Wine Making
Coteau Pavot

Wine Making

From soil to glass, the choices that shape every bottle.

01 Our Fruit

We treat our growers like partners.

We source fruit from some of California's best vineyards. We treat our growers like an extension of our brand, and like true partners. We aim for organic fruit, sustainable farming practices, and vineyards with unique soil composition.

  • Organic fruit
  • Sustainable farming
  • Singular soils

  • A Mendocino site farmed with the kind of attention that's getting harder to find — old-school California farming with deep, well-drained alluvial soils. Source for our 2024 Sangiovese.

    Soil composition
    Pinole gravelly loam — sandstone, shale, and quartz from ancient alluvial flows; low organic matter, moderately acidic pH.
    Sun exposure
    Add notes here.
    Varietals
    Sangiovese
    2024 Sangiovese →

  • A small Sonoma Valley site on the alluvial fan, with marine sediment, volcanic influence from the Mayacamas, and a saline edge that comes straight through the glass.

    Soil composition
    Layered alluvial loam with marine sediment and volcanic influence from the Mayacamas range.
    Sun exposure
    Add notes here.
    Varietals
    Sonoma Atelier White blend
    2023 Sonoma Atelier White →

  • Two adjacent Lodi sites with mineral-rich, variable soils shaped by warm days and Delta-driven cool nights. The natural acidity in our Albariño and Sangiovese here is a direct read of soil meeting climate.

    Soil composition
    Volcanic red clay loam over alluvial deposits — variable, mineral-rich.
    Sun exposure
    Add notes here.
    Varietals
    Albariño, Sangiovese
    2023 Albariño → 2022 Albariño → 2023 Sangiovese →

  • A 2,000-ft alpine site near Murphys. Limestone bedrock under schist drives signature aromatics, textural presence, and bright natural acidity.

    Soil composition
    Limestone bedrock beneath a top layer of schist; alpine elevation (~2,000 ft).
    Sun exposure
    Add notes here.
    Varietals
    Grenache Gris, Albariño
    2024 Grenache Gris Orange → 2024 Albariño →
Topographic map of California Map of California with Mendocino vineyard marked Map of California with Sonoma vineyard marked Map of California with Lodi vineyard marked Map of California with Murphys vineyard marked
02 Our Production

How fruit becomes wine.

Coming soon.

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  1. Fruit arrives at the cellar within hours of being hand-picked. Whites are whole-cluster pressed straight off the truck and cold-settled for 48–96 hours so we rack only clean juice into fermenter. Reds are de-stemmed selectively — typically 10 to 20 percent whole cluster — to add structure and lift without dialing up tannin. Press cuts are tasted, never timed by the clock.

  2. This is where Coteau Pavot quietly diverges from most California wine. We use specific strains of yeast and malolactic bacteria selected to produce no biogenic amines — no histamines, no tyramine — the compounds most often blamed for wine headaches and flush. Whites ferment cool at 58–62°F to preserve aromatics. Reds ferment on skins for 14 to 18 days, worked twice daily with pump-overs early and gentler punchdowns through dryness. Every wine finishes dry to sugar and dry to malic acid — nothing residual, nothing left to convert in bottle.

  3. Wines move to vessel by intent, not by default. Whites rest on fine lees in neutral oak or stainless to keep the fruit forward. Reds barrel down to a mix of neutral French oak, Stockinger barrique, and a small share of new oak — typically 10 to 15 percent — to build structure without dressing the wine in vanilla. Aging runs 5 to 11 months depending on the cuvée. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, with every ingredient and technique disclosed on the back label.

03 Our Cellaring

What patience does for wine.

Coming soon.

Coteau Pavot cellar - oak barrels, barrique, and stainless tank Oak barrels highlighted in the Coteau Pavot cellar Barrique highlighted in the Coteau Pavot cellar Stainless steel tank highlighted in the Coteau Pavot cellar

Older, neutral oak that breathes without flavoring. Wines spend months on fine lees here, building texture and integrating slowly. The wood is a vessel, not an ingredient.

Role
Long-form aging on lees; gentle, even oxygen exchange.
Time in vessel
5–11 months, depending on the wine.
Wines
2025 Albariño VDS, 2025 Albariño Amber, 2024 Venturi Sangiovese, Sonoma Atelier.

A small share of new French oak, used with restraint. Just enough to give the reds backbone and a quiet spine of spice — never enough to dominate the fruit.

Role
Structure and integration for our reds; Chianti Classico in mind.
New oak share
~12% on Sangiovese; the rest neutral.
Wines
2023 River’s Edge Sangiovese, 2024 Venturi Sangiovese.

Where whites begin. Cold settling, temperature control, and primary fermentation happen here — quietly, slowly, between 58° and 65°F to lock in aromatics before anything sees wood.

Role
Cold settling and primary fermentation for whites and orange wines.
Temperature
58–65°F throughout primary; 96-hour cold settle for Albariño.
Wines
All white and orange wines start here before barrel.
04 Bottling

What goes into every bottle.

Three components, three deliberate choices. Click any of the three to see how it shapes the wine you pour.

Coteau Pavot bottle illustration

Placeholder copy. Tell the cork story here — sourcing, type, why this closure matters for how the wine ages.

Placeholder copy. Tell the label story — paper stock, transparency, what is disclosed and why.

Placeholder copy. Tell the glass story — weight, shape, sourcing, how the bottle itself protects the wine.