Racines is the first project outside of France for partners Étienne de Montille and Brian Sieve (of Domaine de Montille), and Rodolphe Péters (of Champagne Pierre Péters). The project brings together some of the greatest winemaking talents in France in one of the finest terroirs in America. They wanted to make wines without old-world bureaucracy, and Santa Rita Hills provided the right terroir and climate with space for creativity. The focus of Racines is on the cool, maritime influenced vineyards in Santa Rita Hills where they produce Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and sparkling wines.
THE ICONS BEHIND RACINES:
Racines is the first project outside of France for partners Etienne de Montille (Domaine de Montille), Brian Sieve (Domaine de Montille) and Rodolphe Péters (Champagne Pierre Péters). Domaine de Montille is regarded as one of the top producers in Burgundy and known for creating some of the purest expressions of Pinot Noir found in Burgundy today. Étienne joined the Domaine in 1983, taking over vinifications in 1990, and was instrumental in the introduction of organic farming and biodynamic methods. As the Chef de Cave at Domaine de Montille since 2010, Brian has pursued minimal intervention to achieve maximum expression of the Domaine’s terroir. Rodolphe represents the 6th generation of the Pierre Péters Champagne family, a venerable estate in the Southern Côte des Blancs. Rodolphe’s wines are known for their sleek, racy qualities, combining acidity and minerality to create some of the most exciting Champagnes the world has ever seen.
THEIR JOINT ENDEAVOR
The team came together to blend their individual experiences in hand-crafting wines of purity and transparency to create a range of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and sparkling wine from the cool climate of the Sta. Rita Hills in California. For Étienne and Rodolphe, Racines offers the opportunity to create something completely new, liberated from the weight of history that comes with making wine in their own villages in Burgundy and Champagne. The Racines collection brings with it all the multi-generational perspective of their combined experience, crafted in the Santa Rita Hills, a terroir that has quickly come to be considered among the best in the world for making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
WINEMAKING & WINES:
While very much an expression of their unique terroir, the Racines wines are unique for the Santa Rita Hills. Being crafted with the techniques and expertise of hundreds of years of Burgundian and Champagne winemaking, production methods are firmly rooted in the traditions of France. The result is wines that have ample amounts of fresh acidity and the ability to age. All grapes are farmed using organic practices and fermented using native yeasts.
Chardonnays — grown several miles from the ocean in ancient marine sea-beds, these wines have a sense of energy, transparency and precision
Pinot Noirs — employing whole-cluster fermentation adds elegance, lift and spiciness; pigéage throughout fermentation offers a more extracted flavour profile that brings volume and exceptional ageing potential