Populis Macerated White 2022

Location: United States, California

Winemaker: Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig

Grapes: 30% Chardonnay, 22% Albariño, 22% Grenache Blanc, 17% Ribolla Gialla, 6% Sauvignon Blanc 

Soil: Gravelly loam, sandy loam

Winemaking: Mostly whole cluster direct press, fermented on the skins. Each vineyard fermented separately in stainless steel and flextanks.

From the Importer Zev Rovine Selections: Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig produce two wines, Populis and Les Lunes Wine. With Populis, they purchase grapes from historic vineyards and multi-generational growers from Mendocino County. These wines are fresh, lively, fruit forward, and made in a playful style. In addition to making wine, they farm and manage over 8 ha of vineyards in Sonoma and Napa and are committed 100% to organic farming and restoring and preserving older and historic vineyards in those counties. Their Les Lunes Wines are made from these vineyards and the top sites from their growers in Mendocino County. The Les Lunes Wines show the more classic, refined, elegant, and ageable side of natural wine.

Their facility is literally the basement of Shaunt’s parents’ house in Orinda, just east of Berkeley. This allows them to produce wine without the interference of other wineries’ yeasts or influences as well as allowing them to age their wine for multiple vintages before release if needed.

They are absolutely 100% committed to farming and producing wines organically. They make no additions to the wines save for a small dose of sulfur before bottling if needed, as determined on a barrel by barrel basis.