The best day of the year for us always comes in autumn. It is the day when we receive the phone call that a large amount of wine grapes have arrived and are on their way to our door. Timed with the end of the grape harvest for wine producers, this annual shipment is destined for our mixed fermentation blends. The technical classification of this particular style is known as a Grape Ale, however it is more commonly known as a Beer/Wine Hybrid. Our first foray into this style was our fall 2020 release Up Around Mount Giove, which utilized the Sangiovese grape. We loved the character and charm in that release so much we decided to expand our grape repertoire and branch out into other varietals. We settled on the Zinfandel grape. The Zinfandel grape, also known as Primitivo, is picked opportunistically at a moment in time to maximize sugar content. These sweet little water balloons of sugary joy offer a deeper shade of purple, while bringing an all-around different flavour profile to the mix. As with all of our grape blends, we are very excited to see how they continue to evolve over time. Pick up this year’s Mount Giove release as well for a side-by-side comparison of the contribution the specific grape varietals bring to the blends. While we wish we were able to produce this style year-round, the seasonal release nature of these blends allows us to cherish them even more.