Katie’s Kraving Review:
When you taste a wine on your birthday (Tax Day for the win!) and you’re still dreaming about it months later (hi July!), you know it’s a #KatiesKraving fo sho!
And get this: it’s NOT Grenache! Y’all, there’s not a drop of the big G grape in here (#areyoushocked?) yet I’m still in love, like bunches (haha!).
Carbonically macerated, co-fermented (partially), orangefuckingwine! Lots of words there so let’s break it down: non-crushed grapes that go through fermentation together. Yes homies – the Pinot Gris & and Orange Muscat are tossed into the bin together without so much as a hug or a slap on the back to get shit started and then they’re ignored for a week until they’re so sick of each other and have literally sucked all the oxygen out of the bin (and hit 2% alcohol), that they start popping and bursting.
The result: Fun. Fresh. Juicy. Low ABV. Crazy crushable. Total glou glou. This orange wine is delicate and fresh with a saucy bite. Tropical oranges, plenty of smooth acid (no, those words are not mutually exclusive sillies). It makes the outsides of my tongue tingle long after the last swallow.
It’s like biting a kumquat in half, skin and all, but then you throw in Florida oranges with all their sunshine happiness, a ¼ of a lemon head (the candy!), and a bit of pith from a super ripe grapefruit, then stirred (not shaken) together, and poured into a 750mL glass for your tastebud’s pleasure.
The label says it all, “Love You Bunches!”
Grab your glass, kick off your shoes, and enjoy a foot rub from the hottie stranger at the bar next to you as you rock your mini dress, headband, and pookah shell necklace. Just another day at the office…. at least it is when you own a tiki bar in Turks & Caicos and stock cool shit. Like this kickin’ orange wine and its cousin, Crunchy Roastie.
Thank you Stolpman for keeping it real and making some epic juice!
Shoe:
Barefoot all day baby!
Personality:
Barefoot boss lady rockin’ her smarts, sass, and good looks at her beachfront bar in Turks & Caicos convincing random strangers to try Love You Bunches while giving her epic foot rubs – and falling madly in love, with the wine and the woman.
Pairings:
Sand, salt air, and seafood!
Cheers friends! And don’t forget to #SipAwhile
Grapes & Vineyards: 50% Pinot Gris, 23% Orange Muscat, 19% Semillon, 8% Gewurtztraminer (mostly old vines planted in the 1970’s in the Los Alamos Corridor and Los Olivos District)
Region: Santa Barbara County, CA
ABV: 12.5%
Vinification & Aging: hand-harvested, de-stemmed, left whole-grape. Carbonic maceration for seven (7) days in shallow stainless steel then pressed into stainless steel tanks to complete fermentation
Production: 4,700 cases
Website: Stolpman (link)
Distributor: Southern Glazer’s (link)
