Girasole Organic
Mendocino organic wine, farmed by the Barra family since 1955.
The story behind Girasole
Charlie Barra started farming these Redwood Valley benchlands in 1955, descended from Italian immigrants who knew the soil before anyone printed a certification on it. He liked to say he had farmed organically for decades before the word existed. The family sold grapes to other wineries for years, launched BARRA of Mendocino in 1997, then introduced Girasole in 2001 to put estate grown organic wine within reach of a weeknight dinner.
The name means sunflower in Italian, for the bright heads that grow between the rows. Every acre is CCOF certified, cover cropped with fava beans and plowed under, fermented on organic yeasts, and bottled at roughly 45 to 65 ppm sulfites. No animal fining agents. We have poured these across this counter for years.
Explore the Girasole range
Five estate grown bottlings, all CCOF certified organic, all fermented on organic yeasts. The whites run crisp, the reds run fruit forward, and nothing here needs a decanter to be drinkable tonight.
| Expression | Type | Proof / ABV | Tasting notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Girasole Chardonnay 750mL | White | 27.0 | Green apple, pear, citrus, faint vanilla. Serve well chilled. |
| Girasole Pinot Blanc 750mL | White | 27.0 | Clean stone fruit, bright acidity, dry finish. |
| Girasole Cabernet 750mL | Red | 28.0 | Ripe blackberry, dried cranberry, mild toasty oak. |
| Girasole Merlot 750mL | Red | 27.0 | Plum and dark cherry, soft tannin, easy finish. |
| Girasole Pinot Noir 750mL | Red | 27.0 | Red cherry, rhubarb, cinnamon, silky body. |
Which Girasole is right for you?
Girasole sits where organic wine usually does not: under twenty dollars and still estate grown. The Cabernet is $17.98, the Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc are $19.98 each, the Merlot is $19.98, and the Pinot Noir runs $23.98. That is a real farming family in Mendocino County, not a label bought and filled somewhere else. Buy Girasole online and you are getting certified organic fruit, organic yeasts, and sulfites capped near 45 to 65 ppm instead of the 350 ppm conventional wines are allowed.
Blackberry and soft oak at $17.98, built for a grilled steak on a Tuesday.
Dry, bright and clean, so oysters and flounder stay themselves.
CCOF certified, vegan fined, low sulfites, and it still tastes like Chardonnay.