Winery: Donkey & Goat
Origin: El Dorado, California
Farming Practices: Sustainable
Type of Soil: Sandy Loam
Varietals: 100% Gamay
Vessel Ageing: 6 months neutral oak
Donkey & Goat is celebrated for being amongst a handful of pioneers in the Natural Wine community because in 2004 they were unique for their ecological principles driving decisions in both the vineyard and the cellar and ten years later for promoting transparency, being one of the first to list ingredients on their label. Founding winemakers Jared Brandt & Tracey Rogers spent a year with the inimitable Eric Texier in 2002 studying the art of crafting natural wines in the Rhone Valley before co-founding Donkey & Goat in 2004 in San Francisco.
Feel free to serve it chilled or at room temperature. If you chill it down, you’ll notice more high tone profile of tart berries and a touch of citrus with a strong acidic profile. Let that glass warm up and you are greeted with aromatics of your favorite baking spices, dried cherry, brambly blackberries, potpourri…and is that, bubblegum? Your mouth finds flavors of kumquat, blueberry and acai hold the wine together while it finishes with some grippy tannins and mushroom, sweet herbs and a hint of pepper.