A gift of organic pears during the 2020 fire season nudged Buddy Buddy from a wine project into something harder to categorize, a small Berkeley label that blurs the line between wine and cider.
Backstory
Cassidy Miller connected with Jason Edward Jones at Berkeley's Vinca Minor in 2019 and launched Buddy Buddy that same year. When a Mendocino grower handed over organic pears in 2020, the extra time and space in the winery turned into an exploration of cider, and co-ferments became the project's signature.
The Region
The wines are made in Berkeley, California, from fruit grown to the north in Mendocino County. Pulling grapes and orchard fruit from organic and biodynamically farmed sites gives Buddy Buddy a palette that few wineries work with.
Vineyards & Farming
Buddy Buddy does not farm its own land. Instead Miller sources organically and biodynamically grown grapes alongside orchard fruit from Mendocino, choosing growers whose farming matches the hands-off intentions in the cellar.
Winemaking
The approach is minimal intervention. Fermentations start spontaneously with indigenous yeast, the wines are neither fined nor filtered, and sulfur is used sparingly or not at all. The defining move is the co-ferment, white grapes fermented together with apples and pears, often as light, low-alcohol frizzante drinks.
The Wines
Bottlings include the co-ferment Crush On You, the Valdiguié-based Valley Girl, and Puppy Love, all built to be fun, accessible, and easy to drink rather than weighty or serious.
