Les Lunes Macerated Chardonnay 2024

This Chardonnay comes from Lolonis Vineyard, a historic site in the southern end of Redwood Valley. Les Lunes does a combination of carbonic macerated and destemmed maceration on the skins to coax out tons of tropical flavors and a juicy mouthfeel. Very Chardonnay, but unlike what you’re probably used to!

The grapes come from 40-year-old organic, dry-farmed, Chardonnay vines in the historic Searby Vineyard. It is a historically significant site with a (still working) drainage system built by the WPA during the great depression. Second growth redwoods line this coastal vineyard and its incredibly cool climate lends wines of amazing depth and freshness. Les Lunes strives for a style that is powerful, yet refreshing and drinkable and certainly never oaky or buttery.

Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig produce two wines, Populis and Les Lunes Wine. In addition to making wine, they farm and manage over 8 ha of vineyards in Sonoma and Napa and are committed 100% to organic farming and restoring and preserving older and historic vineyards in those counties. Their Les Lunes Wines are made from these vineyards and the top sites from their growers in Mendocino County. The Les Lunes Wines show the more classic, refined, elegant, and ageable side of natural wine. 

Their facility is literally the basement of Shaunt’s parents’ house in Orinda, just east of Berkeley. This allows them to produce wine without the interference of other wineries’ yeasts or influences as well as allowing them to age their wine for multiple vintages before release if needed. They are absolutely 100% committed to farming and producing wines organically. They make no additions to the wines save for a small dose of sulfur before bottling if needed, as determined on a barrel by barrel basis.