Martha Stoumen Benchlands Red - 750ml

Martha Stoumen Benchlands Red 2023 is produced from a field blend of dry-farmed vineyards planted on the uplifted benchland soils of inland Mendocino County — a distinct geographic feature that Italian immigrant farmers chose specifically for viticulture in the late 19th century, reserving the richer valley floor soils for vegetable farming. That historical precedent is the conceptual foundation of the wine: a Cal-Italia celebration of the Mediterranean varieties that Sicilian, southern French, and Spanish-via-Italian immigrant families transplanted to this corner of Northern California. The 2023 blend draws from three certified organic, dry-farmed vineyard sites — Bricarelli Ranch in Ukiah, Ricetti Vineyard in Redwood Valley (planted 1948), and Venturi Vineyard in Calpella (planted 1948) — all grown on gravelly loam soils and farmed by Martha Stoumen to organic principles.

The 2023 comprises 53% Nero d'Avola, 26% Valdiguié, 16% Petite Sirah, 3% Colombard, and 2% Carignan — a composition that reflects both the Italian heritage of the benchland vineyards and Stoumen's interest in co-fermentation as a production technique. The Nero d'Avola and Petite Sirah were fermented separately in small batches, while the Carignan, Valdiguié, and Colombard were harvested and co-fermented together as a single lot — red and white grapes combined — a method that moderates color and introduces a brightness to the blend's aromatic and structural profile. The components were kept separate after pressing and aged in neutral oak barrique and larger 500-liter puncheons before final blending.

The palate is deliberately light in style for its grape composition — wild forest berry, dark plum, and a thread of tea-like tannin that builds with fine-grained precision through the mid-palate. The co-fermented white grape component contributes a lifted, aromatic quality and a freshness that prevents the Petite Sirah and Nero d'Avola from reading as heavy despite their inherent structural depth. The finish is long and gently spiced, with a mineral dryness drawn from the gravelly loam benchland soils that is the terroir signature of this particular corner of Mendocino County.