PRODUCER: Backhouse
REGION: California
FOUNDER/WINEMAKER: Jeff O'Neill
WINERY HISTORY
Akin to a second label, Backhouse is the newest venture for O’Neill Vintners, a leading producer of California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With a family history of winemaking dating back to the 1930s, Jeff O’Neill founded Backhouse to make Burgundian varietals accessible to wider audience. Through a vertically integrated ecosystem of vineyards, winery, and operational capacity, the team can craft premium wines at an ideal scale. They are also dedicated to being industry leaders in environmental stewardship, ensuring California’s wine growing regions will be protected for decades to come.
VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING
The vineyards are located in California’s famous Central Coast region that extends from the South of San Francisco down to the Santa Barbara Highlands.
The Chardonnay is a lovely, fresh style with very gentle oak influence, a marked outlier of the standard California style. It enchants with flavours of exotic fruits, apple custard, and elegant, well-integrated oak. The Pinot, whose fruit primarily stems from Lodi, is soft and elegant with loads of red berries and dark cherry coating the palate. There is no oak used, making this an everyday Pinot without any excess heaviness.
GRAPE VARIETIES
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
