California Stars ‘Fool Bloom’ Red 2023

$25.00

Location: United States, California

Winemaker: Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig

Grapes: 80% Merlot, 20% Zinfandel 

Soil: Loam, sandstone, shale, quartz

Winemaking: Pinot Noir and Grenache destemmed and macerated for 5 days. Zinfandel many ways — destemmed and macerated for 5 days, carbonic maceration, direct press rosé, and co-fermented with Syrah. Chardonnay 50% direct press and 50% co-fermented with Zinfandel rosé. Aged in flex tanks and neutral French oak barrels.

From the Importer Selection Massale: Selection Massale is proud to announce a new addition to our family of custom projects.  California Stars was born when the *stars aligned* with producers we’ve always admired–Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig of Les Lunes–to collaborate on three cuvées together.  These are Love me Love me Not (skin contact white), Fool Bloom (light chillable red blend), and Star Crossed (Classic California Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot).

Diego and Shaunt recently took us through the blending process and shed some light on their operations at their gorgeous new facility they’ve built in Richmond California (just outside of Berkeley). Richmond, which is a burgeoning winemaking community, is also home to Purity and Subject to Change.  This new cellar is much larger than their previous space (Shaunt’s parents’ basement).  Consequently, they were able to sign vineyard contracts to work with as much quantity and varieties as they wanted to.  There are other newfound conveniences, such as being much closer to the vineyards and having more space for bottling.  All of these allowed Shaunt and Diego to have the availability and ability to make these three amazing wines for us.

About the winemakers:  Shaunt and Diego met at UC Davis but really became fast friends and partners while abroad in France staging separately in the Loire.  They would meet up on weekends to have culinary adventures.  Diego originally thought he would make beer but then shifted gears.  Shaunt started off as a chemistry student but didn’t want to go into academia or research.  Eventually he ended up making wine and  his mentor pushed him to go to school, which suited his academic side.  The rest is history.  After setting up shop in California, the duo decided to lease vineyards but remain very hands on about farming.  Currently they work with about 45 acres total and have collaborated with the same team for pruning and harvesting for the past five years or so.  One tactic has been to source grapes from people they want to learn from– for instance, Larry Venturi. They’ve been able to convert quite a few conventionally farmed vineyards and begin working with them as well.  Shaunt and Diego don’t buy grapes in Napa and Sonoma (too expensive), but they’re making serious wines that are akin to ones you find from that area, just sourced elsewhere.

The label art is a very big part of this project and we're thrilled to be featuring art from Giulia Fiorista (@liafiore), commissioned for these special bottlings. Giulia interviewed Shaunt and Diego about the things most important to them in California. Each label tells a story about California and the winemakers’ passions.  The three-part story revolves around a love letter: a bear masked character writes a letter to a farming woman, who receives it while busy working in the fields. The letter is an invitation to dinner, which sees the two of them coming together eating fine food and wine.


Location: United States, California

Winemaker: Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig

Grapes: 80% Merlot, 20% Zinfandel 

Soil: Loam, sandstone, shale, quartz

Winemaking: Pinot Noir and Grenache destemmed and macerated for 5 days. Zinfandel many ways — destemmed and macerated for 5 days, carbonic maceration, direct press rosé, and co-fermented with Syrah. Chardonnay 50% direct press and 50% co-fermented with Zinfandel rosé. Aged in flex tanks and neutral French oak barrels.

From the Importer Selection Massale: Selection Massale is proud to announce a new addition to our family of custom projects.  California Stars was born when the *stars aligned* with producers we’ve always admired–Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig of Les Lunes–to collaborate on three cuvées together.  These are Love me Love me Not (skin contact white), Fool Bloom (light chillable red blend), and Star Crossed (Classic California Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot).

Diego and Shaunt recently took us through the blending process and shed some light on their operations at their gorgeous new facility they’ve built in Richmond California (just outside of Berkeley). Richmond, which is a burgeoning winemaking community, is also home to Purity and Subject to Change.  This new cellar is much larger than their previous space (Shaunt’s parents’ basement).  Consequently, they were able to sign vineyard contracts to work with as much quantity and varieties as they wanted to.  There are other newfound conveniences, such as being much closer to the vineyards and having more space for bottling.  All of these allowed Shaunt and Diego to have the availability and ability to make these three amazing wines for us.

About the winemakers:  Shaunt and Diego met at UC Davis but really became fast friends and partners while abroad in France staging separately in the Loire.  They would meet up on weekends to have culinary adventures.  Diego originally thought he would make beer but then shifted gears.  Shaunt started off as a chemistry student but didn’t want to go into academia or research.  Eventually he ended up making wine and  his mentor pushed him to go to school, which suited his academic side.  The rest is history.  After setting up shop in California, the duo decided to lease vineyards but remain very hands on about farming.  Currently they work with about 45 acres total and have collaborated with the same team for pruning and harvesting for the past five years or so.  One tactic has been to source grapes from people they want to learn from– for instance, Larry Venturi. They’ve been able to convert quite a few conventionally farmed vineyards and begin working with them as well.  Shaunt and Diego don’t buy grapes in Napa and Sonoma (too expensive), but they’re making serious wines that are akin to ones you find from that area, just sourced elsewhere.

The label art is a very big part of this project and we're thrilled to be featuring art from Giulia Fiorista (@liafiore), commissioned for these special bottlings. Giulia interviewed Shaunt and Diego about the things most important to them in California. Each label tells a story about California and the winemakers’ passions.  The three-part story revolves around a love letter: a bear masked character writes a letter to a farming woman, who receives it while busy working in the fields. The letter is an invitation to dinner, which sees the two of them coming together eating fine food and wine.