Our Story
We are very fortunate to be able to pursue what we know and love: to make distinctive wine from carefully tended vineyards dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as a few from the Late Disco era. We are also deeply grateful for the experiences we've had working with talented Old and New World winemakers over the past couple decades in California with Randall Grahm, and with so many other talented winemakers and mentors in Europe, such as Andre Ostertag in Alsace and a host of small producers from Madiran to the Minervois to Puglia to Piemonte and beyond (Maharashtra.)
If we can do right by the vineyard sites we are fortunate to draw on, and manage to impart the wonderment and excitement we feel for what we do, we have succeeded. We hope in some small measure what we produce will also add a little joy to the world.
Birichino
About the name- Birichino- biri-kino. Like locksmiths in the United States that add additional AAAs onto their names to be the first listed in the telephone directory, and drawing on deep reserves of innate marketing genius, we went in search of something unpronounceable to English speakers, yet also difficult to remember that began with A or B. Alluce was an early favorite, seeming to evoke lightness and air in English, but in fact translating as big toe. Seeking something with that playfulness, though about some things we profess to be deadly serious, and inspired by the surprising, slighty racy character of our first wine, the Malvasia Bianca that leads one on to thinking sweet, and delivers something else entirely, we hit on Birichino, meaning naughty in Italian. And who doesn't consider themselves just a little bit naughty, after all?
TEAM
