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Lo-Fi Wines

Gamay Pinot Noir 2020

Price: $26.95
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Tasting notes

The carbonic maceration on two separately fermented varieties produces a wine with dark cherry cola fruit, wild strawberry, and a hint of fresh herbs at only 12.5% ABV. The Chamise loam soils of Santa Ynez Valley and Los Alamos give the wine a lean, dry structure that keeps it from going soft despite its fruit-forward profile.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
ColaWild StrawberryBlack CherryCranberry
  • Style: Dry, light-bodied red blend; translucent ruby; dark cherry, wild strawberry, fresh herbs; 12.5% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 72% Gamay (clones 358, 5, 3), 28% Pinot Noir (clone 828); certified organic; Chamise loam and Chamise shaley loam; Santa Ynez Valley and Los Alamos, Santa Barbara County
  • Winemaking: 100% whole-cluster carbonic maceration; fermented separately by variety; 7 months total aging in neutral French oak barriques (Gamay) and neutral Austrian oak tank (Pinot Noir); bottled unfined and unfiltered; 25 ppm SO2 at bottling
  • Serving: Serve at 55-60F; no decant needed; slight chill recommended
  • Pairing: Charcuterie, soft cheese, herb-roasted chicken, tomato-based pasta, grain salads
  • Similar To: For fans of Beaujolais cru and light Pinot Noir who want a California take on carbonic-maceration freshness

This is a 72% Gamay, 28% Pinot Noir blend sourced from certified organic vineyards in Santa Barbara County. The Gamay comes from Oak Savanna Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley, planted on Chamise loam soils with a 9-foot by 3.5-foot vine spacing. The Pinot Noir comes from Skyview Hotel Vineyard in Los Alamos, grown on Chamise shaley loam. Gamay clones 358, 5, and 3 and Pinot Noir clone 828 were used. Total production was 710 cases.

Each variety was hand-harvested and fermented separately using 100% whole-cluster carbonic maceration. Fermenters were sealed and gassed with carbon dioxide, with one daily pump-over before resealing. Native yeasts drove primary fermentation; naturally occurring bacteria completed full malolactic fermentation. After 8 days, the fruit was pressed and racked into vessels. The Pinot Noir was held in a neutral 3,200-liter Austrian oak tank while the Gamay aged in neutral 228-liter French oak barriques. After 4 months, both were blended and returned to barrel for an additional 3 months.

The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered with 25 ppm SO2 added at bottling only. At 12.5% ABV it sits on the lighter, lower-alcohol end of California reds. The translucent ruby color and slight sediment haze are a direct result of no filtration.

Serve slightly chilled alongside charcuterie, soft cheeses, or herb-roasted chicken. The wine's low tannin and bright acidity also work well with tomato-based dishes, grain salads, and light vegetable preparations. Avoid anything heavily oaked or smoked, which would overwhelm the wine's delicate fruit.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, 72% Gamay, 28% Pinot Noir
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2020
Alcohol:, 12.5%
Country:, USA
Region:, Santa Barbara County
Appellation:, Santa Barbara County
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

Lo-Fi Wines

Lo-Fi Wines is a project founded in 2014 by Mike Roth and Craig Winchester, both based in Santa Barbara County. Roth developed his winemaking background at Martian Ranch and Vineyard as well as at Grigich Hills and Saddleback. Winchester served as assistant winemaker at Martian Ranch. The label began informally when Roth used leftover fruit at Martian to make wine for himself and friends, with Winchester joining the effort over subsequent harvests.

All fruit sourced for Lo-Fi wines comes from certified organic vineyards. The winery operates from Los Alamos, where they also run a tasting room on Bell Street. Roth's longstanding relationship with Coquelicot Estate has made Coquelicot vineyards a primary fruit source alongside other contracted organic growers in Santa Barbara County.

Lo-Fi's winemaking approach uses native yeasts, no pH adjustment, neutral barrels when oak is used at all, and little to no sulfur additions until bottling. Whole-cluster carbonic maceration is a signature technique across the range. The philosophy prioritizes freshness, low alcohol, and vintage transparency over extraction or manipulation.

Wine region

Santa Barbara County, USA

Santa Barbara County sits on California's Central Coast roughly 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Its most distinctive geographic feature is a series of east-west running mountain ranges that channel cool Pacific Ocean air directly inland, an unusual orientation for a California wine region. This transverse valley system keeps growing temperatures low and extends the hang time of fruit on the vine. The county contains seven federally-sanctioned AVAs: Santa Maria Valley, and the Santa Ynez Valley with its four sub-AVAs (Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District, and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara), plus the newer Alisos Canyon AVA near Los Alamos.

Los Alamos sits between Santa Maria Valley and the Santa Ynez Valley, occupying a climate middle ground that is cooler than Santa Ynez but warmer than Santa Maria. Soils in the area include Chamise loam and Chamise shaley loam, the same series found at the vineyards supplying this wine. The Santa Ynez Valley AVA, recognized in 1983, is the largest AVA in the county by vineyard concentration and produces a wide range of varieties. Its western reaches, influenced most directly by fog and ocean breezes, favor Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Soils across the valley range from sand and gravel to loam and diatomaceous earth derived from ancient seabed deposits.

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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