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Greetings,

As I write this letter, mid-September, I’m starting a new project. Anticipating a later harvest and expecting more fruit than ever before, we’re starting a new chapter. It provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what a great vintage 2021 was. How far we’ve come in these last two years, has been physically and mentally challenging. It fills me with pride to have the opportunity to write this letter to those who appreciate a hard-earned glass of wine.

Our next release is a nod to the peaks and valleys of this occupation. You may already know we had a small start, a return, and a loading phase for each of the previous vintages (respectively). Every year the wine game, farming, and Mother Nature pose various challenges. For instance, we had a remarkable growth season in 2019, but our ALLBAER game was still young then. We couldn’t afford any blending opportunities and what we made was what we put in the bottle. Then we had 2020 — which was a challenge for us. We dealt with the onset of a late fire and made it through seemingly unscathed with the added bonus of a few opportunities to blend more complexity into our offerings.

Fast forward another couple years to 2021 and why I’m writing to you. As a growing season, 2021 was spectacular considering the minimal amount of rainfall. Yields were down fifty percent in some parcels which mitigated vine vigor. We could allow the fruit additional hang time which concentrated the flavors in these wines. Considering the circumstances of all of our previous releases, I find these wines are UP THERE with some of the best we’ve produced in our few short years of existence. We’re finally finding our stride. Producing enough to make small tweaks and focus with each wine.

Every year we set out to make the best, highest-quality juice we can. We stuff these bottles with lots of love, sweat, and fermented grape juice in hopes you may enjoy them. We are incredibly stoked on the quality of this release and would name it, “Great Wine,” if it were up to us. However, the reality (and dare we say best part) of wine is the diversity of how each bottle is perceived by the consumer. Where this release stacks up compared to our previous releases, and whether it really is Là Haut (Up There) is for you to decide.

“The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? —it is the same the angels breathe.”

― Mark Twain, Roughing It

As for the wine;

2022 Là Haut White

Planted in 1973, on its own roots, Block L in Bien Nacido is an iconic site on the Central Coast. Back in 2015 while working for Clos Solene I had the opportunity to visit and work with the fruit. Then, a particular block of Chardonnay was going to the esteemed house Sine Qua Non— just adjacent to Guillaume’s parcel. In 2018 I had the chance to work with that same fruit while in Ventura. It was one of our favorite lots of the vintage and I knew if there was ever an opportunity to make Chardonnay for ALLBAER, it would come from here. In 2022, that opportunity presented itself.

Our final pick of 2022 was fermented in one stainless steel vessel, one neutral barrel, and two new French oak barrels. After a very long and cold fermentation, we then topped the barrels with the wine from the stainless steel drum. This beauty went through 10 months of elevage in 66.6% new French Oak and 33.3% seasoned French Oak. Regular stirring and 100 percent malic fermentation allowed us to bottle this puppy unned, and unltered. (A nod to John, and the Newton classic).

2021 Là Haut Sangiovese

This Sangiovese is particularly near and dear to me. I had never worked with this grape professionally. None of my mentors grew or fermented the stuff. Our initial few releases have been opulent and rich — something I attribute to my understanding of Grenache. While I don’t nd this to be the wrong approach, I’ve found Sangiovese benefits from freshness and liveliness. Of all the wines we produce, this one is most likely to continue to change as I refine my method in search of the ultimate ALLBAER.

Our strategy in picking on two separate occasions has allowed us to use one large format barrel, puncheon, for the first pick to help maintain the freshness, while the second pick, approximately 11 days later, went into one new and one once used barrel. This creates tension and complexity as this wine is entirely sourced from a singular 1.4 acre parcel. Yields here are extremely minimal, as we only produce 600-900 liters per vintage.

2021 Là Haut Grenache

A majority of our 2021 Grenache is sourced from block 9 at Caelesta Vineyard. With only 17.8% coming from block 11, the hallmark Grenache source for our 2019 vintage. This steep north eastern slope may be one of the most exciting sites of the whole Templeton Gap. It receives early morning sun followed by plenty of shade and protection from brutal afternoon exposure. A dream for winemakers, terrifying for tractor drivers. Our 2021 offering went into completely neutral wood, this beauty was only racked in preparation for bottling like the rest of our wines.

2021 Là Haut Syrah

Last but not least, I am pleased to announce our 2021 Syrah. While we have our regular support acts, such as Hawks Hill Ranch and Denner Vineyards, we’ve now included Piazza Bella Vista as a cooler climate protagonist. Caelesta block 6 and Hawks Hill Ranch bring the structure. These cool climate components are the ying to the warm climates yang. This creates an invigorating tension in the wine, and this Syrah offers a wonderful expression of that.

It comes with great excitement and anticipation to announce the offering of our 2021’s & 2022, Là Haut. As always, this offering will be available on a first come first serve basis. Finally, it is a pleasure to share our story with you as we continue to grow and learn. And a BIG THANK YOU for following us along on this journey.

Sincerely, 

    ALL the BAERs