Most California wine comes from the warm valleys of the coast and the interior. Iruai looks to the cold high country instead, channeling the spirit of the Alps in the rugged Shasta-Cascade mountains near the Oregon border.
Backstory
Iruai is the work of Chad and Michelle Westbrook Hinds. The couple began making wine in 2013 as a nomadic natural-wine project based in Berkeley, then put down roots in Etna, in California's Scott Valley, in 2019. The name Iruai comes from one of the earliest recorded names for the Scott Valley, reflecting their intent to define a sense of place rather than imitate other regions.
The Region
The estate sits in Siskiyou County, in the Scott Valley just south of the California-Oregon line and northwest of Mount Shasta, at roughly 3,000 feet of elevation. This is largely uncharted wine territory, a cold mountain landscape that the Hinds see as an American counterpart to the alpine valleys of Europe. They farm their own developing estate vineyards while also leasing and buying fruit from sites across the Shasta-Cascade, stretching from the Trinity Alps of California to the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon.
Vineyards & Farming
Iruai concentrates on the grapes that thrive in the European Alps, planting and sourcing varieties such as trousseau, savagnin, mondeuse and poulsard. Farming follows natural principles, and the project doubles as an exploration of which esoteric alpine varieties can flourish in this high, cold corner of the American West.
Winemaking
The wines are made naturally, with native-yeast fermentations and minimal intervention. The aim is transparent, energetic bottlings that capture the mountain character of the fruit.
The Wines
Iruai is best known for its Shasta-Cascade red and white blends built around alpine varieties, alongside single-variety expressions of grapes like trousseau and mondeuse that are rarely seen in California.
