Martha Stoumen NV 'Post Flirtation' Orange No. 3, California

Item Number: 23209

UPC: None

Country: USA
Region: California
Sub Region: North Coast
Appellation/AVA: California
Estate Grown Wine: No
Grape(s): 50% Vermentino / 47% Kerner / 3% Friulano
Type: Wine - Orange
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 12.5
Viticulture: Practicing Organic

Martha's Notes: Only the 3rd year making this orange wine, I’m still playing around with grape varieties, but the method remains the same: start with a core of rich, fully skin fermented amber wine, and layer back in various lots that see slightly lesser time on the skins. The resulting flavor and body? Think less northeastern Italy and more southern Sicily—a gateway amber wine that walks softly and with less force.

Vineyard Notes: All the grapes in this blend grow on sites with large, scattered chunks of quartz throughout. Venturi Vineyard is located in Calpella, Mendocino County in an area with cold winters, a fleeting springtime, and dry, very warm summers. A fall day can range from 50 degrees overnight to the high 90’s during the day, preserving intense acidity and deeply ripening skins. Everything at Venturi, including this young vine Vermentino block, is dry-farmed (non-irrigated), certified organic, and planted on Pinole gravelly loam soils. This block (as well as the old vine Carignan block) are located where the Russian River flowed ages ago, thus the large deposits of quartz and river rock in each of these blocks. Las Cimas is located in some of the highest elevations of the middle reach of the Russian River Valley, where the temperate afternoons are shouldered by exceptionally cool mornings and evenings. This comes from the vineyard’s positioning above the fog line, so ripening is intensified by the solar radiation but kept in check by the competing cooling influence from West County that whips through Armstrong Redwoods and over Sweetwater Springs. Soils are exceptional and unique here, especially for the Russian River Valley. Primarily chlorite and sandstone schist, with large pieces of quartz throughout. These are amazing wine grapes grown organically under the direction of David Drummond and Sam Bilbro.

Winemaking Notes: The 2025 vintage of Vermentino from Venturi Vineyard was separated into two fermentations based on richness of fruit. The first lot was from the ripest and richest part of this young, dry farmed vineyard. The grapes were foot-tread whole clusters in fermentation bins, sealed, and then put in the sun to begin fermentation and “steep" much like a sun tea. 4 days later they unsealed the bins, foot-tread again, and began pumping over the fermentation daily until dryness. They then pressed to neutral oak barrels and left on lees to age for six months. This resulted in a deeply orange wine, full of apricot, tangerine, and grapefruit oil. The second half of Venturi Vermentino, from the brighter, slightly less ripe part of the vineyard was foot-tread and left on skins for approximately 6 hours until pressing. Pressed hard, the resulting juice went to neutral oak barrels for fermentation and six months of aging on lees. This component resulted in a rich, skin contact white, that reminded me of grilled meyer lemons and marcona almonds. The Kerner, from the very steep, quartz rich Las Cimas vineyard, was treated exactly like the second Vermentino lot—but is from the 2024 vintage so was aged for 18 months in neutral oak. Kerner brings a richer body, orange blossom, and pear to the blend. The Fruilano, also from Las Cimas, is a tiny component but was fully skin fermented like the first lot of Vermentino and contributes tannin and orange rind to the final blend.