Jupiter Wine Company 'RIOT!' Vermentino

Jupiter Wine Company 'RIOT!' Vermentino

Grapes — 100% Vermentino

Region — Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California

Tasting Notes — Pale gold with a luminous, vibrant clarity. Sea salt and flint compete with mature stone fruit on the nose — peach, apricot, white nectarine, and a mineral edge that immediately signals something serious. The palate is absolutely saturated with Vermentino fruit — stone fruit cocktail, lemon zest, and a cleansing, salty acidity that cuts right through and keeps everything focused and alive. Rich and concentrated, but never heavy. A wine with the sunshine of Sardinia and the precision of a much cooler place.

The Wine — 100% Vermentino from Las Cimas Vineyard, situated at some of the highest elevations in the middle reach of the Russian River Valley — positioned above the fog line, where solar radiation intensifies ripening while cool mornings and evenings from West County keep freshness fully intact. The site sits above Armstrong Redwoods, and the salty, cool breezes that whip through the valley keep the vines in a constant dialogue between warmth and restraint. The result is what Jupiter describes as a "wine-torn-from-rock" character — rich in concentrated fruit laced with mineral notes — a Vermentino that channels the island intensity of Sardinia and Corsica without losing the precision of Northern California.

Farming — Organically farmed at Las Cimas Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Jupiter sources exclusively from organic growers in alignment with their founding commitment: wines made from organically farmed fruit, with nothing added and nothing taken away.

Winemaking — All grapes foot-tread and macerated on skins and stems for 24 hours — long enough to extract texture, aromatic complexity, and that characteristic Vermentino bitterness, short enough to keep the wine vibrant and fresh. Directly pressed into fiberglass after maceration, where fermentation began spontaneously with wild vineyard yeasts. Secondary fermentation completed slowly and naturally over winter and early spring. Aged for 10 months on all lees in fiberglass, then carefully hand-racked in spring. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with a small disclosed addition of less than 20 parts sulfur before bottling.

The Producer — Jupiter Wine Company was born during a pandemic phone call. Michael Richardson, a 30-year hospitality veteran, got a call from winemaker Thomas DeBiase asking if he'd like to make wine, build affordable housing, and do something that actually meant something. Michael was there the next day. Thomas DeBiase left New Jersey for Sonoma County in 2006, worked across winemaking, restaurant programs, and hospitality, and found his footing at the celebrated Idlewild Wines in Mendocino before casting off corporate wine for good. Their manifesto is unambiguous: the wine industry is built on the labor of immigrant farmworkers paid below living wages and denied basic working conditions. Jupiter's response is direct — 100% of net profits go to affordable housing solutions for the Latinx agricultural and hospitality workers who make wine country possible. RIOT! is Jupiter's flagship white — the wine that best captures their unapologetic love for island-style Italian varieties grown in California, and their conviction that Vermentino has no business being this good outside of the Mediterranean. They are very much right.

Drink It With — Grilled whole fish, clam pasta, burrata with tomatoes, a seafood tower, fried zucchini blossoms, or anything that wants a white wine with actual personality.