Jupiter Wine Co. "Butterflies and Golden Lies" Skin Contact Friulano 2022

A balance of fruit and savory tones, the herbaceous character from the skin fermentation comes across as a mix of freshly cut tarragon, sweet basil, coriander and dill in the aromas. Pulpy tropical fruit flavors push through on the palate, with notes of papaya, mango and lilikoi. Medium bodied and concentrated, it is textural and persistent.

It may have several names (Friulano? Sauvignonasse? Sauvignon Vert? Tocai Friulano? Zeloni? Jakot?), but the wine is always distinct, and definitely distinct from Sauvignon Blanc. Don’t listen to the wine experts who claim it’s related to the white Bordeaux grape. It actually shares no genetics with Sauvignon Blanc. Originally from Veneto, since the 1600s, it has found its most noble home in the far Northeast of Italy, Friuli.

Friulano buds late and ripens early, so it’s always a race to the finish line. Because of this rapid pace, there’s always a risk of the wine lacking some acidity. Many minimal intervention producers in Friuli choose to ferment these white wine grapes on the skins, adding tannins and phenolics that help frame the wine with a touch of snugness on the perimeter of the palate. To avoid any harshness or coarse texture, the folks at Jupiter Wine Co. destemmed all the fruit to allow the complex aroma and flavor compounds from the skins to shine through. Fermentation occurred with wild yeasts from the vineyard, and the juice remained in contact with the skins throughout. Secondary fermentation was allowed to complete naturally, and the wine was aged in concrete for 10 months before being bottled without fining or filtration. A small addition of 20 parts winemaking sulfur was added prior to bottling. Only 86 cases produced.

The people behind Jupiter Wine Co. are more than just a community of like-minded individuals that share a love for minimal intervention wine. They aim to establish an economic engine that stands up to consolidated, corporate wine and the economic apartheid those organizations have created towards agricultural and hospitality workers.

Those organizations have appropriated the term "sustainability" as a sales and marketing tool without considering the economic sustainability of the most fragile communities essential to its creation. What they’ve given us are gross domestic products in their pursuit of Gross Domestic Product. When you support Jupiter Wine Company, you can have the confidence that 100% of the profits generated go to affordable housing solutions for the communities most responsible for its creation.