Source: Forlorn Hope Wines
FORLORN HOPE WINES
Napa, California
The Forlorn Hope estate wines are honest and pure representations of site and variety. We believe deeply in the magic of organic viticulture and the beauty of Calaveras Limestone. Producing wines that embody the uniqueness of our estate requires that we don't alter what the vineyard bears, and to this end, we do not adjust the chemistry of the grapes with additives, commercial yeast, or bacteria. All of our wines are spontaneously fermented by native yeast that exist naturally on the grapes. In this way, whether the wine in question is complex and nuanced or bright, cheerful, and easy-drinking, it will be a true and unadulterated expression of the Rorick Heritage Vineyard.
We do not use new oak barrels in the winery for the same reason we do not manipulate the grapes or must– we would rather showcase what the vineyard gave us: a reflection of the soil, sun, and our time spent farming.
Regarding sulfur: we use SO2 on most of our wines, typically adding the minimum effective amount either post-ferment or pre-bottling, depending on the tendency of the particular wine for becoming microbially troublesome. We do produce wines with no sulfur added, but we place individual wine health over dogma and so do not needlessly sulfur all of our wines nor eschew sulfur entirely, but use it sparingly as needed.