Scar of the Sea - Bassi Vineyard Pinot Gris / Pinot Noir SLO Coast 2024 750ml (12% ABV)

Fruit was grown above the sandstone quarry at the Bassi Vineyard on the Central Coast, close to the Pacific Ocean. The Bassi Vineyard was planted in 1999 and has always been farmed using organic practices.

 this block has an ocean view. This wine is 65% Pinot Gris and 35% Pinot Noir. The Pinot Gris was fermented with 100% whole cluster and the Pinot Noir grapes were destemmed on top of the fermentation for a coferment. The juice fermented with native yeast and then was gently pressed in our wooden basket press. The wine aged for 8 months in old French oak barrels and was bottled without fining or filtration, with minimal sulfur used. 

juicy and tons of fun to drink, like an adult Capri Sun, wild strawberry, crunchy red fruit, pomegranate, blood orange, dried flowers, really does present as half red and half white. enjoy closer to cellar temp than fridge temp.

168 cases

Mikey Giugni of Scar of the Sea is one of Coeur’s most fundamental producers in California

Scar of the Sea was founded in 2012, but Mikey’s style as a winemaker has gone through deep explorations and many iterations since that beginning. Begun as a négoce project, as almost everything in California, Mikey has migrated from focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at his beginnings to a much wider swath of vineyard-focused, personally-farmed sites on the Central Coast, now having landed with Gina for a permanent winemaking home in San Luis Obispo. Gina’s label, Lady of the Sunshine, by contrast, was begun in 2017, and since Mikey and Gina have come together as a couple, they are now jointly farming and making their separate wines together, under one roof. The newest development for this duo, however, is a big one: as of 2024, they were able to purchase the exceptional Bassi Vineyard, a 29-acre site in Avila Beach, SLO Coast. Bassi is now their home plot, and it represents a change in their production, going from 80% purchased fruit from friendly, likeminded farmers, to now 80% personally-farmed and estate fruit, 20% purchased. It’s a massive shift for both growers and winemakers, and we’re super excited to see what this will mean for their already-lovely wines.

It's important to mention Mikey and Gina’s farming, in particular, given that Mikey has stated that for many years they’ve been hoping and striving toward moving toward a vigneron model. They’ve understood together that being able to control the farming yourselves on a vineyard site just changes so much the expression of the fruit, what is possible in each site in terms of quality and energy. Plus, Gina was raised on biodynamic vineyards in the Sierra Foothills herself, so she is a rare second-generation biodynamic farmer, and she brings that deep background to what’s done for both the Scar label and her own wines, Lady of the Sunshine.

For both labels, Gina and Mikey are aiming for clear expression of the Pacific, only a mile away from the Bassi vineyard, as well as the climate and specific terroir character of the other unique vineyard sites with which they get to work (Chene, Mountain Meadow, Lopez, etc).
In terms of profile, the wines from Scar of the Sea have a sense of fruit depth, roundness of shape, and forward, immediately notable aromas

region: SLO Coast, CA, USA

varietal: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris

style: coferment / chillable red

farming/cellar: organic, The Pinot Gris was all whole-cluster and the Pinot Noir was de-stemmed. The wine was fermented for 11 days, then gently pressed in the wooden basket press. Bottled after 8 months, unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulfur added. native yeast ferments, no additions other than SO2, and no fining or filtration.

pairing: