NEWBIE INTRO: Little Wings

Hello Berserkers! We’re very excited to be a part of BerserkeyDay 12 and offer you a special wine that serves a truly unique purpose.
The short version: In partnership with Ian Brand we produce an old school, cool-climate, beautifully balanced Syrah whose sole mission is to help NICU babies and their families navigate one of the most intimidating and trying experiences anyone could imagine, all while showcasing how elegant and breathtaking California Syrah can be!
About the wine: Our flagship wine is produced from 20–30-year-old Syrah vines in Chalone’s Rodnick Farm vineyard. The Chalone AVA is primarily known for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production as its proximity to the Pacific, along with its altitude, make it a very cool site by California’s standards. However, sneak in a few old Syrah vines, and you have cool temps and a beautiful exposure that produces fruit more reminiscent to St. Joseph than anything you’re used to from California. Ian Brand, the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year, is known for his hands-off approach and does a great job of letting the land and the vintage do the talking. Our production hovers around 50 – 75 cases annually with alcohol in the 12-13% range (except for crazy hot 2017 which saw us at 14.3% - but hey, that’s letting the vintage tell the story, right?!).

The Why and the What: In 2015 our daughter, Mikaela, was born prematurely at just 24 weeks. After 11 hard-fought days in the University of Miami Holtz Children’s Hospital NICU, she passed away and left her mark on this world. This experience led us to speak with Ian Brand about creating a wine in our daughter’s memory and demonstrate that even the smallest lives can have a lasting impact on the world. 100% of Little Wings’ profits are donated to NeoPals – an organization within Holtz Children’s Hospital dedicated to improving the experience of babies of families in the NICU. NeoPals ensures families are receiving regular updates, are interacting with their babies to the fullest medically permitted extent, plans “cute” photo shoots for the preemies, provides baby and family with “heartbeat teddy bears” which contain recordings of one another’s heartbeats, and in the worst of cases, NeoPals supports families with bereavement materials and guidance. Their work is truly incredible and depends on our funding to succeed and continually improve their programs.

Bottom line: We truly believe our Syrah to be world-class and a benchmark of what Syrah can do in California, all while taking every dollar we make and putting it to work in one for one of the greatest causes you can imagine.

Ok, full disclosure. When I saw “Little Wings”, I thought this was an offer for chicken wings (I’m a little thick sometimes), which I would be totally good with! But as I read on, I realized that this is for a cool climate CA Syrah, which the wife and I generally love! This offer sounds great, I’m looking forward to it and it’s for a great cause. What could be better?!

I thought it may have something to do with Jimi Hendrix! Seriously, I look forward to the offer. Sad and my sympathies to you Jorge. We lost premature twins many years ago. What a great cause to support!!!

Cute label. This will make a perfect gift for a new mom and dad after the birth of their baby.

It’s only natural. After all, your name is Tyson.

(I, too, thought it was wings and have no excuse.)

That’s a really unique vineyard, top winemaker, and compelling back story.

Really appreciate the kind words!

@Tyson, for what it’s worth, I make a pretty mean fried chicken. Standing invite any time you’re in South Florida.

@Mark, you’re spot on! The name of the wine came from the words of the Hendrix song, Little Wing. If you read the lyrics through the lens of our project you’ll see why.

Really looking forward to BD12 and the offer we have in store for you!

I can’t wait to see the offer, thank you!

HAHAHA fair point…

100% in. We spent 10.5 weeks in two different nicu’s this previous June-August. So sorry about your loss.

I’m glad everything turned out well - congrats! The NICU experience is pretty wild. We experienced so much love, care, and compassion it was truly remarkable.

Fortunately we’ve got two healthy kids now who were born slightly premature but were allowed to go straight home.

Really looking forward to getting our wines in your hands!

We (wife and I) have been drinking the various Little Wings syrahs since 2015 and enjoyed all of them, from both the previous Antle vineyard as well as the current Rodnick site. They are definitely cool-climate and line up well with other more restrained CA syrahs like Pax/Wind Gap and Model Farm.

Combine great wine with a great mission and we highly recommend Little Wings to anyone curious!

Thanks for being there from vintage No.1 Morgan. Really appreciate the ongoing support, and glad you enjoy the wines!

Love the story!! And if Ian Brand is associated with this, it must be fantastic Syrah. He’s a great winemaker and even better human being.

Now ain’t that the truth!

I’ve got three vintages of this. Only one I’ve tried so far was the 2015. Balanced laid back style, not in your face fruit. Really enjoyed it. And reasonably priced on the mailing list.

Thought Jimi Hendrix also.
Instant yes!
Miami guy and rock and roll syrah with a terrific cause.

Thanks Ken! Can’t wait for Berserkers Day to go live!

So happy to support this incredible cause each year and thrilled to see Little Wings participate on BD! I learned about LW on WB a few years back, and have 2015-2017 in the cellar. I’ve only cracked the '15 and it’s delightful and right in my syrah wheelhouse. I have the box insert with the Jimi Hendrix reference tacked up in my storage unit. I believe I missed the 2018 offer, so hoping maybe to get a second chance on BD.

Jorge is a great dude; happy to see LW offered on BerserkerDay this year