Hiyu Tzum "Solais" Spring Ephemeral 2023

Nate on this wine: “This is the third and most ethereal release of Zinfandel from the black sands of Scorched Earth Vineyard. It is also the first in a series of spring releases exploring the line between red wine and rosé. It is rendered in style similar to last year’s version of Solais. It is darker and more concentrated than a typical rosé, paler and more delicate than what most people have in mind when they think of red wine. It is in this ambiguous terrain that I find the most pleasure from drinking these days.” The plot belongs to a couple with Irish origins, so Hiyu gave it the name of a legendary Irish hero – a warrior who became all-wise by eating an enchanted salmon.

Grapes: Zinfandel

Vineyard: Scorched Earth, leased plot farmed by Nate&co since 2016. Fionn comes from a very dry plot with low yields, 1.25 acres of basalt subsoil and very dry, pure volcanic sand decomposed basalt. Planted in late 1990s

Making of: the grapes were hand-harvested, left alone as whole clusters for about 8-9 days, then spent a couple of days on skins, receiving only a few pigeages before being pressed directly to barrels with a manual ratchet press. The wine was aged on the lees in older barrels before being bottled by hand the following spring with a little bit of the wine’s CO2. Unfined, unfiltered, 5ppm of SO2 at bottling.

Personality: in Nate’s own words, “perfectly suited to warmer days and the kind of food that emerges from the verdant spring garden. As the glass fills with hazy pink liquid it tastes of strawberries, grapefruit skin, peppercorn, and sage. The periphery of the wine glows with a subtle meatiness, not unlike the finocchiona salami. This wine would also be an amazing companion for pizza, especially one that included charcuterie.”