The Jurassic Park Chenin Blanc came about as most great things do in California: over lunch in west Hollywood. Alex and John were enjoying a post-trade event meal with their friend, Angela Osborne. The New Zealand-born owner/winemaker at Tribute to Grace told them about an old Chenin Blanc vineyard near her house in Los Alamos in Santa Ynez Valley. Showcasing their inability to turn down old-vine fruit from well-managed, interesting and mature vineyards, by the end of lunch, the Birichino boys had purchased a parcel of fruit to be collected the following day.
Located about four hours from the winery in Santa Cruz, Jurassic Park is the furthest-flung site Birichino works with. Planted in the late 1970s, the own-rooted vineyard sits at 335 metres, just above Santa Barbara in Santa Ynez Valley. The soils are pure quartz, with beach sand at the top of the slope and chunks of limestone littered throughout. Of all the sites John and Alex work with, Jurassic Park exhibits the most vintage variation, with Chenin styles ranging from lithe and appley through saline and chalky to fully exotic. 2022 keeled towards mineral and savoury, with ocean air and oyster shell at the helm. The fruit was picked in one go; Alex and John do not make passes through the site, so varying degrees of ripeness are captured in the bunch, lending tension and freshness to the sunny, ripe fruit. The fruit was picked in the second week of October and fermented spontaneously in stainless steel. The wine then matured in a mixture of stainless-steel barrels (80%) and neutral French wood (20%).