I grabbed myself this Subject to Change Wine Co. FKA Mixtape Real Heads Will Know 2020 because it looked like fun in a bottle.

About Subject to Change Wine Co.

Subject to Change Wine Co. makes wines with a strong character that are unique, fresh, and sometimes offbeat. From Mendocino, California, the winery sources grapes exclusively from organic vineyards and makes the wines with no additions or subtractions in the cellar. It was founded with a true love for drinking wine as a canvas for enjoying time with loved ones and meeting new fascinating people.

Starting from a very young age, Founder and Winemaker Alex Pomerantz was always a lover of food, wine, and hospitality. After a stint in the corporate world, he packed up his car in 2011 and drove cross country for a harvest internship in pursuit of starting a wine career in Northern California. Since that first internship, he worked for six years heading up the winemaking, management, and sales at a winery in Sonoma before starting Subject to Change Wine Co. in 2017.

The idea stemmed from his love of natural wine, the community that surrounds it, and the infinite opportunity and canvas that the California landscape provides. With his passion for European natural wine and knowledge of California viticulture and wine production, Subject to Change Wine Co. was born as a way to connect his love of natural wine to his love of California, the land and the culture of growing and consuming locally.

Now into the Geeky Wine Details…

Subject to Change Wine Co. Mixtape is a field blend of 35% Chardonnay, 35% Pinotage, 30% Merlot. The Chardonnay was made in the “reverse saignée” method: ½ of the fruit was added to a fermenter as uncrushed whole clusters and the other half is direct-pressed juice that’s pressed into those clusters and pumped over daily. This allows the juice to be in contact with the skins until dryness (3 weeks) thereby reducing both the amount of skins proportionate to the juice and, as a result, tannic extraction.

The Pinotage was also made in the “reverse saignée” method, without pump-overs or punch-downs (dry cap). After a 10-day maceration in 2000L stainless steel tanks, the wine was pressed to tank, settled for a day, and spent 6 months in 225L neutral oak barrels.

The foot-trod Merlot was ⅓ whole cluster, the other ⅔was destemmed. After one week of a dry cap, the wine was pressed to tank, barreled down for 6 months in 225L neutral oak. The 3 components spent 6 months in neutral barrels before racking and blending together in the bottling tank. As always, bottled unfined, unfiltered with no addition of SO2.

…And Back to the General Stuff

This Subject to Change Wine Co. blend was cloudy ruby in color. It was tart and tannic. Kind of sour, like under ripped raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, and pomegranate along with some citrus. It was dry, light bodied in weight but bold in flavor, with a medium finish. Drank it chilled. Really fun and funky shiiiiiiit. I got it locally but I saw it online for under $30.