Buddy/Buddy

COUNTRY: United States

REGION: California

Cassidy Miller

After years of fostering a love for natural wine in the Bay Area, Cassidy Miller committed to the industry in 2020 and signed on to be a harvest intern for Vinca Minor. It was a destructive fire season in California and the winery was experimenting with apples to work around the intensely smoke tainted harvest. This inspired the creation of Buddy/Buddy, a project focusing on co-ferments of grapes, apples, and pears. Cassidy sources organic or biodynamically farmed fruit mostly from the Mendocino area. The project is spontaneously fermented, unfined, unfiltered, and uses minimal to no sulfur. While the first vintage was a collaboration with Vinca Minor, Buddy/Buddy continues to grow as an independent label. Cassidy still works out of the Vinca Minor space in Berkley.

CUVÉES

Valley Girl

Region: Mendocino, CA
Grape: Valdiguié
Vineyard: Lolonis Vineyard, planted 1920. Farmed organically, certified CCOF.
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: destemmed, daily pumpovers through fermentation, pressed, racked to neutral french oak barrels. Aged in barrel 10 months before bottling.
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: none

Butterfly Kisses

Region: Clarksburg, CA
Grape: Chenin Blanc
Vineyard: Chenin Blanc is from Wilson Vineyard-Woods Ranch, soils are an alluvial mix of clay and some sand. Planted in 1998, farmed organically.
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: grapes gently foot tread and then gently pressed, settled in tank overnight, racked to neutral french oak, fermented in barrel. aged 8 months in barrel before bottling
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: none

Not My Circus

Region: Orange Muscat – Lodi, CA  // Apples – Sonoma County, CA
Grape: 85% Gravenstein Apples, 15% Orange Muscat
Vineyard: Apples sourced by Aaron Brown of Bardos Cider from feral and historical orchards. Orange muscat comes from Hartwick Vineyard. Orange Muscat is a crossing of Chasselas, Muscat Blanc, and Muscat Petit Grains.
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: grapes destemmed, macerated 7 days with daily pumpovers, finished fermentation with apple juice. In stainless steel until bottling with dosage of fresh apple juice, secondary fermentation finished in bottle.
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: none

Zapple Juice

Region: Zinfandel – Mendocino, CA // Apples – Sonoma County, CA
Grape: Zinfandel, Gravenstein Apples
Farming: organic, biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: Spontaneously fermented separately, unfined, unfiltered. Blended before bottling.
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: low

Sweet Nothings

Region: Lodi, CA
Grape: Orange Muscat
Vineyard: Orange muscat comes from Hartwick Vineyard. Orange Muscat is a crossing of Chasselas, Muscat Blanc, and Muscat Petit Grains.
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: destemmed into stainless steel, daily pump overs for gentle aromatic extraction, 7 days of maceration, moved to neutral french oak. aged in oak 8 months before bottling.
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: none

Crush on You

Region: Chenin Blanc – Clarksburg, CA // Pears – Sebastopol, CA // Apples – Sonoma County, CA
Grape: 70% Chenin Blanc, 20% Bartlett Pears, 10% Gravenstein Apples
Vineyard: Chenin Blanc is from Wilson Vineyard-Woods Ranch, soils are an alluvial mix of clay and some sand. Pears are from Ratzlaff Ranch. Apples sourced by Aaron Brown of Bardos Cider from feral and historical orchards.
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: all fruit pressed separately and fermented together in stainless steel. bottled in last week of October with a dosage of fresh apple juice, fermentation finished in bottle.
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: none

Chenin Blanc & Apples & Pears

Region: Chenin Blanc – Clarksburg, CA // Mixed Varietal Apples – Sonoma County, CA
Grape: Chenin Blanc, Mixed Varietal Apples
Farming: organic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: One barrel of the ’21 Chenin Blanc (lightly foot tread before press) and one barrel of ’20 Heirloom apples, bottled with a touch of fermenting Newton Pippin juice for bubbles. Spontaneously fermented.
Aging: 
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added Added S02: <2mg/L