Carignan, the winegrape variety everyone has had but doesn’t know it.  Up until the 1990s, Carignan (pronounced ‘care-in-yawn’), was the third most widely planted winegrape variety in California. To this day this grape is still used as a blending agent, in large, mass-produced red wines in California and is primarily grown in the South of France, in Spain and in Italy, but it can be found in many wine growing regions throughout the world. In its youth, Carignan can be extremely vigorous and is high yielding.  However, as the vines age and fruit loads diminish it can certainly produce ..read more

Everything you want to know about Canning Wine. If you are a producer thinking about canning a small amount of wine, we recommend you don’t do it All kidding aside, the economic benefits of this package for wine really make sense at higher volumes.  We love seeing other producers make canned wine and encourage everyone to do it.  In this blog we break down the Sans Wine Co. canning process and at a later date will really dial in the financial aspects of canning and wine can packaging. Pre-ordered printed, shrink sleeve, or brite cans show up to your filling location in flat layers ..read more

Gina’s Sauvignon Blanc Notes: My grandfather (Mom’s Dad), Al Granzella, owned a vineyard in Clearlake, CA for nearly 30 years. He purchased a 30 acre bare parcel and in 1977 he planted 13.5 acres to Sauvignon Blanc grapes, with a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, that he used for wine that he made for himself and family. In 1979, he planted 5 more acres of Sauvignon Blanc and in 1983, he planted 12 more acres of Sauv Blanc. The vineyard backed up to Cache Creek, which was his water supply for irrigation. The soils were red volcanic clay from Mt. Konocti, typical of what you find in Lake County ..read more

The Sans Wine Co. monthly canned wine subscription really is the greatest deal in wine. As I sit here writing this entry, prices all around us are increasing daily.  I have read three articles about high inflation, hefty fuel costs, and the borderline recessive state of the U.S. economy just this morning.  If you are a wine lover, our fully customizable Monthly Subscription is perfect for you or anyone that wants great wine at an affordable price, and without added shipping costs. I am going to lay out the best deal in wine, how it works, and why you should sign up for a subscription ..read more

Sulfites in wine Sulfites or Sulfur Dioxide, the most used preservative in winemaking, is one of the most misunderstood wine topics.  Some producers make false claims about sulfites.  They cite unproven claims about wine consumption as the cause for poor health, allergic reactions, and hangovers. Although we do not use SO2 in the production of our wines, we feel it’s important to minimize confusion and maintain transparency about our decisions regarding this ‘hot topic’.  First and foremost, SO2 is naturally occurring and a natural byproduct of the winemaking process. To demonst ..read more

Gina and I were going through some of old pictures and decided we should share some of our past market visit trips to explain what life on the road selling wine is like.  Here is a rundown of our post pandemic travel hiatus, visit to Chicago to work with our distributor Lagniappe Beverage for the first time. We flew into O’hare and took an entry approach out over the Lake. A relatively short car ride into the West Loop got us to our hotel, and a much needed bite to eat and cocktail. Chicago Skyline Hoxton Hotel Chicago We met old friends Chris and Kate out for drinks at the rooftop ..read more

Summer has arrived in the form of Natural Wine Spritzers! We recently released our first round of Piquettes, packaged in 25oml slim cans, and they are everything you want on a hot day.  These Natural Wine Spritzers are made by rehydrating our organic grape pomace.  There is an additional natural fermentation that creates a super low alcohol, slightly “prickling” or spritzy texture and results in a light, crisp beverage perfect for the dog days of Summer. Once again, Gina is to blame for this great tasting wine.  In hindsight, it’s always easier for me to admit she has all the go ..read more

Natural wine explained Natural Wine Pumpover Video What is natural wine? Our definition of natural wine is, wine made with nothing added or anything removed during the winemaking process.    Why make natural wine, when you can try and make a wine taste the same every year?  At Sans Wine Co. we feel that the best, most pure expressions of vineyard site, vineyard location, and vintage come from producing a wine with little and ideally no manipulation whatsoever. Across the board for our wines, we use stainless steel or neutral vessels for the fermentation and aging process. We ne ..read more

Dry Farming   In late March 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed an Executive Order related to water wells for agricultural purposes.  This order makes it a little more difficult to drill new wells by requiring examination of the impact on groundwater management, neighboring wells, and proof a new well won’t cause ‘subsidence’ prior to permit approval.  Most crops in california are irrigated and so this new order has some farmers on edge.  Premium wine grape farming, I believe, has the potential to do its part for California, the environment, and addressing drough ..read more

The below post was originally released on 5/9/2020, but we felt it was timely to repost in light of the recent SVB state of the industry report.  Not a lot has changed since this post and those in power are still grasping at straws to encourage millennial wine consumption.  Check out our next blog post, to see our response to Jess Lander’s recent reporting on this year’s industry report and the resulting action groups forming to “fix” things.   In response to Ben Ryder Howe’s NYT article “The Grapelord of Napa Faces a Threat Worse Than Plague”      ..read more