22 Feb Parr Collective (Phelan Farm, Brij Wines, & Scythian Wine Co.)
Parr Collective (Phelan Farm, Brij Wines, & Scythian Wine Co.)
3776 Santa Rosa Creek Road, Cambria, CA 93428
parrcollective.com
Region: SLO Coast AVA
Owner: Rajat Parr
Winemaker: Rajat Parr
About: We farm and make wines from Phelan Farm, Stolo Vineyards in Cambria CA. We also enjoy a project in the Cucamonga Valley and Temecula (Scythian Wine Co.) where we rehabilitate long forgotten vineyards of Mission/Pais grapes.
What is your favorite forgotten grape? Gringet
What was your first experience with a forgotten grape? A difficult question to answer, by nature I’m drawn to the road less traveled, or in this case wine grapes obscured from popular enjoyment over time. In my earliest days exploring wine grapes I had a keen interest in lesser-known varieties. Gringet really piqued my interest then, and I’m still fascinated by it today. So much so that I’ve planted it in my vineyards along the California Central Coast in Cambria and San Simeon. When I taste Gringet it takes me back to my visits to the Savoie, where for literally centuries Gringet was misunderstood to be a Traminer variant. It wasn’t until the advent of DNA testing that we were able to confirm our suspicions that Gringet is a distinct variety, with very unique properties.
What do you love most about the forgotten grapes? In North America, maybe not my first experience, but definitely the most interesting. Forgotten grapes aren’t one single variety, it’s really more about a region and the varieties grown there. Specifically, the historic vineyards of Los Angeles, the Cucamonga Valley, and the Native American lands of the Pachanga. Most of which were largely ignored and abandoned in the late 1800’s and early 20th century. My good friend Abe Schoener and I have slowly discovered small patches of these vineyards still surviving wildly for over a hundred years. We’re on a journey to discover more varieties there including Palomino, Alicante Bouschet, Mission/Pais, and a couple of others still hiding somewhere out there.
