It might seem impossible to rock stetsons, punk rock bullet belts and biker tattoos all while making some of California’s most faithful representations of place, but ours is a world of contradictions, after all.  Matthew Rorick swaggered into the wine world in 2005 as an orbital curiosity at the event horizon of Cali’s post-Parker wine scene.  He built the Forlorn Hope name on an ever shifting rogue’s gallery of super small production wines from fringy grapes and fringy vineyards.  After 10 years of patchwork innovation, Matthew found his home at Calaveras Count in the Sierra Foothills.

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At an impressive 3000 ft altitude, Rorick Heritage Vineyard is a sprawling 60+ acre encyclopedia of apocryphal grape varieties on a steep, natural amphitheater.  Matt remembers having to peel his jaw off the floor when he first saw the limestone outcroppings.  LIMESTONE in California!  20 varieties were planted in the early 2000’s by the first owner, Barden Stevenot and another 10 are now in production with 10-15 additional varieties waiting in the wings at the nurseries.

 

The particular combination of altitude, limestone and schist as well as the grab bag of quirky grapes has made RHV a household name among the great artisan winemakers of California.  Folks like Evan Lewandowski, Michael Cruse and Chad Hinds have all found themselves drawn in by the promise of Trousseau, Picpoul, Tempranillo and even ungrafted Chardonnay.  

 

Today, with the help of coconspirator Danielle Shehab and their team, they produce wines that are both classy and radical.  Free of the chaos so frequently attributed to natural wines, these wines are polished Cali beauties electrified by limestone terroir.