Forlorn Hope Nacre 2013

The people behind the ‘Forlorn Hope’ winery in Napa are all about rooting for the underdog and betting on longshots. The name of their winery is a nod to a band of soldiers who volunteered to charge directly into enemy lines. Their winemaking credo asserts that if the stakes are high, the potential for glory warrants any loss in combat. With such a philosophy, it’s no surprise they make their wines using spontaneous fermentation.

Spontaneous fermentation is what happens when the winemaker forgoes using commercial yeasts and instead allows the must to be inoculated by whatever organisms happen to be in the air or on the grapes. Before Louis Pasteur figured out the role yeast plays in fermentation in 1859, all wine was made this way. Then, as scientists learned about yeast, they were able to refine yeast strains that reacted more predictably, allowing for better consistency in winemaking, vastly improving the quality of most wine. But this also eliminated much of the spontaneity.

Nowadays there is a trend back to embracing traditional winemaking techniques. Adventurous winemakers, the type who would volunteer to charge into enemy lines first, are exploring the world of spontaneous fermentation. And while the results are not always predictable, they are invariably exciting.

Forlorn Hope Nacre 2013 is a sleek Semillon with racy acidity. The initial notes of lime and white peach give way to honey on toast. With this wine, the yeasts did their job admirably, and the battle was won.