We picked all three varieties very early in the morning, all on the same day in early September, with a dark orange sky from the fires beginning to blaze all over California. We wanted to make a wine to release in the summer – a chillable easy drinking light red. The Barbera, Sauvignon Blanc and Primitivo fermented together whole cluster, layered alternating each variety until we reached the top of the tank and sealed it. True carbonic fermentation occurred. We pressed the wine to age in a 41 hL concrete tank, one of our sandstone terra cotta jars and 2 neutral French oak barrels. This wine walks the line of being a dark rosé and fresh light red. We recommend chilling it down for warm weather enjoyment.

Chris Brockway’s winemaking journey began with California Zinfandel. The spicy, brambly fruit style drew him from his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska all the way to California. What he found, however, was that California wines had changed to fit the “bigger is better”mold of the time. Personally, he felt it was all too much – high alcohol, too big, too much everything.

Chris believed California wine could be different. From a single barrel in 2002 to now over 20 different wine releases a year, Broc Cellars makes fresh California wines to enjoy and for your table. In 2023, we extended our vision of simple and ethical winemaking into the vineyard as new owners of Fox Hill Vineyard.

We make natural wine the way we believe delivers the best wines for us and the earth. We use only organically-farmed grapes. We use cover crops to boost soil health, water retention and biodiversity. Sheep help us manage crop cover and fertilize the soil. We harvest early for more healthy grapes that retain their good acidity. This often results in lower alcohol wines. The lower Brix (sugar content) at harvest allows for easier fermentations. We use native yeasts and bacteria that exist on the grapes and never add sulphur during fermentation. We occasionally add a small amount of sulphur at bottling depending on the wine, style and year. 

Three major influences shaped how Broc Cellars makes wine: The book “Real Wine: The Rediscovery of Natural Winemaking” by Patrick Matthews that Chris read early on in his free time as an oenology student at Fresno State. Terroir, San Francisco’s first natural wine bar that enabled Chris to explore the depth and breadth of natural winemaking. And finally, the many Bay Area restaurants who focus on delivering fresh, simply made dishes with locally-sourced ingredients. We seek to make wines that pair with fresh, thoughtfully-made foods.

- Broc Cellars