Neely experiments with science of winemaking

When Virginia Orozco, assistant winemaker at Neely Wines in Portola Valley, approached Neely winemaker Shalini Sekhar with the idea of making a carbonic chardonnay, she was afraid Sekhar might think, “Oh no, not an orange wine!” But the experiment worked so well they’re already planning on doing more this coming harvest.

Orozco, who grew up in Redlands and earned a bachelor’s degree in oenology from Fresno State, joined the mostly female-powered Neely team in 2021. After reading about wineries...