Wild Plum

Andrew's cellar work is defined by restraint, precision, and a willingness to reach beyond California convention for technique. The Chardonnay from the Brideway Vineyard is a blend of Dijon Clone 76 and Musqué Chardonnay, assembled roughly two-thirds to one-third, and is 100% barrel-fermented in Burgundy barrels — approximately 30% new oak, with the remainder once- or twice-used. The barrels are sourced primarily from the Châtillonnet forest, chosen for its cooler-climate character and tighter grain, which delivers integration rather than extraction. The wine is aged sur lie without racking until bottling, with bâtonnage performed every two weeks initially, then monthly until March; once the lees have settled, a single gravity racking to bottle completes the process. No bentonite, no chemical additions — only grape juice and glass. The Pinot Noir from the Quand Vineyard is fermented using a modified layering technique Andrew learned from an Argentinian winemaker: fruit is destemmed, then select whole clusters are layered in alternation with crushed whole berries in tank. This sandwich approach addresses a specific technical problem — interior berries near the rachis can release sugars late in fermentation when uniformity is no longer possible — and produces a more consistent, integrated flavor profile. Fermentation proceeds at cool temperatures, the tank never exceeding 80°F, a deliberate choice to coax fresh berry aromatics and preserve perfume rather than build extraction or weight. Five barrels total were used: four once-used, and a final barrel of new Châtiennac oak from Cavan. The result Andrew reaches for stylistically reads less like a typical California Pinot Noir and more like a Croix-Bourgueil Gamay — aromatic, lifted, and almost analog in its freshness.

Wild Plum Wine was conceived not as a prestige project but as a meditation on everyday pleasure. The pairing of wine and literature is not merely a marketing conceit — it is the conceptual spine of the entire enterprise. Andrew and Elyse have built a label that asks wine to sit alongside books, conversation, and the quieter rituals of daily life rather than on a pedestal. The branding deliberately evokes the tactile and sensory: the weight of a glass, the texture of a page. This is wine positioned against collectibility and status, toward accessibility and genuine engagement. At thirty-five dollars per bottle, both cuvées occupy the premium-but-approachable register — thoughtfully crafted without the barrier of prestige pricing. The connection to Elyse's bookstore offers the project an unconventional retail presence, one rooted in community and cross-disciplinary pleasure rather than traditional wine trade channels. What distinguishes Wild Plum Wine is the coherence between its values and its wines: cool-climate, character-forward, and built for drinking rather than cellaring.

Wild Plum Wine produces two cuvées, both from the 2024 vintage, priced between thirty-five and forty dollars.

The 2024 Wild Plum Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast Carneros is sourced from the Brideway Vineyard and built from a blend of Dijon Clone 76 and Musqué Chardonnay, roughly two-thirds to one-third. Harvested at 22.5 to 23 Brix to preserve natural tension and acidity, it is 100% barrel-fermented in Burgundy oak — 30% new from the Châtillonnet forest — and aged sur lie with regular bâtonnage until settling. A single gravity racking to bottle, no fining agents, no additives. Bright, full, and intensely electric, this is a Chardonnay of precision and liveliness rather than richness or oak weight.

The 2024 Wild Plum Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast Carneros is sourced from the Quan Vineyard, between the town of Sonoma and the Sonoma Mountains foothills, and produced from Dijon Clone 667. Harvested at approximately 24 Brix, it is fermented using a modified whole-cluster layering method — alternating whole berries and crushed fruit in tank — at cool fermentation temperatures that never exceeded 80°F. Aged in five barrels, four once-used and one new Châtiennac from Cavan. Aromatic, fresh, and driven by lifted berry perfume, the wine reads stylistically closer to a Croix-Bourgueil Gamay than to the extracted, round profile associated with California Pinot Noir — a deliberate and wholly personal statement of where Andrew's sensibility lies.