From the producer: This wine started as a celebration of Efran Chavez, and now, every year, it is a celebration of the people who grow and make our wine (their numbers are legion). Los Empleados this year is an intentional blend of Rose of Peru from the Maglite vineyard in Ontario and the Lopez Palomino vineyard in Fontana.
This was the first year we were fortunate enough to get Rose of Peru from the west side of the Magite vineyard, which we pressed and made as a white wine. All six members of Herrmann York came to pick and filled a bin in a few hours. The fruit was beautiful and unexpected. We’re grateful to have it.
While tasting through the barrels in January of 2023 after everything had gone through malo, we discovered that the Rose of Peru played a treble clef to accompany the bass clef of the second pick of Lopez Palomino, which was lightyears different from the first pick. Whereas the first Palomino pick was lean and bright (and will likely benefit from more time in barrel), the second pick had more muscle and presence. It had a certain fleshiness that was the perfect foil to the freshness of the Rose of Peru. Together, the wine is greater than the sum of its parts, just like any great partnership.
