Birichino 'Jurassic Park Vineyard' Old Vines Chenin Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, California 2025
Founded in Santa Cruz in 2008 by Alex Krause and John Locke, Birichino draws on a combined four decades of winemaking experience across California, France, and Italy. The name — Italian for "mischievous" — suits a project built on contrarianism: sourcing from carefully farmed, family-owned vineyards planted largely in the 19th and early 20th centuries, working with unfashionable varieties, and pursuing minimal intervention at every stage. Own-rooted vines, native fermentations, and a preference for stainless or neutral vessels define the house approach. Krause and Locke's preoccupation is the preservation of varietal and site character above all else.
- WINEMAKER: Alex Krause and John Locke
- FARMING: The Jurassic Park Vineyard is dry-farmed. Vines are own-rooted (franc de pied), planted in 1978.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: The Jurassic Park Vineyard sits at 400 meters elevation in the Santa Ynez Valley, planted on deep sand and sandstone underlain by limestone. Low-vigor soils with quartz sand and limestone consistently produce small berries and clusters. Vine positioning on the hillside creates significant variation in canopy density and cluster ripeness: upper-slope vines receive more sun and produce fewer, riper clusters, while lower-slope vines yield a broader range of ripeness, occasionally with botrytis. The 2025 vintage passed summer and fall without significant heat spikes; a chilly October delayed harvest until the final week of the month, resulting in very low yields, high acidity, modest alcohol, and concentrated extract.
- VINIFICATION: Native yeast fermentation in concrete egg and stainless steel. No inoculation.
- AGING: 6 months sur lie in one concrete egg and one stainless steel barrel. 314 cases produced.
- TASTING NOTES: Tightly wound and mineral-driven, with crisp green apple, citrus pith, and flinty tension. The 2025 echoes the cool, late 2018 vintage — precise and linear, with more cut than tropical expression, and the structure to evolve significantly with time.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Fresh oysters, goat cheese, roasted chicken with herbs, celery root gratin.
Birichino 'Jurassic Park Vineyard' Old Vines Chenin Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, California 2025
Founded in Santa Cruz in 2008 by Alex Krause and John Locke, Birichino draws on a combined four decades of winemaking experience across California, France, and Italy. The name — Italian for "mischievous" — suits a project built on contrarianism: sourcing from carefully farmed, family-owned vineyards planted largely in the 19th and early 20th centuries, working with unfashionable varieties, and pursuing minimal intervention at every stage. Own-rooted vines, native fermentations, and a preference for stainless or neutral vessels define the house approach. Krause and Locke's preoccupation is the preservation of varietal and site character above all else.
- WINEMAKER: Alex Krause and John Locke
- FARMING: The Jurassic Park Vineyard is dry-farmed. Vines are own-rooted (franc de pied), planted in 1978.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: The Jurassic Park Vineyard sits at 400 meters elevation in the Santa Ynez Valley, planted on deep sand and sandstone underlain by limestone. Low-vigor soils with quartz sand and limestone consistently produce small berries and clusters. Vine positioning on the hillside creates significant variation in canopy density and cluster ripeness: upper-slope vines receive more sun and produce fewer, riper clusters, while lower-slope vines yield a broader range of ripeness, occasionally with botrytis. The 2025 vintage passed summer and fall without significant heat spikes; a chilly October delayed harvest until the final week of the month, resulting in very low yields, high acidity, modest alcohol, and concentrated extract.
- VINIFICATION: Native yeast fermentation in concrete egg and stainless steel. No inoculation.
- AGING: 6 months sur lie in one concrete egg and one stainless steel barrel. 314 cases produced.
- TASTING NOTES: Tightly wound and mineral-driven, with crisp green apple, citrus pith, and flinty tension. The 2025 echoes the cool, late 2018 vintage — precise and linear, with more cut than tropical expression, and the structure to evolve significantly with time.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Fresh oysters, goat cheese, roasted chicken with herbs, celery root gratin.