Vinum Cellars is a small California Winery well known for producing wines of the highest quality. The grapes are selected from premium coastal and cool climate growing areas within California. The wines are made by hand in small batches to allow the varietal character of each wine to express itself.
Winemakers Richard Bruno and Chris Condos, who first became friends while they were students at UC, Davis share a long standing passion for Chenin Blanc and fondness for the more obscure grape varieties.
“The basic winemaking philosophy is to work with great grape growers to develop the best fruit in the vineyard. We pick the grapes at optimal ripeness and gently process the fruit. We are very experimental with yeast strains and use different cultures for each variety. Our whites are barrel fermented slowly and aged Sur Lies in small French Oak barrels. With our reds, skin contact is optimized by the use of small open top fermentors, hand punch downs and extended maceration before pressing. Our belief in the use of older French Oak barrels allows the varietal fruit of our wines to be expressed. We are committed to experimenting and learning new winemaking methods while preserving an old world approach.”