Populis Wabi-Sabi Red Blend 2022

Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig produce two wines, Populis and Les Lunes Wine. With Populis, they purchase grapes from historic vineyards and multi-generational growers from Mendocino County. These wines are fresh, lively, fruit forward, and made in a playful style. In addition to making wine, they farm and manage over 8 hectares of vineyards in Sonoma and Napa and are committed 100% to organic farming and restoring and preserving older and historic vineyards in those counties. 

Their facility is literally the basement of Shaunt’s parents’ house in Orinda, just east of Berkeley. This allows them to produce wine without the interference of other wineries’ yeasts or influences as well as allowing them to age their wine for multiple vintages before release if needed. The winemaking is very low intervention.

A delayed harvest allowed Populis to make a riper version of their Wabi-Sabi Red blend while still maintaining great freshness and acidity. Deep notes of dark, red fruit and spice mark the nose, with a dense mouthfeel and luscious tannins on the palate. This wine  strikes a great balance of finesse, power and freshness.