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Caleb Leisure

Ab Ovo 2020

Price: $34.95
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Tasting notes

Co-fermenting Mourvedre with Marsanne in buried Georgian qvevri is a genuinely rare combination — the white grape adds floral and stone-fruit lift that cuts through Mourvedre's natural density. Eight months in clay gives the wine a mineral, earthy precision you will not find from barrel-aged California reds at this price.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Wild StrawberryVioletEarthMineral
  • Style: Dry, medium-bodied red; 70% Mourvedre, 30% Marsanne co-ferment; mineral and earthy with lifted floral notes; 12.5% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 70% Mourvedre, 30% Marsanne; organic and biodynamic farming; decomposed granite and volcanic loam soils; El Dorado AVA, Sierra Foothills, up to 3,000 ft elevation
  • Winemaking: Co-fermented on skins in Georgian qvevri; 8-day maceration; pressed into qvevri for 8 months elevage; no additions, unfined, unfiltered, no added SO2
  • Serving: Serve at 58-62F; no decant needed; drink within 1-2 days of opening
  • Pairing: Lamb merguez, grilled sardines, roasted eggplant, aged sheep's milk cheese, dry-cured charcuterie
  • Similar To: For fans of skin-contact reds, Southern Rhone blends, and Georgian amber wines who want a California take on co-fermentation

Ab Ovo is a co-fermented red made from 70% Mourvedre and 30% Marsanne, sourced from organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards in El Dorado County, Sierra Foothills. The grapes come from decomposed granite and volcanic loam soils at elevations reaching 3,000 feet, where cool fall temperatures extend hang time and retain natural acidity.

Fermentation and elevage happen entirely in authentic Georgian qvevri — handmade terracotta vessels buried in the earthen cellar at Coturri Winery in Glen Ellen. The blend co-fermented on skins for 8 days before being pressed directly into qvevri for 8 months of elevage. No additions of any kind were made at any stage.

The inclusion of Marsanne alongside Mourvedre is unusual and intentional: the white grape adds aromatic lift and textural weight to what would otherwise be a more closed, brooding red. The result sits somewhere between a Southern Rhone red and an amber wine, with tannic grip from the skins and a mineral backbone from the volcanic soils.

The savory, mineral profile pairs well with lamb merguez, grilled sardines, or roasted eggplant with harissa. The tannic grip from the Mourvedre skins handles fatty charcuterie and aged sheep's milk cheese. Serve slightly cool, around 58-62F.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Mourvedre, Marsanne
Farming:, Organic and Biodynamic
Vintage:, 2020
Alcohol:, 12.5%
Country:, USA
Region:, Sierra Foothills
Appellation:, El Dorado AVA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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Placed an order. What next?

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2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Caleb Leisure

Caleb Leisure started his wine project in 2014 after formative internships in the Languedoc-Roussillon and Jura regions of France. Returning to California, he secured an apprenticeship with Tony Coturri of Coturri Winery in Glen Ellen, where he was given space to develop his own project. His first vintage was 2016.

Before the 2017 harvest, Leisure buried ten authentic Georgian qvevri in the earthen cellar at the Coturri facility — making him, according to multiple sources, the only California winemaker working exclusively with these traditional vessels. Unlike modern amphora, Georgian qvevri are porous, beeswax-lined, and must be buried in the earth, where the constant cool temperature moderates fermentation heat and supports natural clarification.

Leisure sources fruit from organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards in El Dorado and other California appellations. No additions or subtractions are made at any point in the winemaking process — no added sulfur, no fining, no filtration. He farms about a third of the fruit he uses himself, following organic and permaculture principles.

Wine region

Sierra Foothills, USA

El Dorado is an AVA within the larger Sierra Foothills viticultural area, located in El Dorado County east of Sacramento. Vineyards here sit between 1,200 and 3,500 feet above sea level, with some sites like the ridge-top Sumu Kaw Vineyard perched at 3,000 feet in a pine forest. The elevation provides natural cooling rather than coastal fog, giving grapes long hang time and even ripening while preserving bright acidity.

El Dorado soils are primarily decomposed granite and volcanic loam, two soil types that contribute mineral tension to the wines. Rhone varietals have deep roots here — Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, and Viognier have been planted in El Dorado for decades, with researchers as early as 1979 identifying parallels between El Dorado's geology and the Northern Rhone Valley. The AVA spans parts of El Dorado County bordered by the Middle Fork American River to the north and the South Fork of the Cosumnes River to the south.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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