“A light body and delicate flavors give a charming, pretty expression to this restrained and well-balanced wine. It’s elegant, refreshing and rather low in alcohol, so you can have a second glass.”
In a recent interview with Wine Business Monthly, Derek shares his journey of using native yeasts to craft Bravium wines. Derek gives a look into his winemaking process, in this interesting article titled “Terroir and Transarency through Autochthonous Yeasts”; Trinchero…
Derek Rohlffs barrel-ferments and ages his vins clairs for this bottling in older casks, using only indigenous yeasts, and allows the still wines as leisurely ten months of élevage prior to bottling up for secondary fermentation. The wine is made…
Derek Rohlffs’ 2023 Anderson Valley bottling of chardonnay is a fine, classic example. The wine’s aromatic constellation is bright and beautifully floral in personality, hopping from the glass in a mix of apple, pear, almond, a classy base of soil…
Bravium’s 2024 Rosé of Pinot Noir from the Wiley Vineyard is a lovely wine, coming at a pale salmon color and tipping the scales at a very civilized 12.4 percent octane. It offers up a pretty and stylish nose of…
Derek Rohlffs’ 2023 Wiley Vineyard Pinot Noir is an excellent young wine. It beautifully underscores the cool and classic profile of this vintage, coming in at 12.7 percent octane and delivering a lovely bouquet of red and black cherries, woodsmoke,…
Winemakers, including me, are always conducting small trials and experiments to find new ways to improve their practices and wines. But I believed in one technique so much that I skipped the trials and went all in with one of…
Inspired by the Native American principle of honoring and preserving the land, Derek cultivates his vineyards in ways that respect natural resources and future generations. Through Bravium, he emphasizes the importance of place, both as a cultural value and as…
Rather than using commercial strains of yeast which often override vineyard distinctions, Derek turned to native fermentations. Through extensive research and trials, Torulaspora delbrueckii, a wild yeast, emerged as a standout for enhancing aromatic complexity, fruit purity, and texture. …
Bâtonnage is a traditional winemaking technique that Derek employs to enhance texture and mouthfeel while preserving each wine’s natural character. This gentle method involves stirring the lees, the spent yeast and grape solids that settle after fermentation, to develop a…
