Page 57 - Grapevine NovDec 2020
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Around The Vineyard
Around The Vineyard
soil management, pest management, business man- While the Acquiesce tasting room is temporarily
agement and human resources. “Our vineyard man- closed because of the coronavirus, the winery, like
ager certifies us every year,” Tipton said. “We live many others, is “pivoting” by offering virtual tast-
on the property, so it behooves us to make sure ing experiences that include food pairings specially
we’re doing what’s best for us and our customers.” matched for each wine. These experiences are sim-
ilar to what Tipton offers when the tasting room is
In the cellar, Tipton carefully “babysits” the open to customers.
grapes during fermentation. “I’d made big reds—
Zinfandels—on the property and thought it was “We up our game and try to have conversations–
pretty easy, but making white wines and rosés is whether live or online–about why these wines are
very challenging,” she said. “I’ve talked to people special,” Tipton said. “When you pair them with the
in France who’ve said the same thing. It’s all a tim- right foods, it can be life-changing.” Wines for the
ing issue. I have to make sure the wine maintains tastings can be ordered online at discounted ship-
a certain temperature during fermentation, I limit ping rates or picked up at the winery.
its exposure to oxygen, and I take care to fine and
filter it properly. During this process, if you do one As the Tiptons look to the future, they are content
little thing incorrectly, the whole batch can turn out to stay where they are, producing 4,000 cases a
wrong.” year and selling their wines only out of the tasting
room. Since they sell out of their annual produc-
Rosés, she said, are particularly sensitive if tion, they close the tasting room four months out
the temperature and yeast are not quite right. of the year.
Acquiesce produces a Provence-style rosé from
Grenache, using the direct press method. According “It’s basically just my husband and me, and we
to Tipton, the grapes for direct press are picked at have two guys who help us during pressing, so
lower brix and higher acids than grapes harvested we have no interest in growing,” Tipton told The
for the saignée method. This keeps the alcohol Grapevine Magazine. “We called our property
levels down and brings up the acidity, resulting in Acquiesce because we really wanted to surrender,
grapes with more perfumed aromatics and delicate but, in fact, we haven’t really acquiesced because
flavors. we’ve been working so hard. But it’s been fun, and
we have acquiesced to the grapes. That is our man-
Acquiesce wines are all of premium quality and tra: to submit to nature, to yield to the vineyard, to
single variety, with the exception of two blends: acquiesce to the grapes, so they present their own
Belle Blanc, a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne true character.”
and Viognier; and Ingénue, a unique blend of
Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Bourboulenc For more information on Acquiesce Winery and
and Picpoul Blanc. The winery also produces a their virtual tastings, visit their website at
méthode champenoise Grenache Blanc that Tipton https://www.acquiescevineyards.com/
describes as “mineral-driven and crisp, a lush and
elegant representation of Lodi’s terroir that pairs
well with everything.” Tipton believes she makes
the only méthode champenoise sparkling Grenache
Blanc in the world, and she knows of only two
other wineries in the U.S. making Clairette Blanche.
Many of Acquiesce’s wines have won multiple
national and international awards, with numerous
Double Gold, Gold and Best of Class awards. In
2016, Tipton’s Viognier was awarded Best in the
State at the California State Fair.
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