Aaron & Cara Mockrish settled down in the small gold rush village of Frenchtown, tucked into the Sierra Nevada mountains far north of the warm climate and big wines of Napa and Sonoma.  They produced their first vintage in 2015 from vineyards belonging to their neighbor and longtime winemaker of Clos Saron, Gideon Beinstock.  After proving themselves with this initial success, they gained access to a large portion of the Renaissance Vineyards in North Yuba, which is planted with own-rooted, dry farmed, old vines. The soils of this site are unique in that they not only have volcanic origins and a high mineral content, but are studded with quartz, and, as you might expect of an old gold-mining town, gold! 

The Syrah and Grenache vines of Renaissance Vineyard were first planted in the late 1970's, and produce very low yields of the concentrated fruit used in this wine.  Frenchtown's 'Cotillion' is a deep and complex low-intervention red blend.  The grapes were harvested over a two week period and destemmed by hand.  After ten days of maceration the wine had completed fermentation, and was pressed off the skins and matured in neutral oak for 18 months. Bottled with only the bare minimum of so2, unfined and unfiltered. Notes of 

Pairing: Grilled pork tenderloin with wild cherry sauce

Grapes: Syrah (50%), Grenache (50%)

Terroir: Renaissance Vineyard, unlike the granite soils of surrounding North Yuba, is in an isolated area of volcanic soils mostly composed of rhyolite with a high gold and quartz content

Viticulture: Organic