Margins produces low-intervention wines using grapes from underrepresented regions, vineyards, and varietals. We make wines from organically farmed vineyards, using minimal additives during the winemaking process (SO2 only), and never employing the use of temperature control, fining, or filtration.

Much like people living on the 'margins of society,' vineyards can be outcasts too. Most consumers of wine are only familiar with a handful of grape growing regions and types of wine. Margins draws attention to vineyards and varietals throughout northern and central California that find themselves on the margins without the recognition they deserve.

Margins is a winemaking endeavor of Megan Bell, a winemaker living and working in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Prior to settling on the central coast of California, Megan received her BS in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis in 2012 and apprenticed in wineries and vineyards in Napa, the Livermore Valley, the Willamette Valley, Central Otago (NZ), and the Loire Valley (France).  She started Margins in 2016 with a modest crowdfunding campaign to create eight barrels of Chenin blanc. Margins now produces ~2800 cases annually of more than 20 wines.

From the winery: 

Calleri Vineyard is managed by Nat Wong and owned by John Siletto, whose late father Ron Siletto was an integral figure in the history of San Benito County viticulture. The Silettos have been farming in the region for the past 30 years and now manage a total of 93 acres with over 30 planted varieties, most of them Italian and French varietals rarely seen in this country. Despite the potential for scorching daytime temperatures, San Benito County’s proximity to the ocean allows coastal air to cool the area in the evenings, leading to huge diurnal temperature swings. Although we never met in person, I had the opportunity to speak to Ron on the phone while he was still working. He told me all about the vineyards and the incredible lineup of rare varietals. At the time, Margins was still a tiny little business and I wasn’t looking for more grapes. After his passing, I reconnected with the Silettos through John in 2020 and purchased a ton of Négrette--a grape that I had not only never tried, but never even heard of. It was a wonderful learning experience to get to work with a grape about which I had absolutely no preconceived notions.

Varietals: 60% Barbera, 40% Négrette

Production: 122 cases

Region: United States, California, San Benito County, Calleri Vineyard

Farming: As of 2021 all vineyards Margins works with are farmed organically.

Vinification: The different varietals were picked, vinified, and aged separately. They were both 100% destemmed. The Négrette was soaked on skins overnight, pressed the following day, then aged in neutral oak for 10 months. The Barbera was fermented on skins for five days, then aged in neural oak for 10 months. The cuvées were blended two weeks prior to bottling. Native fermentation, no fining, no filtration, no other modifications or additions except 5 ppm of sulfur dioxide added to the Négrette barrels in February, and 22 ppm of sulfur dioxide added to the assembled cuvée the week before bottling.