The Solar Fortún Estate:
- Solar Fortún is a family owned and operated winery that was officially established in 2010 and planted 3 years prior in 2007. Coming from a background in theoretical and natural physics, (both of Santiago's parents are professors of physics at the university in Ensenada), the plan for this estate was methodical and precise, with no consideration left unattended.
- Fully sustainable, (and idyllic to the point of being completely transportive) the only non-renewable resource they use in their operation is the fuel that runs their tractor. As the harvests, and almost all the work in the vineyards is done by hand, it doesn't get used much!
- All grapes are estate grown in an organically farmed vineyard site at 1,100 ft elevation in the northern most section of the valley, approximately 15 miles from the Pacific in a part of the valley called Francisco Zarco. The confining walls are so tight at this point that they create more of a canyon than a valley. This creates a unique micro-climate where the temperature differential between the mountainsides and the valley floor generates a nearly constant breeze eliminating the risk of cluster rot or powdery mildew. This cooler climate also plays a role in the high natural acidity of these wines and their very prevalent floral components.
Total production: 18.5 acres under vine, 10 wines, 4,000 cases
2021 O Positivo - Solar Fortún
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
Always the most robust wine of the Solar Fortun line up, this vintage of O positivo has a touch of the barnyard note on the nose typically found in wines of Chateauneuf du Pape and some Bordeaux which in this case mingles well with the flirty and full-bodied overtones of cassis, blackberry, and blueberry. Slightly above these notes is a layer of spice that give one the overall impression of a wine with fantastic dimension that will last for a decade or more.
Drinking window: Upon release - 10 years
Vintage:
2021
Blend:
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Syrah
Producer:
Solar Fortun
Winemaker:
Santiago Lopez - Mexican
Vineyards:
Valle de Guadalupe, ejido de Francisco Zarco - Estate vineyards in a tight valley with sandy soils of decomposed sandstone and some red clay. Vines were planted in 2007 and the elevation is 1,100 ft.
Winemaking:
Hand picked from organically farmed estate vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe. Fermented in stainless steel tanks for 2 weeks and then racked to American oak barrels and aged for 12 months before bottling. Aged in bottle for an additional 9 months before release.
Sulfites: 30 ppm
Farming:
Organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
14%
