This is our Spring Release, consisting of the earliest wines from 2015 and wines from 2014 and even 2013 that are less precocious, more solemn in their development. We call the release "beginnings and ends" because the advent of Il Ciliegio is emblematic of our ever increasing focus on white wines and because the demise of Androkteinos—this is the last vintage!—marks our move away from wines that we cannot make pellucid.

A perfect vintage of our direct and intense Verdelho from the Delta.

Light pink, fragrant, just slightly soft: 180 year-old Cinsault from the center of Lodi pressed with the greatest of delicacy.

Our first attempt at this wine, based on the Cerasuolo made by Emidio Pepe in Abruzzo from Montepulciano. A very beautiful, extraordinarily light red wine; highly fragrant, with very good acidity and just the slightest grip. Made from own-rooted, 100 year old Zinfandel in north-eastern Lodi.

Partially skin-fermented old-vine Pinot Grigio from Tegan Passalacqua's vineyard of alluvial granite in the center of Lodi. Somewhat coppery, with good acidity and structure.

100% Chardonnay from Steve Matthiasson's rockpile on the edge of Sonoma Mountain. In 2014, we continued our practice of making juice from about 85% of the grapes and then plunging the remaining fruit, whole-cluster, stems and all, into the juice and allowing them to ferment together. The wine is rich, bold, powerful; with excellent minerality and acidity.

100% Syrah, fermented whole cluster in wooden puncheons with slight foot treading and then daily light punchdowns for about 3 weeks; aged in neutral wood for 23 months. A dark and slightly savage wine, but not heavy or over-bearing. The wine is marked by the typical black olives and Mediterranean herbs of the vineyard, but is perhaps lighter and more graceful than previous vintages. We ascribe this to more gentle extraction during fermentation, more patience, and less desire to beat the wine up. This wine is slightly backward and needs a couple of years to open up; it should then develop and hold for another decade. Our last vintage of this wine.

An absolutely beautiful version of this wine; the best since 2004 or 2005. Deep, dark, intense Petite Sirah from a sandy, rocky vineyard in Suisun Valley. All of the power of the wine is balanced by lightness and grace. there is no heaviness; just soaring.

This is our second to last vintage of this wine; a reserve based on about 100 plants in the vineyard that produces Androkteinos. The winemaking is the same except that Golgotha spends an extra 6-12 months in barrel. This is to allow the much more sharp and intense tannins in the wine to mature somewhat. The wine is rich and powerful like the Bablyon, but somewhat less dense and with more savory perfume.

You may order these wines here