Iruai "Elphame" Trinity Lakes Savagnin 2024

Like a neon tractor beam jetting out of the Trinity Alps, "Elphame" Savagnin is rocky and electric, with a tropical punch and a heady herbal tea perfume. Bright with apple, melon and honey running throughout. Beachballs and pineapples, citrus, lemon, smoke and black tea. If you feel like you've experienced a case of missing time, that means it's working. The owls are not what they seem.

Iruai (pronounced “eer-oo-eye”) is a boundary-pushing nomadic natural wine project from Chad and Michelle Westbrook Hinds, based in the mystical Shasta-Cascade mountains in the Siskiyou wilderness of far northern California. Their wines blend Alpine grape varieties, wild terroir and natural winemaking in a style they jokingly call “Californian Alpine.”

“Elphame” is their take on Savagnin, the aromatic, high-acid white grape most famous in France’s Jura. Grown at high elevation on volcanic and granitic soils in the Scott Valley, this is one of the only Savagnins made in the U.S. -- and certainly one of the most distinctive.

Stylistically, it’s dry, crisp, and slightly phenolic, with notes of green almond, lime peel, alpine herbs, and river stones. It flirts with Jura character but speaks with a wilder, west coast accent.

This is not an oxidative Savagnin (like vin jaune), but rather a fresh, textural white with a natural wine personality. It’s as rare as it is refreshing -- and a fun pick for Jura fans who want something different, or anyone curious about the edges of California wine.

Fermented with native yeasts, aged in neutral vessels, and bottled unfiltered with minimal sulfur. 200 cases produced.