Who makes it
Adam Sabelli-Frisch makes single-variety, single-site wines rather than building the range around one estate address. Mission is the defining grape: Marina, from Somers Vineyard in Mokelumne River, shows its strawberry fruit, pepper and herbal bitterness as a dry wine. The same focus on older California plant material also brings Flame Tokay and Zinfandel into the Heritage Series, so each bottle begins with a named grape and vineyard rather than a blended house style.
Before wine, Sabelli-Frisch worked as a cinematographer in London and Hollywood, shooting commercials and music videos. Born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, he entered California wine with his first commercial vintage in 2018, then began working independently in 2020 after two years with a supervising winemaker. The project settled on grapes with a long California history, especially Mission, so the resulting wines turn a grape more often associated with the state’s past into dry, vineyard-named bottles.
Where it grows
The producer is based in Los Angeles, but the vineyard addresses stretch across Northern and Central California. Fruit comes mainly from Santa Barbara and Lodi, with wines also tied to Mokelumne River, Clements Hills, Cosumnes River and Santa Ynez. Those place names matter on the label because Sabelli-Frisch works by site: Marina names Somers Vineyard in Mokelumne River, while the Biograf Series includes Syrah from White Hawk Vineyard in Santa Barbara County and Knowles Vineyard in Mokelumne River.
Sabelli-Frisch does not present one uniform patchwork of ground; its site story is carried by individual vineyards and vines. Blodgett Vineyard in Mokelumne River supplies the Flame Tokay for Lanterna. Its vines were planted in 1926 and remain on their own roots, which makes the bottle a direct encounter with an old pink-skinned California planting. Somers Vineyard provides the Mission for Marina, while White Hawk and Knowles distinguish the separate Syrah bottlings.
How it is made
The cellar
The cellar approach keeps the vineyard lot in view. Sabelli-Frisch generally uses natural fermentation, no added chemicals and low sulfites; filtration and fining are avoided when possible. Oak is limited unless a particular wine needs it, and wines are generally held at the winery for at least eighteen months before release. In Marina, that leaves room for Mission’s strawberry fruit, pepper and herbal notes rather than an overt oak character. In Lanterna, skin contact with Flame Tokay supplies colour and structure from the grape’s pink skins.
What they make
The Heritage Series is the core collection of historic California varieties. Mission is its central grape, with Marina showing it as a dry varietal wine from Somers Vineyard; the warmer 2020 vintage made a fuller wine than 2019, while keeping strawberry, pepper and herbal-bitters character. Lanterna takes another heritage variety, Flame Tokay, and makes it through skin contact, so its colour and grip come from the pink skins rather than from blending.
Paul Frisch Cabs contains ultra-small-batch Cabernet Sauvignon from California areas beyond Napa. The Biograf Series follows Rhône varieties, particularly Syrah, through vineyard-designated bottlings such as White Hawk Vineyard in Santa Barbara County and Knowles Vineyard in Mokelumne River. The Aperitif Series changes Mission’s role again: El Aliso is a fortified, port-like Mission wine, built around warmth and sweetness rather than the dry fruit and herbal bite of Marina.
Wines to try
First bottle
Start with the 2020 Marina, a 14% alcohol varietal Mission from Somers Vineyard in Mokelumne River. It is fuller than the 2019 because of the warmer 2020 season, but its strawberry fruit, pepper, herbal notes and bitter lift still keep the grape in focus. Serve it slightly chilled. Marina comes first because it puts Sabelli-Frisch’s signature variety, single-site sourcing and dry table-wine approach into one bottle.