Purity Wine
After working for years in the restaurant industry (Noel as a server, sommelier and wine buyer and Barrie as a special events manager), we decided that we wanted to start our own business to build upon the passion that Noel has for farming and wine. After many long nights of discussion about how to make the dream a reality, Purity Wine came to fruition in 2013. Fun fact, Barrie is allergic to alcohol so when you never see her drinking the juice, you now know why.
The name Purity came about as we sought to find a word that could quickly communicate our ethos of the
importance of ecology. Purity is the goal we reach for, but like perfection, it’s something we understand we will always be working towards. We’ve always presented ourselves as “natural” winemakers, always working with natural yeasts and bacterial. Sulphur use has always been minimal or none when possible.
From day one, we have worked with farmers who are aligned with our belief in the importance of organics and when we have farmed ourselves (something we hope to do more of in the future), we did it organically. We source fruit from all over Northern California, from the Sierra Foothills at 2000 feet elevation, to the flatlands of the San Joaquin Valley, Lodi & Contra Costa County. We’ve sourced fruit from as far north as Mendocino and Sonoma, areas that have strong coastal influence, and from as far south as Monterey, another coastal area. The grapes we’ve worked with have been varied: Viognier, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon., Cabernet Franc., Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Verdelho, Albarino, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Marsanne, Rousanne, and we continue to explore all the time. We’re blending grapes, vintages, and geographies....maybe the best way to describe our first 10 years, would be as experimentalists, grounded in science, but moved by creativity. As we look towards the future, our goal is to continue to be creative in our approach to
winemaking, but also to start applying what we’ve learned to crafting wines that are more rooted in history, with a lighter touch and organic farming being the through lines.
Cheers!
Noel & Barrie