This cuvee like everything we do is an evolving process. The 2023 originated as a showcase of the most premium red grapes we got our first harvest. It had a bold black raspberry and earthy character from organic Vermont Petite Pearl, making R. occidentalis (Eastern Massachusetts’ iconic black raspberries) a fitting namesake. For the 2024, we wanted to continue experimenting with some of the year’s fruit we’re most excited about to create a medium-bodied, forest-fruit-driven red. We opted to replace the Petite Pearl with Gamay for a lighter profile still reminiscent of bramble fruits like raspberry & currant, but with a spice and structure that has us thinking of fresher expressions of natural Provincal reds. For the new vintage, we figure the Rubus species (raspberry family) better suited to the label would be black raspberry’s floral cousin, R. odoratus. Our planned 2026 cuvee continues this new tradition with us fine-tuning the blend that makes up the base of the first vintage of Red Juice, with a planned release name of R. allegheniensis. We’re excited for this evolving vintage-to-vintage project to continue!