2023 Silver Heights ‘Bloom’ Pinot Chard Rice Wine

A pink-orange shimmer, like pressed petals held up to the sun. Ample lift, and not just from the pétillance... this is desert-fringed Ningxia (China!) in a glass... high plains sun, cool desert nights...but what really sets this 'pét-nat' apart is what’s quietly threaded through it: rice wine. You don’t see that every day. In fact, you almost never do. Chardonnay takes the lead here, grown lean and mineral in the foothills of the Helan Mountains. 20% Pinot Noir lends that beautiful juicy red fruit... And then - the curveball: rice wine, folded in to spark fermentation and bring its own texture, a wild and nutty salinity. Notes of honeydew and brown pear on the breeze, banana flower and cereal grain in the undertow. A rice husk-like cereal depth with some spice and earthiness.