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A Donkey and Goat, located in Berkeley, is owned and operated by Tracey and Jared Brandt who do everything from making the wines to driving the forklift and scrubbing bins. The winery is a 50/50 partnership and on any given day you never know, Who is the Donkey.
Unlike many husband-wife run wineries where the husband does the winemaking and heavy lifting while the wife focuses on the books and marketing we share all of the winemaking and operations. The wines are truly co-made and I lift as many (if not more) barrels than Jared.
When we were making wine in France we noticed donkeys were being used for organic weed control in Cote Rotie. Donkeys are hard working animals but after a long day in the vineyard they can be understandably cranky. At night (and on days off) they were paired with a goat that kept them company and mellowed them out. With a little sleuthing we discovered donkeys (and horses) have a long history of partnering with goats. In addition, donkeys have been linked to winemaking since at least 345 A.D. when St. Martin left a hungry donkey tied to a vine and returned to find the donkey fed and vine pruned.
The label represents our winemaking partnership and with such a quirky name and shape we hope it conveys our sometimes odd winemaking practices and our philosophy that wine is meant to be enjoyed and not taken too seriously.
"The best of this group..... appears to be the 2005 Syrah Broken Leg Vineyard. From a cool Anderson Valley site, it exhibits plenty of blueberry, raspberry, sweet cherry, floral, and spice characteristics. Pure, medium-bodied, elegant, and authoritatively flavored, it will drink well for 5-6 years." - 89 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
4% Viognier is blended to the final cuvee.
Photograph - Broken Leg Vineyard (CAL Cote Rotie).
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