{"title":"Methode Sauvage","description":"\u003cp\u003eChad Hinds did not look for an easy California wine story. Starting in 2013 in Berkeley, working out of an urban winemaking cooperative, he sourced fruit from around the state under the label Methode Sauvage, chasing something he could not yet fully define: wines with the electric, mineral tension of the French Alps, made from grapes that had no business growing in California. What he found eventually was a valley in Siskiyou County, near Mount Shasta, where that vision could take root.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMethode Sauvage, French for \"the wild method,\" launched as a nomadic urban project with Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc sourced from across California. In 2018, Hinds discovered Scott Valley in western Siskiyou County and began planting estate vines using the permaculture methods of Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka. By December 2019, Chad and his wife Michelle Westbrook Hinds had relocated permanently to Etna, California. The project has since been rebranded Iruai Wine, though the Methode Sauvage name remains in use for much of the portfolio.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore on how they farm and work in the cellar in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/natural-wine-producers-primal-wine\/methode-sauvage\"\u003eMethode Sauvage producer profile\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"iruai-california-alps-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine","title":"Methode Sauvage Iruai California Alps 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe California Alps is a multi-site white blend made under the Methode Sauvage label by Chad Hinds, who later rebranded the project as Iruai. The 2018 vintage draws from high-elevation vineyards spanning the Shasta-Cascade region down through El Dorado and Calaveras County, with Savagnin fruit sourced from the Trinity Lakes AVA in Siskiyou County, where Hinds discovered an organic planting at Alpen Cellars and bought fruit before the grower pulled the vines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe blend is 40% Chardonnay, 30% Savagnin, and 30% Bergeron, the Savoie synonym for Roussanne. Savagnin is the primary white grape of the Jura, where it produces vin jaune and oxidative blends defined by cut acidity and nutty depth. Bergeron, known in the Chignin-Bergeron cru of the Savoie, brings aromatic lift and stony texture to the blend. Chardonnay anchors the wine with weight and fruit. The result is a continental-feeling white with an alpine profile that does not exist elsewhere in California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWinemaking is natural throughout: no fining, no filtration, and no added sulfur dioxide. The short, intense growing season at high elevation drives the tension between ripe fruit and high acidity that defines the style. The continental climate around Mount Shasta, including wide diurnal swings, preserves freshness and pushes aromatic complexity in directions that lower-elevation California whites rarely reach.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe California Alps white is explicitly modeled on the white wines of the Jura and Savoie, specifically in its use of alpine grape varieties in cold, high-elevation sites. It is not a replica but a California interpretation shaped by volcanic soils, mountain prairie terroir, and a winemaker with a deliberate point of view about where California wine can go.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Methode Sauvage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":13833875947575,"sku":"METHWHIT18C","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/iruai-california-alps-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine.jpg?v=1780664381"},{"product_id":"bloom-phase-red-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine","title":"Methode Sauvage Bloom Phase Red 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003eBloom Phase is Methode Sauvage's take on the lighter, high-toned reds of the Southern Rhone. The 2018 is built around 70% whole cluster fermented Pinot Gris from Calaveras County in the Sierra Foothills, with 20% Syrah and 10% Grenache rounding out the blend. Pinot Gris, fermented on its skins with whole clusters, pulls double duty here: it gives the wine its pale ruby color, its aromatic lift, and the grip you'd expect from a red.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCalaveras County sits in the Sierra Foothills AVA east of the San Joaquin Valley, with vineyards planted at 1,500 to 2,400 feet on red clay and gravelly slopes over decomposed granite and volcanic soils. Warm days and cold nights driven by alpine air off the Sierra Nevada preserve acidity and keep the wine fresh despite the region's warm growing season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChad Hinds vinifies with native yeast, no added sulfites, and leaves the wine unfined and unfiltered. The result lands somewhere between a light red, a dark rosé, and a skin-contact white depending on how you serve it. Hinds describes it as the choose-your-own-adventure of red wines, and that framing is accurate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt 12.5% ABV, Bloom Phase is an easy-reach bottle best served with a slight chill. The wine is bone dry, with lively acidity, a peppery and tropical nose, and a crunchy red fruit core that finishes clean.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Methode Sauvage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":13834278830135,"sku":"METHBLOO18C","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/bloom-phase-red-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine-deslop.png?v=1784582526"},{"product_id":"moonstones-chenin-blanc-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine","title":"Methode Sauvage Moonstones Chenin Blanc 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003eMoonstones is 100% Chenin Blanc sourced from the Vista Verde Vineyard in San Benito County, a limestone-rich site in California's Central Coast. The vines average 44 years old, grown in limestone and schist soils, farmed organically, and harvested by hand. At 12% ABV, the wine comes in well under the California norm for white wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the cellar, Chad Hinds uses direct press, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts in neutral oak, followed by aging in neutral barrels. The wine goes through natural malolactic fermentation and is bottled with no fining, no filtration, and minimal added sulfites at 20 mg\/L total.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the nose: dried flowers, flint, and a pronounced sea breeze salinity. The palate is smooth and textured with a honeyed weight balanced by high acidity and a saline finish. The winemaker describes it as carrying a heavy amplification of acid, dried flowers, and sea breeze salinity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMethode Sauvage sources Chenin Blanc from across California, and San Benito County's limestone soils and cool Pacific winds channeled through the Gabilan Mountains make it a natural fit for the variety. Chenin Blanc from old vines on limestone in this region reads nothing like the bulk Central Valley versions historically labeled as California Chablis.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Methode Sauvage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":14639058976823,"sku":"METHMOON18C","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/moonstones-chenin-blanc-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine.jpg?v=1780687404"},{"product_id":"blood-flowers-syrah-methode-sauvage-california-natural-wine","title":"Methode Sauvage Blood + Flowers Syrah 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003eMethode Sauvage Blood + Flowers Syrah 2018 is a red natural wine made from 100% Syrah grapes grown in Northern California. As Chad Hinds writes: \"When made right, Syrah is the pagan vision quest of red wines. If it were a film genre it would be an Italian Giallo. It's heady, full of smoke, flowers and incense. It's earthy and animalistic, full of musk, blood and iron. It's mysterious and exciting, ripe, bitter and black. It's a bit naughty. With \"Blood + Flowers\" I set out to exemplify Syrah at it's most Syrah, in all its wild bacchanalian glory. Enjoy by: drinking from a goblet with smoked meat in a wooded sweat lodge.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Methode Sauvage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":14639186051127,"sku":"METHFLOW18C","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/products\/methode-sauvage-blood_flowers.jpg?v=1780187480"}],"url":"https:\/\/primalwine.com\/collections\/methode-sauvage.oembed","provider":"Primal Wine","version":"1.0","type":"link"}