Fox Hill is an organically farmed, Italian oasis in Mendocino, owned and farmed by Broc Cellars. Add a slice of Italy to your table with any of these site-specific wines. Read more about the vineyard here.
This vintage is already showing signs of sophistication with deep dark fruits, hints of cocoa and fine tannins. This grape - and wine - is foundational to Broc’s history. We’ve made it since 2013, when it intrigued us with what amazing fruit Fox Hill Vineyard in Mendocino can produce. So much so – we purchased the vineyard earlier this year. For us, everything about this wine is special. Nero d’Avola vines are rare sights in California. We are lucky to have Fox Hill Vineyard, where Nero is thriving among the rocky redvine soil. The native Sicilian grape grows well in California soils and especially at Fox Hill where the days quickly grow hot on the exposed rocky hillsides. This vintage was fermented in stainless steel tank, pressed and aged in neutral French oak barrique and a small amount in amphora for 10 months. We recommend aging 10-15 years.
Tasting Notes: Pomegranate, Strawberry Tincture, Cherry, Cedar
THE STORY: A deep rosé-like expression of Negroamaro. Typically, we weave it into our Amore Rosso blend each year to give it a little aromatic lift. However, this year we loved the color, texture and fruit so much we knew it needed its own time to shine.
The grapes were lightly foottread and kept on the skins for two days. After it picked up a beautiful color from the skins, we pressed it into our large oval Hungarian oak barrique. It naturally fermented and aged in the oak vessel for seven months.
FUN FACT: Negroamaro is a drought-resistant grape mostly found in Southern Italy and often is used as a blending grape.
VARIETIES: 100% Negroamaro
LOCATION: Fox Hill Vineyard
ALCOHOL: 11.5%
2023 Arneis
Regular price
$ 36.00
Save $ -36.00
Tasting Notes: Lemon Lime, Yellow and Green Apples
THE STORY: An intriguing medium-bodied white with humble aromatics, we’re excited to unleash this tantalizing Italian white! Arneis grows well at Fox Hill, our vineyard in Mendocino County, where hot beaming days echo the grape’s native homeland of Piedmont in Northern Italy. We harvested the Arneis in mid-September and kept vinification simple. The grapes saw a light footstomp and then headed directly to the press. We fermented the Arneis and aged in stainless tank for 7 months. Refreshing with good-natured acidity, the Arneis will pair well with delicate sea food, prosciutto, or hearty citrus-y salads.
FUN FACT: Arneis means “Little Rascal” in Piemontese.
Old World influence meets California terroir. This wine is bursting with food-friendly acidity and fruit that’s ready for dinner tonight, with a playful intensity and tannin structure that can handle light aging. Typically, we tuck the Sangiovese into our Amore Rosso, but this year we let it shine on its own. This is a mix of Sangiovese Piccolo (smaller berries) and Grosso (much larger berries) that grow at Fox Hill Vineyard. They thrive in the hilly, rocky soil and climate that mirrors its Tuscan homeland. We harvested the Sangiovese early to preserve its acidity. We fermented it in stainless steel tank, pressed and then aged in neutral French oak barrique for nine months. Unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Notes: Italian Lavender, Raspberry, Cherry Candy
THE STORY: A deeper, more generous and versatile Italian rosé. Rosato for us is a four-season wine with more color than your typical rosé. This is a fun rosato that balances deep fruits with a slight savory structure that makes it an easy pairing for food. We immediately foot stomped and pressed the Montepulciano grapes into stainless tank to naturally ferment and age for six months. All grapes come from Fox Hill, our certified organic vineyard in Mendocino.
FUN FACT: The cellar crew and staff’s nickname for the Montepulciano is “Monty P”.
VARIETIES: 95% Montepulciano, 5% Sangiovese
LOCATION: Fox Hill Vineyard
ALCOHOL: 13%
2022 Ayay!
Regular price
$ 32.00
Save $ -32.00
Tasting Notes: Cherry, tamarind & mint on the nose, fruit punch & liquorice on the palate.
This wine is packed with energy, fun and even a bit of reverie – just like the Italian pop song that inspired it. We knew we had to give this co-ferment the spotlight when we tasted it shortly after our 2022 harvest wrapped. We love how the Montepulciano’s gentle structure and the Trebbiano’s playful acidity work so well together in the glass.
We harvested the Montepulciano and Trebbiano from Fox Hill Vineyard on the same day, field blend style. We layered the two together for co-fermentation in stainless steel tank with the Trebbiano whole cluster and the Montepulciano half destemmed and half whole cluster. Once pressed, the wine was then aged in concrete tank. The concrete tank we used is brand new this year and is the six concrete vessel in our cellar. We like aging some of our wines in concrete because it gives the same slight oxidative quality that barrels do, but without imparting any barrel sensory qualities. Using concrete can let the wine truly shine.
FUN FACT: The wine is inspired by the song Cuccurucucu by Franco Battiato, an Italian composer and pop singer.
Tasting Notes: Cherry, blackberry & chocolate on the nose, black cherry & cocoa on the palate.
The Amore Blendo is a quintessential Italian table wine. This refreshing blend of Sangiovese Piccolo, Dolcetto and Ribolla Gialla creates a light-bodied wine that pairs amicably with most foods or enjoyed on its own. This vintage is particularly special because all three grape varieties are harvested from Fox Hill Vineyards in Mendocino, which winemaker Chris Brockway has farmed since 2020. This year’s blend is full Italian too, replacing the Sauvignon Blanc from our prior vintage with a pleasantly grippy, forest fruit-driven Sangiovese Piccolo.
True to an Italian field blend, we harvested the Sangiovese, Dolcetto and Ribolla Gialla all on the same day in mid-September. We pressed all three varieties together into concrete tanks for co-fermentation. Once natural fermentation finished, we transferred the wine into neutral oak barrique to age for five months before bottling.
FUN FACT: The rows of Sangiovese Piccolo, Dolcetto and Ribolla Gialla grape vines all grow next to each on the North Forty block in Fox Hill Vineyard.
THE STORY: The Amore Blendo is a quintessential Italian table wine that has a special new blend of red and white grapes. This vintage of the Blendo is a freshly layered mix of Grignolino, Erbaluce, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Freisa, which all live at our Fox Hill Vineyard in Mendocino County. All the grapes in this blend are historically grown in Italy’s Piemonte region. We fermented the Blendo in two of our concrete cubes.
Immediately after the grapes were brought in, we layered the whole cluster Dolcetto, Erbaluce, Nebbiolo and Grignolino into the tank parfait-style for carbonic maceration. This is when the alcoholic fermentation starts within each individual berry, a process that minimizes tannins and maximizes fruit-forward notes in the wine. It underwent carbonic fermentation for 10 days before we pressed it back into concrete to age for seven months. We blended in the Freisa, which we destemmed and pressed after a week of skin maceration and daily punchdowns, shortly after it finished fermentation.
FUN FACT: Concrete fermentation and aging focuses fruit on the front of the palate- making the wine taste more fresh early on in the aging process. We love how it expresses this wine.
The Amore Rosso inspires conviviality and is our nod to delicious old school classic field blends. As a field blend, all of the reds were picked on the same day from Fox Hill, our estate vineyard in Mendocino. The Barbera and Dolcetto grapes were co-fermented together in stainless open top fermenters and then pressed into a mix of concrete tanks and neutral French barrique to age. The Negro Amaro was made as a rosé, foot stomped and left on the skins for 24 hours, then pressed and fermented in stainless steel. All of the wine aged for nine months then blended before bottling. The wine’s bright acid and slight juiciness make it great on its own with a subtle structure that is perfect for pizza and a wide range of foods.
Indulge your Italian fantasies with this trio of Italian table wines. Pair with pizza night, your go-to aperitivo or any Italian fare.
Each bottle is packed with our favorite Italian varieties from Fox Hill Vineyard, a CCOF certified organic vineyard we farm and have owned since 2023. Fox Hill is an Italian oasis in Mendocino, nestled on benchland just up from the Russian River.
When the desire to jet-set to sunny Italy strikes, you’ll want these wines within reach. Pair with pizza night, your go-to aperitivo or any Italian fare.
Each bottle is packed with our favorite Italian varieties from Fox Hill Vineyard, a CCOF certified organic vineyard we farm and have owned since 2023. Fox Hill is an Italian oasis in Mendocino, nestled on benchland just up from the Russian River.
Taste the beauty of Fox Hill and its bounty of Northern and Southern Italian delights – from food-friendly blends and skin contact whites to California expressions of Sangiovese and Nero d'Avola.
Each bottle is packed with our favorite Italian varieties fromFox Hill Vineyard, a CCOF certified organic vineyard we farm and have owned since 2023. Fox Hill is nestled on benchland just up from the Russian River.