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Acme designed the Pulse wine club for local Napa wine industry folk as a gateway to learn of the happenings in the wine world outside our 30-mile stretch of valley. We think wine doesn't get much "pulsier" than a dry Colombard crafted from 40-year-old vines in Sacramento. The folks at Commune thoughtfully create wines with drinkability in forethought and reverence for the vineyard as their backbone. Captured in their unique wines is a sense of place that is wholly California and will have you closing your eyes to imagine and daydream of the sights, smells, and visceral experience of the vineyard. Traditionally, Colombard has lived the life of a blending grape and predominantly was grown in France for vinification into sweet wines. The varietal's reputation for neutrality made it ideal for Cognac and Armagnac, along with white table wines. This evenhandedness made Colombard one of France's most prolifically planted grapes before the 70s when tastes began leaning toward Ugni Blanc for sweet wine, and growers ripped up Colombard for its more profitable cohort. In recent years, Colombard has experienced a renaissance ignited by California winemakers that has spread to France and South Africa. Creative, outside-the-box thinkers dared to lean into the varietal's more distinguishing characteristics (impressive acidity and an abundant guava aroma) to craft dry white blends using only minor additions of other white varietals for balance. Enter Commune, who discovered one acre of Colombard vines on a picture-perfect property outside the town of Herald, CA. Initially planted in 1983, the current steward is Gary Palmero, who farms the vineyard with minimal intervention (read no tilling or plowing and spraying only under dire circumstances.) His older Colombard vines are low-yielding, and therefore, the berries grown are small and concentrated in flavor. Commune's final blend is 75% French Colombard and 25% Sauvignon Blanc (sourced from the same vineyard on a parcel atop a rolling, rocky hill.) One winemaking choice Commune executes for all its wines is the elimination of new oak barrels, which they believe impress too strongly on wines and mask the personality and sense of place inherent in the grapes. Therefore, they fermented and aged their 2022 Colombard in neutral oak barrels with native yeast and bottled the wine unfined and unfiltered. Guava aromas impress on the nose, layered with floral and ripe summer melon notes. The pink quartz that litters the vineyard soils makes itself known on the palate with striking minerality, rivaled by the bracing acidity that reminds one of biting into a cold, Granny Smith apple. Drink this Colombard with food, as it is begging for a braised fish with beurre blanc, a dab of creamy Brie on a toasted cracker, or even a buttery, crisp almond spritz cookie. - Acme Fine Wines |
