Old World Winery Rise 2021

Old World Winery is the project of Darek Trowbridge in Sonoma County, a natural winemaker working from a long family history in Russian River Valley farming. The winery is built around old, often organically farmed vineyards and a philosophy of minimal intervention, native fermentations, and very light cellar handling. The wines tend to feel more like field expressions than technical constructions, with blends and varieties often chosen to amplify texture and energy rather than varietal clarity.

Rise 2021 is one of the more playful but still serious bottlings in the lineup, a skin contact white made from a field blend of white zinfandel and white merlot. The fruit is harvested from Sonoma County vineyards and treated in a way that leans into extraction rather than purity of juice. Instead of a clean press and reductive handling, the grapes see whole cluster stomping and extended skin contact, which gives the wine its faint blush tone and structural grip. The blend itself is part of the intent, blurring red and white categories into something more fluid and textural.

Fermentation is done with native yeast, followed by aging in neutral barrels on full lees for an extended period without racking. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered with only a small protective sulfur addition. This approach is consistent with Trowbridge’s broader style, where oxidation management is minimal and the goal is to let fermentation character and vineyard voice remain fully intact rather than polished away.

The 2021 shows a mix of pink grapefruit, wild strawberry, citrus peel, and floral tones layered over a lightly savory, tea like structure from the skin contact. It is not built as a simple, crisp white or a fruit driven rosé, but rather something in between, with more grip and earthy depth than the label might suggest. The finish tends toward citrus pith and saline lift, giving it both tension and a slightly rustic charm that is very much in line with Old World Winery’s aesthetic.