2023 Willamette Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Winemaking and Notes: Sauvignon Blanc is only very lightly planted in Oregon with well less than 100 acres currently existing in the state and less than 50 in the Willamette Valley AVA. Despite its modest acreage this white varietal is as well suited for the geology and climate as the other most successful white varieties and far more conducive to being grown in Oregon than the ever-present weed known as Pinot Gris.
This bottling is made up of grapes planted in 2001 and 2002 from our Estate Vineyard (5%) in Ribbon Ridge, fruit from Oster Vineyard (18%) which is an older vineyard planted in the mid-1990s on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley past the town of Mt. Angel, from a 1993 planting of Pinot Gris that was grafted in 2016 to Sauvignon Blanc at Durant Vineyard (45%) and a 2018 planting in what is termed the Prison Block (10%) due to its location next to the Willamette Valley Vineyard Sparkling building as well as a new planting of Sauvignon Blanc below Durant Vineyard’s owner’s (Paul Durant) house on Breyman Orchard Rd. (7%) in the Dundee Hills and, lastly, a 2017 planting at a vineyard called Greg’s House (15%) located on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley south of Silverton. So, a truly widespread and all-encompassing Willamette Valley bottling for sure! All these wines were fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks, with the exception of 1 Acacia wood puncheon from the Estate Vineyard fruit.
Primary fermentations were finished quite early this vintage with nearly all the wines going dry before Thanksgiving, 2023 (the wines only went through a partial secondary fermentation and, thus, were sterile filtered) and the wines from the four sites were combined for fining (with clay), cold stabilization, filtration and bottling on February 2, 2024.
This is classic Sauvignon Blanc provided you do not think this variety should smell like cut grass and cat pee. This has high-toned and heavily fruited aromatics with a distinct limey/citrus tinge along with the hint of straw and minerals which is what ripe Sauvignon Blanc should have as its varietal typicity. The strength of the aromatics resounds in the glass as the wine is deeply fruited with citrus notes at the entry giving way to tropical fruit with extremely crisp acidity on the finish while still having enough palate weight that there is length and complexity. The wine is bright and fresh but retains an enormous amount of texture and richness without being heavy or taking away from its “summertime drinking” sort of nature. We have changed the label to our artistic series that covers our white and rosé wines, and this shows off the range of aromatics and flavors that anyone might expect to find in this bottling.
Oregon is rightly known for what its Pinot Noir does each vintage. More and more white varieties are beginning to creep into the picture of excellent wines and not just filler for airport restaurant by-the-glass pours like Pinot Gris has always been best suited. Sauvignon Blanc is still a niche grape in Oregon despite its enormous popularity as a wine world-wide. Even in a changing climate landscape this grape is versatile enough to produce a wine that is both true to its European roots and an expression of why Oregon can produce such an incredible range of agricultural bounty.
The wine finished with a TA of 6.6 and pH of 3.22. Very low amounts of SO2 were used due to the higher acidities and the wine is under 15 ppm free SO 2 and 35 ppm total SO2.
1,835 cases bottled.
