Viognier

Anna and Gary were next door neightbors in San Francisco who fell in crazy, stupid love. They left their corporate jobs and cashed in their 401ks to purchase the historic Fetzer Valley Oak property – a 50-acre, overgrown farm and vineyard in Mendocino county. Anna’s pseudonym is “life gardener” – she takes seeds of ideas, and plants and nurtures them – and Gary has a knack for a fixer upper; Anna says “he can find a parking lot and make it a possibility.” They lovingly revived the property, with sustainability top of mind, into a retreat, farm and winery now known as Campovida.

This organic Viognier has delicate florals and fresh fruit aromas backed up by mouth-watering guava, apricot, and citrus. It won Double Gold and was rated 96 points at the North Coast Wine Challenge, making it the highest rated canned wine, ever. It’s crisp and refreshing, yet has a creamy mouthfeel. The Viognier is Campovida’s flagship estate grape, grown on the winery’s own vineyards in Hopland.

The hand-drawn leaves on the can are a nod to Campovida’s lush gardens and “Shades of Green” farming philosophy — the winery uses all organic and biodynamic fruit.

This Viognier stands up to a fish or chicken main dish; we like it with grilled seafood and a fruity salsa. The lush earthiness also pairs perfectly with root vegetables like carrots, parsnips or spicy butternut squash.

This Viognier is all about purity, our goal is to simply amplify the voice of the vineyard. We avoided competing flavors of oak or winemaking techniques which assert a broad stamp on the wine’s profile. Balance was achieved with a careful selection of harvest timing and an engagement with the natural rhymes and tendencies of the vineyard site. We used native yeast to complete the fermentation and élevage took place in both stainless steel and neutral oak barrels balancing the bright fruit and the natural richness found in Viognier. The wine was then lightly finned to prepare it for canning. Organically farmed for decades, this vineyard site is located next to our winery and displays a wide variation of vigor. From the large and wild canopy growth on the south west end to the sun-exposed and low yielding “tip” on the north side we always have a choice in ripeness. This vintage was primarily sourced from the “tip” giving the wine its lusher flavors and mouthfeel.