a name that gets to the root of the matter. While type one fun is normal fun (mini-golf, donut runs, beach days, etc.) type two fun is terrible whitle it's happening but fun and rewarding when it's over. Like both a grueling day on the bike ir harvest  season in a winery. In the moment: "Why do I do this to myself? Never again." Pretty soon after, though? "That wasn't so bad. What's next?" - Lucas Meeker

2018 Among Lynx
Snapshot Series #04
North Coast—California

• 50% Pinot Noir
• 33.% Zinfandel
• 16.7% Grenache

17.9% aAlcohol by volume
147 cases produced
Released 2020
 

The third release for our "Snapshot Series" wines is a blend of Pinot Noir. Lucas was inspired to create this blend after he tasted a wine from the Jura region of France, known for its Pinot based blends.

In some traditions, Lynx have mythical powersof sight-even clairvoyance or the ability to see through objects or barriers. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the lynx reminds us to honor Ceres-the goddess of agriculture-and the traditions she gave us. The idea behind this wine reflects a little of all of those. The tradition in American Pinot Noir is that is a stand-alone grape. This wine riffs on that expectations 

2015 "Glass Island" Red Blend
Snapshot Series #02
Dry Creek Valley
Sonoma County—California

66.7% Zinfandel
22.2% Merlot
11.1% Syrah

14.9% Alcohol By Volume
90 cases produced - 1st bottling
90 cases produced - 2nd bottling (by popular demand)
Released 2018

This wine shoots for complexity and refinement in a way that ease and grace. After a long evening around a festive table., you'll know it;s been a great night when you see a ell-loved wine bottle just vergiing on empty, with the punt poking through the last pour of a great wine. The 1796 A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue calls this the "island"—but we call it evidence of a great gathering. We hope you'll enjoy this blend during a great gathering of your own. - Lucas Meeker 

The wine centers on a juicy, blackberry core with soft edges of vinalla and toffee. There is some of the warmth of a classic Dry Creek Zin on the front of the palate, but instead of a dusty summer day, it feels more like lying in the sun to dry off after a swim at the beach on a hot day. 

2017 "Directrix" Red Blend
Snapshot Series #05
Dry Creek Valley
Sonoma County—California

• 60% Cabernet Franc
• 40% Syrah

14.8% Alcohol by volume
117 cases produced
Released 2022

In geometry, a directrix is a fixed line that describes a curve or surface. The Latin root, dirigere, means "to guide". A parabola, for example, is a set of all points in a plane that are equidistant between a focus and the directrix. In an ellipse, the directrix prefectly splits the two focii. Directrix is also an archaic spelling of "directress", or the feminine equivalent of 'director'. This wine is a practical exploration of the perfect split between two focii, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Obliquely, it's a wine about relationships – an homage to the women who shape our wines.

The Snapshot series of wines is about moments or ideas that we want to explore and reflect with a wine. Sometimes the wines are about a few ideas at once, and Directrix is a good example of that. This wine started with the goal of spotlighting Cabernet Franc and Syrah. What it became, however, is an exploration of relationships, balance, the nature of influences in winemaking, and about challenging expectations. 

As the blending evolved, we found that both Syrah and Cabernet Franc ere jostling to feel in charge, but we wanted to find the point where the push and the pull felt in balance. Where is the balance point between these two grapes? Can we make the most awesome, grayest area? Can we make the word "neutral" feel like a party? Is balnce a  literal concept or is it more about feel? What would if feel like if Syrah and Cabernet Franc were both the lead singer in Def Leopard? Can we teach ourselves not to make assumptions about the forces that play into a wines character? Can we ask better questions?

We bottled our attempt at answering these questions. Neither Cab Francy nor Syrah-ish. this wine is the best kind of weird; it revels in its vagueness. A lush core of blueberry cobbler and dried figs are wrapped in a briney, savory balnket like dry-cured black olives. The palte is lush and full edge to edge, with a leathery softness and a rolling structure that builds gently and then recedes slowly. Drink now orlay down for 10-15 years. 

The goal for this wine was to make a power-oriented Grenache wine that served as a counterpoint to the varietal Grenache bottlings we love so much and as a foil to the Grenache/Syrah/Mouvedre blends from Gigondas.

41% Grenache, 39.3% Syrah & 19.7% Zinfandel

This wine retains the same juicy strawberry core of Grenache, but builds from that starting point into something altogether more driven and rustic.   This wine will be a beautiful fit for everything from tandoori chicken and chickpea curry to roasted root vegetables and flank steak.  

We expect that this wine will age for at least 10 years, but this wine is really built for now through 2023. 

Reviews:

"This very dark ruby-colored unique blend from Meeker opens with a pleasant mild acai berry and boysenberry bouquet with a hint of faint strawberry. On the palate, this wine is medium-bodied, balanced, and a little juicy. The flavor profile is a tasty mild stewed black plum with notes of gentle oak and faint minerality mixed in. I also detected hints of acai berry. blackberry and dried herbs in the background. The finish is dry and well-managed mild tannins drift away nicely. This wine would pair perfectly with beef bourguignon." - Ken's Wine Guide 91pts.

60% Syrah, 40% Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley - Sonoma County
14.8% Alcohol by volume

We made this wine to reflect the rustic values of the earliest prospectors in the Sierras and our 40-year winemaking tradition in the red dirt of Dry Creek Valley. Big, tannic, age-worthy, and ready to both join you by a ribeye tomorrow or lay down in the cellar for another decade.  Limited production of 85 cases.