Vinu Jancu
Orange of Vermont
We've been making Vinu Jancu since the beginning. Dare I say it's a flagship wine? A reserve wine, it's grown in the West Addison vineyard, on clay and limestone, on the edge of Lake Champlain, and is defined by the explosion of wild flora that grows beneath the vines, goldenrod, purple aster, daisy fleabane, and wild mint.
This is a sun-kissed vineyard with lake breezes, perfect for a skin-fermented, more oxidative-style of wine. The grapes ferment in open vats, and starting in the 2018 vintage, the wine cycled through an amphora made from local Champlain Sea clays, the same clays the vines are rooted in, an amphora crafted by a ceramicist in Montreal.
WE LIKE THIS WINE WITH
Fresh oysters
Anything Middle Eastern
Indian food
Duck legs roasted with dried apricots
Ligurian rabbit fricassee with olives and rosemary
Rabbit pâté, or a pâté of any kind, or, if you were feeling fancy, foie gras
Cheeses
STORING & SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Serve lightly chilled, not too cold
Serve now, or let it age for 2-20 years
VARIETAL / La Crescent
VINEYARD / La Selva Vineyard - West Addison {Champlain Valley, Vermont}
CELLAR / Indigenous yeasts, no filtering or fining. No added sulfites.
ALC/VOL / 12.5%
LA SELVA VINEYARD
West Addison, Vermont
La Selva means forest or jungle, and this vineyard, on clay, limestone, and shale, is described by the wild flora and fauna that create a certain magic in the vines.
SOIL / clay, limestone, shale, red sandstone
ELEVATION / 141 feet Valley floor. Lake coast.
AGRICULTURE / regenerative, practicing biodynamic, forest edge ecology, rotational grazing
VINEYARD LIFE / purple aster, daisy fleabane, wild mint, golden rod, honeysuckle, queen anne's lace, and wild rose
MICROCLIMATE / hot, humid summers with temperatures moderated by Lake Champlain only a 1000 feet from the vineyard. Zero slope but generally good drainage keep the vineyard from too much humidity. Cold, partly cloudy winters with only a little snow.
FRUIT GROWN / Frontenac Noir and La Crescent {experimental plantings of Isabella, Leon Milllot, and L’Acadie Blanc}
SIZE / 3 acres {1.2 hectares}
