Vineyards & People
SAN BENITO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
an UNDER APPRECIATED CALIFORNIA APPELLATION
a cold Sea breeze enters the valley each night - preserving acidity & SLOWING ripeness. crafting wine similar to loire valley, FRANCE.
SUSTAINABLE
& ORGANIC FRUIT
CALIFORNIA CAN BE COOL CLIMATE
HARVESTED & SORTED BY HAND
NOT YOUR AVERAGE NATURAL WINE
THE CREATURES
Social Creatures was built to share stories of the incredible people who...
inspired adventure, took a risk, and changed the course of life. Katrina started the project in 2021 to showcase incredible Creatures who've inspired her throughout life. Our desire is to celebrate these bold risk-takers and to unite one another through wine.
EGON | Cabernet Franc
my strong headed grandfather - EGON
grew up in Germany and moved to the United States with his family to explore the western frontier. His stubborn personality was unmatched by any American. He was an expert fisher, eater, and master fermenter.
After settling on the islands of Maine, his basement was always bubbling with something new. As a small child myself with starstruck eyes, I watched him concoct experiments, play with barrels, and spend hours taking inventory of his mysterious cellar.
Grapes, apples, apricots, blueberries, bananas. You name it, he fermented it. His distinct love for creating wine was mesmerizing. This wine is dedicated to Egon.
HANNAH | Chenin Blanc
my lovely cousin - HANNAH
grew up on a farm in the hills of Pennsylvania. She was raised as a Mennonite amongst the earth, animals, and the music of nature. Always curious and pushing the boundaries of possibilities in life. What more existed outside the land she was bound to?
Hannah left home despite the traditional pressures to stay and traveled the world. She explored, laughed, cried, and most importantly... faced reality. Hannah was brave, bubbly, and curious. A dreamer with a beautiful connection to nature, that she graciously passed on to me.
Living with her every summer as a child implanted this love for farming and the simplicity of life. This wine is dedicated to Hannah.
MARA | CHENIN BLANC
my CHENIN MENTOR - MARA
lives in the unbelievably beautiful and tranquil village of Onrus, South Africa. Tucked between glorious mountain ranges and the point in which the Atlantic and Indian Ocean met. This beachside oasis is unknown to the typical traveler and especially secret to the winemaking world. Maralise welcomed me into her home 10,244.42 miles away from California, in the peak of summer... January 2021.
As a lover of obscure travel and risky adventures - I jumped at the invitation to join the harvest in Bot River - in what felt like, the South African outback. Maralise's project is to bring to life old-vine Chenin Blanc from far far away vineyards in the moon-like desserts of the Swartland. With the keys to her left-handed stick shift truck, a trailer, and gas money - we would drive endlessly across the country sampling grapes and strategizing wine styles.
Maralise gave me the freedom, the responsibility, the trust, and so many countless hours of winemaking wisdom that I will be forever grateful for her generosity. This wine is dedicated to Maralise.
THE WINEMAKER
KATRINA LAEMMERHIRT IS BASED IN SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, AND HAS
TRAVELED AND WORKED IN
SOUTH AFRICA, CHILE, PERU, BOLIVIA, AND FRANCE .
in pursuit of finding obscure VINEYARDS...
studying THEIR UNIQUE CLImATE, SOIL & ALTITUDE
AND practicing the art of OLD-SCHOOL
natural winemaking
& FARMING
