100% Chenin Blanc; Idiot’s Grace Vineyard in Mosier, Oregon; planted 2012; Columbia Gorge AVA; 142 cases produced; grown in soils from volcanic ash and loess over old flood deposits; brought up in steel and veteran barrels; 12.3% ABV.
I’ll remind you that one of our primary objectives here on the farm is to choose grapes for our plantings which will prove to feel at home in the Gorge, grapes which will produce wines of distinction as both an indication and a result of their being suited to this place. Success does not imply imitation, no matter how great the thing you admire, and so “wines of distinction” may well mean something fully other than anything any of us might expect.
This vintage finally includes significant quantities of fruit from all three parcels of our Chenin, including the one that sees no irrigation. That block made for tricky vinegrowing in its early years, as the vines were being trained like small free-standing trees, and it’s hell to pick. But a white grape handles its adolescence with more aplomb than a red grape does, and we were pretty excited by this portion of the blend.
I believe this bottling may be our most compelling yet, with good intensity, fragrance, and poise. Chenin blanc is, in the wrong place, boring. Ours is not boring. It has verve, acidity, and is altogether a dry & focused wine. Early on we had more trouble with it: the wine was too alcoholic, because the vines were unable to provide enough leaf cover, and this resulted in something indelicate on the tongue. Today things are different: green fruit & white flowers; lightly leesy; opulent. A lean and textured wine that is not too heavy, and slightly round, with toasted notes.
