Sandlands Lodi Rose Kirschenbloom 2025

Profile & Story

Sandlands is the personal project of Tegan Passalacqua -- head winemaker and vineyard manager at Turley Wine Cellars -- and his wife Olivia, founded in 2011 to showcase California's forgotten, own-rooted, dry-farmed old vine sites on decomposed granite ("sand") soils across Lodi and Contra Costa County. Kirschenbloom is sourced entirely from Passalacqua's own Kirschenmann Vineyard in Lodi, farmed under the LODI RULES sustainable certification; the name honors the vineyard's heritage (Kirschenmann means "cherry man" in German) and the cherry blossoms that mark Lodi's arrival of spring. Modeled on the Cerasuolo rosati of Abruzzo, the wine blends destemmed Zinfandel and Cinsault given brief skin contact before pressing, then ferments dry in stainless steel.