Current & coming WINES

“Under the wallowas” snake river riesling 2020 $32

From my not so secret source in Baker County (see previous wines for more details!) comes this single barrel riesling (yes, one barrel was made!). My heart literally fluttered when I heard I could get my hands on a tiny quantity of this fruit. I love riesling, like really love riesling. I love riesling so much that I may or may not have a riesling tattoo in the same font Domaine Weinbach uses. That’s how much I love it. The problem was, the amount I was getting was going to have difficulty filling a barrel. You see, the riesling grapes were teeny tiny berries and very small clusters and my press is a simple basket press. The likelihood of me extracting enough juice to fill a barrel with topping wine to get me through to bottling felt slim. And my only stainless steel tank was already reserved for another wine so I thought, let’s do this like the olden days and keep it on the skin! When I towed the fruit home after an October 11th harvest there was a bit of clean botrytis here and there, but nothing major. I only sorted out a few shriveled clusters, otherwise everything was destemmed into tank where it happily fermented with native yeasts on its skins semi-outdoors for 12 days. I did punch downs daily, sometimes every other day, sometimes twice a day, but generally kept it sealed from air to allow co2 to build a protective layer during fermentation. After it was mostly dry (but not quite) I pressed it off and continued to let it ferment and settle for another 2 days before racking it into a very neutral French oak barrel. There it remained untouched and unmoved for 7 months until I racked into tank, dosed it with a micro bit of sulfur (I believe in stability), and then bottled it. It is unfined and unfiltered so a natural haziness and some sediment are present.

So where are we now? Structurally it’s on the light side for a skin contact white wine with just a kiss of tannin, overall its body is light and bright, but what it lacks in alcoholic weight or tannin density it makes up in depth and concentration of flavor. This is not my shy child. This wine is wild. A pineapple dreamscape colliding with gingersnap, coriander, lemon confit, and subtle bursts of lily. I recommend drinking this around 55 degrees to let the complexities shine. 12% abv.

I keep opening bottle after bottle in disbelief I did this. I am very proud of this little treasure, get some while you can.

Other 2021/early 2022 releases to look for

“UNDER THE WALLOWAS” SNAKE RIVER SYRAH-Lite 2020 * coming late summer 2021 *

A five day skin contact syrah bringing the world a wild and wonderful glou glou that’s like boysenberries invaded a sage fortress.

“Ferdinand the bull” willamette valley pinot noir 2019 * coming fall 2021*

A real beast and crowd pleaser, this is a big Oregon pinot from biodynamic fruit. It came in way riper than I wanted, but after a year in barrel and a year in bottle it’s toned downed and ready to drink by a warm fall campfire.

“UNDER THE WALLOWAS” SNAKE RIVER SYRAH 2020 * coming Late fall 2021 *

So far the second vintage of this is showing all the dark fruit and herb character of 2019 but with a spunkier kick of acidity, a dominant floral note, and just a lick of natural wine funk that makes you wonder how this came from Oregon.

“UNDER THE WALLOWAS” SNAKE RIVER Untitled red 2020 * release tba *

What happens when you take 50% merlot and add a kiss of both cabernet sauvignon and syrah but the alcohol only comes in at 12.5? Come back later to find out!

“Under the wallowas” snake river cabernet sauvignon 2020 * release tba *

If you’d asked me years ago I would have said no way I’m working with cab sauv… but this baby, well, she’s a dream!