The goal of this wine was to make a partially oaked
Southern Rhône white wine of a single varietal (usually a blend) from
a vineyard on the bank of the Columbia River but also make it clean
and crisp. Roussanne is a bit finicky and likes to sunburn, which can
be an issue in Washington. With the heat of 2015, the grapes got nice
and ripe, maintaining their natural acidity but not accumulating too
much sugar. One of the main issues with 2015 wines was the lack of
berry water, meaning we received less juice per ton at the press.
Harvested in the middle of September, the grapes were pressed with
the use of enzymes for settling and juice extraction and an ascorbic
acid, SO2
, and tannin blend to control oxygen contact. The wine was
fermented in stainless steel at 54 degrees, oak staves were added
during fermentation for the more time on oak (leading to a smoother
profile), and the wine was fermented to dryness. Total time: 22 days
in fermentation. After fermentation was complete, SO2
was added to
stop ML from occurring, the wine was cold stabilized and bentonite
was added to bind proteins. The wine was racked off the sediment
and prepared for bottling. The wine was crossflow filtered and bottled
on April 29th
, 2016. 18% new oak. 1.5 months on lees.

100% Roussanne, Sagemoor Vineyard, block 310. 18% new
French oak. All stainless steel fermentation and aging.