Sankofa Feijoa ‘21
$35.00
Feijoa, also known as Pineapple Guava, is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Colombia, but can be found growing in Oakland, CA. We discovered abandoned Feijoa trees aligning a park fence, a few blocks from where I grew up. The park’s 10 acres makes it one of the largest parks in North Oakland and baseball players Rickey Henderson, Frank Robinson and Billy Martin played at it in their youth. In the 1960s, it was a practice field for the Oakland Raiders and in the early 70s, it was a rally and protest space for Black Panther Members, my grandparents included amongst them. It was where I made my first home run, and practiced soccer as a youth.
These days, we exercise our energetic puppy at this park, which is how we noticed the Feijoa trees in early December. We had to hop a fence to get to the them, as the trees were inside of a derelict part of Sankofa Academy, the elementary school the park shares a fence line with. Sankofa, an African word from the Akan people in Ghana, translates to—
It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.
Sankofa’s symbol is of a mythical bird with its feet firmly planted forward with its head turned backwards. The Akan people believe that the past serves as a guide for the future and Sankofa Feijoa is a reflection of just this. It is unknown who planted the Roma and Feijoa trees we found. As gleaners we are constantly engaging with the past, learning from it and carrying it into the present and the future. This wine is a time capsule that remains open, for the story is always evolving.
Roma Apples were gleaned in Occidental, CA on an old, unmaintained family orchard. We spent two days hand picking 1 ton of apples and processed the fruit in Occidental. The juice was fermented in French Neutral Oak, and one barrel was reserved for a Feijoa co-ferment.
We processed the Feijoa’s in West Sonoma County, halving the fruit, scooping out the fillings and blending them into a thick slush. We added the blended fruit to a 14 gallon carboy of fermenting Roma apples and co-fermented it on Feijoa pulp for one week. The juice was separated from the pulp and fermented to 1.5 brix in French neutral Oak, then bottled under cap.
Hand bottled. Hand capped. Hand disgorged. Hand labeled.
Bottled with no additions or subtractions. Unfined, unfiltered, zero SO2.
Alcohol By Volume: 9%
Style: Petillant Naturel
Variety: Foraged Roma Apples + Foraged Feijoa
Locations: Occidental + Oakland, CA
Farming: Organic/Feral
Harvest Date: Roma Apples (October 10, 2021) + Feijoa (December 7, 2021)
Soils: Goldridge Series + Clear Lake Series
Cases Produced: 18
Fiber Art: Laura Basanta ‘74