Put a Cork in It…
Well… after years of sealing Abraxas with a glass Vinolok, we are putting a cork in it.
The glass closure had become part of the Abraxas lore. It was clean, unexpected, and just elegant enough to suit the wine. Unfortunately, getting them became increasingly difficult. Eventually the manufacturer told us that if we wanted another run, we would need to buy something close to a ten-year supply.
That seemed like a lot of glass to stack in a warehouse on faith. So, for the first time since 2004, Abraxas is back under cork. The closure may be changing. The idea behind the wine isn’t.
Winecrafter Jeff Virnig and I planted the Scintilla Sonoma Vineyard in the late 1990s with Abraxas specifically in mind. We planted Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Gewürztraminer together in Carneros because I wanted to make a wine of place rather than a wine defined by a single variety.
The idea was fairly simple. Each variety would contribute its own character as the vintage allowed. The cuvée could adapt to the vintage so the winemaker wouldn’t have to force the vintage to conform to the wine. Together, the four varieties could make something more interesting than any of them could apart. A wine for the table.
At the time, it seemed mildly eccentric and contrarian. That was part of the fun. More than two decades later, the idea makes even more sense to me. A vineyard is not a factory. Every year is different. One variety may thrive while another struggles. One may bring aroma, another texture, another acidity, another depth. The proportions can shift, but the place remains the constant.
That is Abraxas.
We farm the vineyard organically, biodynamically, and regeneratively, with the same general unwillingness to beat nature into submission that informed the wine from the beginning. The goal isn’t to make the same wine every year. It is to let the vineyard tell us what kind of Abraxas that year wants to become.
Maybe that is why it has always been such a good wine for the table. It isn’t trying to prove anything. It is bright and elegant, with enough going on to pair with all kinds of the foods you love. Sommeliers get it. Chefs love it. People who have never heard of an Alsatian Vin de Terroir drink it and ask for another glass.
Which, in the end, is a better measure of success than most of the ones the wine business has invented.
So the 2023 has a cork. We’ll miss the glass cap but at least you know what to do. Pull it. Pour it. Drink it. Pair it. And if you don’t finish the bottle, put a cork in it!
Rob Sinskey
