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La Clarine Farm

Al Basc Orange 2019

Price: $32.95
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Tasting notes

Seven months on the skins gives this Albariño a deep amber color, a chalky limestone-driven minerality, and a saline, tangy finish that you do not expect from the grape. At 10.9% ABV, it has the structure of a skin-contact wine without the weight, making it genuinely easy to drink through a full bottle.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Dried ApricotWildflowersSalineLemon Peel
  • Style: Orange wine; hazy deep amber; saline, stony, tangy; 10.9% ABV; no added SO2
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Albariño; Rorick Heritage Vineyard, Calaveras County; 2,000 ft elevation; limestone over schist; organically farmed
  • Winemaking: Whole cluster; open-top fermentation; 7 months skin maceration; spontaneous fermentation; unfined; unfiltered; zero added sulfur
  • Serving: Serve at 52-56F; brief decant recommended; hazy appearance is expected
  • Pairing: Raw oysters, grilled sardines, aged manchego, miso-glazed fish, mushroom frittata
  • Similar To: For fans of Gravner or Radikon-style skin-contact whites who want a California take at low ABV

Al Basc is 100% Albariño sourced from Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Calaveras County, situated at 2,000 feet elevation on limestone soils beneath a layer of schist. The vineyard is organically farmed by Matthew Rorick, near the town of Murphys in the Sierra Foothills. The name 'Al Basc' references a conversation Hank Beckmeyer had with winemaker Eric Texier about the nature of six to seven month skin macerations, which led him to try the technique with Albariño.

The grapes were whole cluster fermented in an open-top vessel with seven months of skin maceration. Fermentation was spontaneous, with no temperature control, no added sulfur, no fining, and no filtration. The result is a deeply hazy, golden-amber wine with genuine textural weight from the extended skin contact.

In the glass, expect aromas of wildflowers, Meyer lemon zest, dried hay, and crushed rocks. The palate delivers salted yellow plum, tangerine, and tart lemon, finishing with a chalky minerality that reflects the limestone soils of Rorick Vineyard. The low ABV of 10.9% keeps it light on its feet despite the skin contact structure.

Decant briefly before serving to allow any reduction to blow off. Best consumed at cool cellar temperature around 55F.

The saline, tangy acidity and light tannin structure make this a natural match for raw oysters, grilled sardines with lemon, or a plate of aged manchego and marcona almonds. It also works well alongside dishes with umami depth: think miso-glazed fish or a mushroom and herb frittata.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Orange Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Albariño
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 10.9%
Country:, USA
Region:, Sierra Foothills
Appellation:, Sierra Foothills 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

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

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.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

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.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

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

La Clarine Farm

Hank Beckmeyer and Caroline Hoel founded La Clarine Farm in 2001 after settling in Somerset, El Dorado County, Sierra Foothills. Beckmeyer had been a musician touring Europe with the band Half Japanese; he left the tour to stay in Europe with Hoel, and over the following years the two became deeply interested in the wines of southern France, particularly Domaine Tempier in Bandol. They eventually decided to make wine themselves and purchased a property at 2,600 feet elevation in the Sierra Foothills.

La Clarine Farm's estate vineyard covers approximately 10 acres on a ridgetop at 2,600 feet, planted to Tempranillo, Syrah, Tannat, Grenache, Negroamaro, and Cabernet Sauvignon in thin, sandy loam soils. The vineyard was initially farmed biodynamically and certified for several years, but Beckmeyer eventually shifted to the 'do nothing' philosophy of farmer Masanobu Fukuoka, allowing the vineyard to grow wild with minimal intervention. La Clarine also purchases fruit from like-minded growers in the region, including Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Calaveras County.

In the cellar, Beckmeyer adds nothing to the must: no commercial yeast, no sulfur dioxide, no enzymes, no oak chips, and no chemical adjustments. Fermentation proceeds with ambient yeast. For Al Basc, Albariño was whole cluster fermented in an open-top vessel with seven months of skin maceration, then bottled unfined and unfiltered with no added sulfites.

Wine region

Sierra Foothills, USA

The Sierra Foothills AVA spans 2.6 million acres along 120 miles of the western Sierra Nevada slopes, covering portions of eight California counties from Yuba in the north to Mariposa in the south. Vineyards are generally planted between 1,500 and 3,000 feet above sea level. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot dry summer days and cool nights driven by alpine winds descending from the Sierra Nevada, creating diurnal swings of 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the growing season. This temperature variation preserves natural acidity while allowing full phenolic development.

Calaveras County sits near the southern edge of the Sierra Foothills AVA, around 75 miles inland from San Francisco. Soils across the region vary considerably, ranging from decomposed granite and sandy loam to volcanic rock and, in Calaveras County, limestone and schist. Sub-appellations within the larger Sierra Foothills AVA include El Dorado, Fair Play, Fiddletown, California Shenandoah Valley, and North Yuba. While Zinfandel dominates plantings across the AVA, producers in Calaveras and El Dorado counties have increasingly explored Rhône, Iberian, and Italian varieties, as well as experimental skin-contact whites.

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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