Today’s wine is a California Syrah grown in Mendocino County and I’ll tell you right up front that it’s unlike any California Syrah you’ve had before. The grapes are picked early and the clusters are left intact for fermentation, creating a bright, low-alcohol wine that reads more like a Cru Beaujolais from one of “Gang of Four” than the inky, rich wines the variety usually produces in California.

As I tasted this taut and wildly aromatic wine from Kivelstadt Cellars, my mind first wandered to Beaujolais greats like Foillard and Sunier, which I hope Jordan Kivelstadt and his winemaker, Sam Baron, take as a compliment. One of the by-products of the natural wine movement has been an embrace of lighter, unadorned reds like this “KC Labs” Syrah. From a fashion standpoint, it is a wine of the moment, and yet the number of Californian producers offering up something to meet this moment remains relatively small. Not long ago, our subscribers swooned over Russell Joyce’s Gamay from San Benito County, and today we have a wine crafted in much the same spirit, at a similarly great price. When they’re out there, you can be sure we’ll find them—this is an atypical Syrah to be sure, but man does it hit the spot. If you ask me, this KC Labs “experiment” was an unqualified success!

Today’s 2019 is part of an eclectic range of wines produced by Kivelstadt Cellars, whose founder, Jordan Kivelstadt, left a career in consulting for the world of wine. He apprenticed all over the world before returning to California and, in 2007, producing about 125 cases of Syrah from a family-owned vineyard. Since then, he’s grown his team (bringing Baron onboard in 2017) and his network of vineyard sources. The Venturi Vineyard, located just south of Ukiah in Mendocino’s Calpella Valley, is the source of today’s wine and a perfect example of the types of “heritage” sites Kivelstadt seeks out: It was first planted in the 1940s and is farmed today by third-generation proprietor Larry Venturi, whose 25-year-old Syrah plantings share space with old school California specialties such as Zinfandel, Charbono, and Carignane. Farming is Certified Organic, and the soils are described as “Pinole” gravelly loam, an easy-draining mixture of sandstone, shale, and quartz.

As explained by Sam Baron, this Syrah is picked on the earlier side and subjected to the kind of “carbonic” fermentation that has long been practiced in Beaujolais. Roughly 5% of the harvested grapes were de-stemmed and left at the bottom of the fermentation vessel, after which the remaining “whole-cluster” fruit was dumped on top. Then the mixture was sealed up in tank under a blanket of CO2, its fermentation beginning naturally and continuing over the course of about eight days. Afterward, the wine was pressed off into neutral oak barrels, where it aged for about six months before bottling. Just 585 cases were made!

So, what we have here is an extremely accurate Californian interpretation of a French vin de soif (“wine for thirst”). As I mentioned above, it’s Syrah as you rarely (if ever) see it—a stripped-down, “acoustic” version of the grape that is both delicious and fascinating. In the glass, it’s a light, translucent ruby-purple, with delicate aromas of fresh boysenberry, red and black cherry, damson plum, damp violets, and a hint of black pepper. It is bright and buoyant, low in alcohol, and perfect for serving with a slight chill (50-55 degrees) in Burgundy stems. As we get ready to welcome spring and (hopefully) start gathering with friends again, you couldn’t ask for a more perfect red for outdoor grilling, picnics, or beach runs. This is flat-out delicious, lip-smacking stuff, precisely the kind of red the cool kids are drinking on the sidewalk outside your local natural wine bar. Time to get in on that action! Enjoy!