Alex Krause and John Locke founded Birichino in Santa Cruz in 2008. Drawing on a combined four decades making wine in California, France, Italy, and beyond, they are focused on attaining the perfect balance of perfume, poise, and puckishness. Sourcing from a number of carefully farmed, family-owned, own-rooted 19th and early 20th century vineyards (and a few from the late disco era) planted by and large in more moderate, marine-influenced climates, their preoccupation is to safeguard the quality and vibrance of their raw materials. They prefer minimal intervention in the cellar, employing native fermentations, stainless or neutral barrels, minimal racking and fining, and avoiding filtration altogether when possible so that the distinctive qualities of the sites with which they are lucky to work is highlighted. But most critically, their aim is to make delicious wines that give pleasure, revitalize, and revive. 

Vineyards  →