“UNDER THE WALLOWAS” SNAKE RIVER SYRAH 2019

I didn’t know in 2005 when I went on a wine tasting tour in Hawke’s Bay New Zealand and got giddily day drunk and enamored with the complexity of wine that I would ever end up here. Even in 2009 when I moved to France to be closer to the wines I loved most and figure out my life, I didn’t imagine it. In 2010 when I began pursuing a career as sommelier I still didn’t dream it. Nor in 2015 when I made my first two wines, it didn’t seem like a thing. It wasn’t until I watched this wine transform from plump purple wildly sweet fruits to slightly thin, awkward, and super acidic young wine then to this finished delicious beautiful thing I made that the dream started to take hold. There is a feeling of home with this wine. Not a current home, or a past home, but like I have come home, or at least am about to. The fruit is from Richland Oregon, quite a bit east of Baker City and not far from the Idaho border and Snake River. It was planted by Travis Cook who has a pioneering spirit and belief that Baker County can produce stunning fruit and wine at elevations pretty much unheard of for us Western Oregon folk. He is the only commercial grower on the Oregon side of the Snake River AVA and until now, the only commercial wine maker as well. To say I feel fortunate to have my path cross his and be able to work with his fruit is an understatement. This is just the beginning of what will become an even deeper connection to this place in Oregon I love most.

The wine fermented on it’s skins for about 2 weeks with native yeasts. It then moved to a neutral oak barrel where it stayed for one year, being racked only once. 30 parts per million of sulfur was added prior to bottling for stability. It is unfined, unfiltered, and not cold stabilized so sediment and a slight haze may naturally occur.

The taste: An acid driven red that is light on it’s feet but flirts with the dark side that Syrah in known for. It’s like a
million boysenberries have been exploded through a forest of sage and starburst candy. I can’t quite say it’s like
Syrah, but maybe like a distant Alpine cousin where the contours are alike but the features are entirely different.

Alcohol: 12.5%

“UNDER THE WALLOWAS” SNAKE RIVER SYRAH ROSE 2019

I feel like it was dumb luck that I stumbled upon Travis Cook and his vineyards for his winery Copper Belt Wines outside of Baker City. My long term goal is to be living the Wallowas growing grapes and making wine, and the fact that I found someone growing beautiful fruit just a stones through over my favorite massive mountain range has me constantly pinching myself. I didn’t set out to make syrah, or even really wines from this AVA, but when the opportunity arose I couldn’t resist. I have a very singular excitement to continue working with this vineyard site and fruit. So what can I tell you about it? Few have explored the wines of Snake River AVA which spans along the Snake River in Idaho and Oregon. Pretty much all of the AVA’s vineyards lie on the Idaho side further south, and then there is Travis. His family has been ranching and farming the land for generations, but he was the first one to get the wine tickle. He knew from a young age he wanted to bring grape growing to his home land so sought out a degree in viticulture from OSU and work experience in the Willamette Valley before planting vineyards back home and starting the first (and only) winery in the region. I stumbled upon his winery while on a vacation several years back and was in disbelief a winery was in this beautiful and remote part of our state where mountain forest meets sage brush and grass land. He kindly sold me some of his beautifully hand farmed fruit and also gave me some so I could experiment. Half of it fermented on the skins and is now quietly aging in barrel until it is ready. The other half became this rosé.

The wine spent about six hours on the skins before being pressed off. It was fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel. 30 parts per million of sulfur was added prior to bottling for stability. It is unfined, unfiltered, and not cold stabilized so sediment and a slight haze may naturally occur.

The taste: Aromatics of spring strawberry, cranberry jam, baking bread, orange peel, campari, and wet river rock are
balanced by a vibrant almost vermouth like quality. Bright in acidity with just a kiss of tannin, this ain’t your sister’s
provencal rose… it’s dark, svlelte, complex, and strangely better without food. Drink cold and enjoy!
Alcohol: 12.5%

“ABOVE THE COLUMBIA” SKIN CONTACT PINOT GRIS 2019

I have a bizarre affinity for things off the beaten path. I think I always have. When I was a kid I spoon fed baby parrots, trained them into tame loving pets, and sold them to families. When I was a teenage I started a band with my three best friends inspired by the best and worst of Riot Grrrl music. When I was a college student I wanted to become a professional fashion photographer and quietly integrate myself into the commercial fashion world only to bust it’s bullshit soul apart at the seams from the inside (no clue what my plan of action was… glad I took a different path now!) So when it came to my affinity for wine, it only made sense that as a sommelier I would immediately fall in love with under the radar regions, producers, and varieties… the Jura, Arianna Occhipinti (this was 2010 mind you, before she took over the world), Rossese… I could go on forever. And then I began making wine… At first I restrained myself. Some Pinot Noir from this very fine established vineyard, a bit of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc from that very fine and established vineyard… and then I got weird with it. A cofermented field blend from an abandoned vineyard outside Corvallis? Yes please! Pinot Noir from a hobby vineyard in Helvetia? Why not? So now we arrive at this Pinot Gris…

My original plan for this was to source all three varieties grown in the vineyard and coferment them into a Vignes de Maynes Cuvee 910 inspired manner, but sadly the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay went the way of the rain, birds, and rot in 2019. So, Pinot Gris. Not feeling super thrilled about making another Oregon Pinot Gris, I did what every micro sized naturalish Oregon wine maker is doing and fermented it on the skins. In this case, I destemmed it and just did some gentle punch downs by hand once or twice a day depending on my motivation level (I kid!) to make sure things were going swimmingly. Naturally, native yeasts took their course and made magic. After 3 weeks I pressed it into tank and let it hang out until it told me it was ready to bottle (i.e. I needed
the tank to make more wine in). 30 parts per million of sulfur was added prior to bottling for stability. It is unfined,
unfiltered, and not cold stabilized so sediment and a slight haze may naturally occur.

The taste: Dried strawberry, orange oil, cinnamon, dried leaves and flowers…. more to come!
Alcohol: 12.5%

 “SPRINGDALE'“ WILLAMETTE VALLEY PINOT GRIS 2019

This is the same vineyard and harvest day as the “Above the Columbia” Skin Contact Pinot Gris, but named after it’s location in Springdale, Oregon. The fruit for this cuvee comes from a lower shadier part of the hillside vineyard and the resulting ripeness levels were 1.5 degrees lower than what became Above the Columbia. I kept this small lot separate to vinify as a white wine and learn more about the character of the vineyard through the two versions - one on the skins and one as a traditional white. What surprises me most is that I think this might be the best white wine I’ve ever made. What saddens me is I made this in a MICRO quantity.

So what does it taste like? It’s nervy and lean, a perfect conjunction of tart citrus and subtle tropical notes balanced by just a kiss of that sweet spice common in Pinot Gris. Unfined, unfiltered, no cold stablized, and just a smidge of co2 prior to bottling. Contains just a small dose of natural co2 from fermentation to keep it alive and kickin’ for years to come.

The numbers:

Brix: 20

PH at harvest: 2.98

ABV: 12%