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La Clarine Farm

Petit Manseng 2018

Price: $32.95
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Tasting notes

Dry Petit Manseng is rare anywhere outside southwest France, and La Clarine pulls it off at 2,900 feet in El Dorado County: the volcanic loam and high elevation deliver guava, pear, and lemon curd with striking acidity that keeps everything taut. No fining, no filtration, spontaneous fermentation — and a track record of aging well past a decade.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Taste profile
GuavaPearLemon PeelApricot
  • Style: Dry white; deep gold-green; guava, pear, lemon curd; intense acidity; 12.4% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Petit Manseng; organic; volcanic loam soils; Fenaughty Vineyard, El Dorado County; 2,900 ft elevation
  • Winemaking: Ambient yeast fermentation in flextank; full malolactic fermentation; unfined, unfiltered; low sulfite addition at bottling
  • Serving: Serve at 48-52F; no decant needed; age-worthy through 2026+
  • Pairing: Seared scallops, Thai green curry, soft goat cheese, cured fish, herb grain salads
  • Similar To: For fans of dry Jurançon, Chenin Blanc, or high-acid whites who want something from California's high country

La Clarine Farm's 2018 Petit Manseng comes from the Fenaughty Vineyard in El Dorado County, Sierra Foothills, where the vines grow in volcanic loam soil at 2,900 feet elevation. Petit Manseng produces characteristically small, thick-skinned, loosely bunched berries with an unusually high skin-to-juice ratio — a trait that concentrates flavor while keeping the yields extremely low.

Winemaker Hank Beckmeyer pressed the grapes very gently into flextanks, where fermentation proceeded spontaneously with ambient yeasts. The wine completed malolactic fermentation, fell clear naturally, and was bottled without fining or filtration. A small addition of sulfites was made at bottling. The color is a deep gold-green.

Petit Manseng is a grape native to the Pyrenees foothills, where it is the backbone of sweet Jurançon — but La Clarine's version is vinified dry. The variety's defining characteristic is its ability to accumulate sugar while holding extraordinary levels of acidity, which here translates into a dry wine with cut, concentration, and real aging potential. Beckmeyer notes the wine can age 5 to 8 years from vintage.

Farming on the organically managed Fenaughty Vineyard follows minimal-intervention principles consistent with La Clarine's broader philosophy, which draws on the 'do nothing' methods of farmer-philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka.

The sharp acidity and tropical fruit profile make this a natural match for dishes with richness and some sweetness: seared scallops with a citrus beurre blanc, Thai green curry, or a soft-ripened goat cheese. It also holds its own alongside cured fish and herb-forward grain salads.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, White Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Petit Manseng
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2018
Alcohol:, 12.4%
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

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, in the Sierra Foothills. Beckmeyer had been on tour in Europe with his band Half Japanese when he met Hoel; he left the tour to stay in Europe with her, and over subsequent years the two became deeply interested in small-production natural wines, particularly from the south of France. They eventually chose California's Sierra Foothills for their own project, in part because of affordable land access and the region's underdeveloped potential.

The La Clarine Farm estate vineyard now covers approximately 10 acres on a ridgetop at 2,600 feet elevation, planted with a co-mixed field blend of red varieties including Tempranillo, Syrah, Tannat, Grenache, Negroamaro, and Cabernet Sauvignon, in thin, sandy loam soils. The vineyard was initially farmed biodynamically — certified for several years — and has since evolved toward the 'do nothing' farming philosophy of Masanobu Fukuoka, allowing the vineyard to grow wild with minimal intervention. Farming is organic, with some biodynamic treatments applied.

Beckmeyer's winemaking approach uses only ambient yeasts for fermentation, avoids destemming across most wines, and uses minimal or no added sulfur. For the Petit Manseng, the fruit comes from the organically farmed Fenaughty Vineyard in El Dorado County rather than the estate. Wines are bottled without fining or filtration. La Clarine produces wines in very small quantities from its estate fruit, and sources additional fruit from like-minded farmers in the region.

Wine region

Sierra Foothills, USA

The Sierra Foothills AVA, established in 1987, runs approximately 170 miles along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and spans portions of eight California counties including El Dorado, Amador, and Calaveras. It is one of the largest appellations in California by area. Vineyards are planted at elevations ranging from 500 to 3,500 feet above sea level, with most quality sites between 1,500 and 3,000 feet. The climate is Mediterranean in character — warm, dry summer days followed by cool nights driven by elevation and alpine breezes off the Sierra peaks rather than marine fog.

El Dorado AVA, designated in 1983, sits within the larger Sierra Foothills appellation east of Sacramento and centers around Placerville in El Dorado County. Its soils include three primary types: fine-grained volcanic rock, decomposed granite, and fine-grained shale — all well-draining and low in fertility. The Fenaughty Vineyard, the source for La Clarine's Petit Manseng, sits in volcanic loam soils at around 2,600 to 2,900 feet. Extended hang time in the cool, high-elevation fall allows grapes to accumulate flavor while holding acidity — a key advantage for varieties like Petit Manseng that depend on acid structure. Petit Manseng is listed among the white grapes grown in the El Dorado AVA, alongside Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, and Roussanne.

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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