This one is bright, fruity, spicy with soft fruit. In A Dark Country Sky is named after Taurus—one of the oldest constellations named in the early Bronze Age. Its full of supernovas and meteor showers and sits in the winter sky where once it marked the location of the sun during the spring equinox and the birth of a new season. Mythology called Taurus loyal and courageous. This wine, like Taurus, is a testament to the perseverance and resilience of our alpine vines, to their fruit and whole clusters that shine like sister stars, and to the heart of the earth that infuses them.

We lost 85% of the fruit to frost from this Marquette block in Vergennes. We picked the bunches for the whole cluster ferment in late September 2023 and it fermented for 3 days before destemming and light foot crush, then we pressed it through a layer cake of fruit and stems. The result is a wine that is woodland fruits, then forest, full of mystery and elegance. Great for drinking now and for aging.

HOW TO STORE THIS WINE: store me upright

Sparkling Red Wine of Vermont

In A Dark Country Sky

VARIETY / Marquette
VINEYARD / Les Carouges Vineyard - Vergennes {Champlain Valley, Vermont}
CELLAR / Indigenous yeasts, no filtering or fining. No added sulfites.
ALC/VOL / 12%

LES CAROUGES VINEYARD

Vergennes, Vermont

This vineyard on clay, limestone, and shale, is defined by wide-open space full of the epic romance of a mythic novel, grand gestures, battles of bravery, lost and found love, stories of courage and heart, and is protected by Les Carouges, the red-winged blackbirds who make nests in the vines for the season.

SOIL / clay, limestone and shale
ELEVATION / 252 feet. Valley floor
AGRICULTURE / regenerative, practicing biodynamic, forest edge ecology, rotational grazing
VINEYARD LIFE / clover, wild carrot, dandelion, mugwort, burdock, thistle, elderflower, purple vetch, chicory, nettle, climbing nightshade, foxtail
MICROCLIMATE / intensely hot and humid summers, western facing with sun all day long. Wind in the morning and still evenings. Cold, damp winters with windchills. Some snow.
FRUIT GROWN / Marquette, La Crescent, Front Gris, Brianna
SIZE / 4 acres {1.6 hectares}