At Samsara, Chad and Mary are winegrowers, meaning that a lot of work is expended in the vineyard to ensure that the grapes reach the winery with perfect ripeness, flavor, acidity, tannins. In contrast, once the grapes are there, there is as little intervention as possible so that those grapes produce a wine that is the utmost expression of that particular Samsara section of that particular part of the world, allowing the vineyard to speak.

We grow wine, we don't make it

The grapes are cold-soaked for 8 to 13 days as native yeasts start fermentation; once this is complete there is a further 3 to 7 days extended maceration and then the must is taken through an 8-hour gentle pressing. The wine is hand-bucketed into French oak barrels, where it sits in a 55-degree cellar for 18 (Pinot) to 24 (Syrah) months. Native malolactic fermentation is allowed to occur at its own pace and the wine is racked once, just before being bottled, not fined and not filtered.

These native yeast fermentations "complete the circle" of expressing the grape and the place. This hand-off approach doesn't mean that the barrels are ignored for two years: Chad and Mary spend so much time with the wines that each barrel ends up with its own name.