Limited Addition Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022, United States of America

Sauvignon blanc is a variety that we feel shows strong promise in the future Willamette Valley wine narrative. A parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, and mate of Cabernet franc, it exhibits the same herbaceous and vegetal bell pepper compounds when not fully ripe or when clusters are shaded from the sun, as is the typical viticulture practice in hot climates like California or Washington. The gentle sunshine that the Willamette Valley receives, and the proximity of the Pacific Ocean has led the cultural farming trend of denuding or stripping the fruit zone of leaf matter in the vineyard. This means that grape clusters have full exposure to the sun and coincidentally those herbaceous compounds found in these grape varieties are photodegradable, or can be reduced through UV light exposure, which is naturally happening with Willamette Valley growers. So this Sauvignon blanc rather than brimming with green bean and gooseberry flavors as those from hotter climates do the Willamette Valley expression from the Eola Springs vineyards is more exotic with guava, and creamy passionfruit flavors, in addition, we barrel fermented this wine in neutral French oak and it remained on its lees to build out the creamy palate profile until bottling of August 2023.

As with many of our whites wines they tend to be the more full bodied and robust wines in our cellar, as is our taste for building concentration and complexity into age-worthy and cellar worth whites, if you can resist opening them or have the room to squirrel a few away for the future.

ABV: 12.8%
Vol: 750ml