Jolie-Lade Trousseau Noir Blend | 2024

“Pretty-Ugly” in French, Jolie-Laide makes some of California’s most charming wines. With fewer than 1,000 cases produced across multiple bottlings, this is a true micro-winery. Husband-and-wife team Scott and Jenny Schultz work with whole clusters, native yeasts, minimal sulfur, and older barrels—making wines that win over Francophiles while reminding us California is bigger than neon Cabernet. This Trousseau Noir blends playfully with spice-kick Cabernet Pfeffer/Mourtaou (20%), Gamay (30%), and a little Poulsard (8%), sourced from sites across the North and Central Coasts: Siletto in San Benito, Las Cimas in Sonoma, and Luchsinger in Lake County. Fermented in tank and aged in neutral oak, it clocks in at a breezy 11.6% alcohol with crushed red berries, Concord grape, pink pepper, and stony little crumbles. Thin but ballsy, and especially good with a quick ten-minute chill. Remember: it doesn’t have to be French to be Frenchie. ~Allegra Angelo