Joe Swick
Oregon Born and Raised
Location: Newberg, Oregon, USA
Owner & winemaker: Joe Swick
Vineyard area: variable – the grapes are sourced from carefully selected growers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and neighboring Washington State Columbia Valley
Vineyard management: practicing or certified organic / biodynamic, depending on the source vineyard
Soils: sandy, loam, volcanic, alluvial, basalt, depending on the source vineyard
Main varieties: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Grenache, and a vast array of other grapes
Annual production (approx.): 70,000 bottles
Winemaking: manual harvest, spontaneous fermentation only, no conventional additives, no fining, only modest amounts of SO2 on select wines when needed. Many of Joe’s wines are skin-contact; he’s also a keen maker of Piquette.
Fun facts:
- Joe traveled the world making wine in places like Tasmania, France, Italy, or Portugal for 10 years. While living in France, he tasted his first natural wine – and fell in love with it.
- His creed is making wine that’s “as naked and raw as possible while fun and delicious. Wine that tastes like wine, not kombucha”
- A huge fan of pizza, Joe even made the ultimate pizza pairing wine called Foryer ‘Za
- Besides pizza pies, Joe is also renowned for his love of dad jokes – he will not miss an opportunity for a pun or corny joke.
- Joe’s sister Mariana makes soaps and sugar scrubs out of the lees of his wine.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Joe Swick got into the wine business working as a shipping/receiving clerk at a specialty organic food store in his hometown. Tasting different wines and getting to know various Oregonian winemakers was a great start, but Joe wanted to get his hands dirty too, which led him to work his first harvest as a cellar assistant in a local winery in 2003. Following this epiphany, Joe has traveled the globe for a decade during which he made some 15 harvests in places as far as Tasmania, New Zealand, Portugal, Italy, or France, including some time with the legendary Simon Busser in Cahors or Julien Labet in Jura.
After these ten years of intense globetrotting, Swick returned to the Pacific Northwest with loads of new experience and started his eponymous label in the Willamette Valley, knowing he wanted to do things the natural way: “When I was married, I spent a lot of time in France tasting. It was my first time being exposed to what they call vin nature – natural wines, and those were the ones that really spoke to me. So I thought that, with all my experience, I could take the risk. To make wine, which is as close to grapes as possible, while still tasting like wine,” he recalls in an interview.
Almost 10 years later, that’s still the case – the Swick philosophy is to make wines as naked and raw as possible while having them be fun and delicious, meaning that there are no conventional additives. But, if the wine benefits from a very small amount of SO2, so be it: “I’m not a fan of having to dump wines down the drain. If it means 10-20 ppm total SO2 added to a wine, I will do it. I prefer wine that tastes like wine, not kombucha,” Joe explains. Other than this security check, Swick’s wines are grapes-only and left to live in freedom: “No yeasts, no acid corrections, no temp control on the fermentor wines… Nothing is controlled. 100% of the stems are used in my red wines, which I work by foot 1-2 times a day.”
Joe works with organically (or biodynamically, depending on the vineyard) farmed grapes from a changing selection of vineyards. What they all have in common is their location in the colder regions of Oregon and Washington State, as such sites allow him to make wines with acid, freshness, and lower ABV – “the wine that we love to drink,” Joe says. The Swick range sports historically farmed Oregon varieties such as Pinot Noir that he turns into a vast array of wines ranging from classical red to a very ethereal, blush Rosé of Pinot Noir or bubbles.
On the more experimental side, Joe mixes things up with varieties such as Verdelho, Melon de Bourgogne, Touriga Nacional or various Rhone-Valley grapes like Grenache, Mourvedre, Marsanne, Roussanne. There’s a fair amount of amber wines ranging from Pinot Gris to Sémillon and Sauv Blanc, macerated usually for about 30 days as Joe believes this length of the skin-contact phase to be the sweet spot between tannins and freshness: “In my experience, after two weeks, the tannins tend to get a bit aggressive and astringent, but after another two weeks they soften and gain in body and balance out the acidity,” he explains.
Another strong suit for Swick is light reds with a tang and license to chill, sometimes produced as red-white grape co-ferments, sometimes as short-maceration; it’s no accident that one of Swick’s wines, showing his love for both this category and puns, is called Shill-Ah-Blay. Plus the super popular pet-nats and recently also Piquettes, Joe’s take on this fun “up-cycling” low-ABV beverage that is enjoying a renaissance (thanks in big part to our NY-state partner WildArc Farm).
Quite a rainbow thanks to this diversity of terroirs and grapes! Colorful as they are (Joe’s obsession with lava lamps comes to mind), the Swick wines all share their signature subtle fruit and freshness. Always more mineral than jammy, structured rather than overpowering. Different from your regular Oregon wine programming, but definitely painting a compelling picture of their Pacific Northwestern home.
- Blanc de Noir Cancilla Vineyard
- Verdelho Columbia Valley
- Cancilla “Hibernation” Pinot Noir
- Melon de Bourgogne
- Cancilla Vineyard “Ken’s Pom” Pinot Noir
- Verdelho Petillant Naturel
- Rose of Pinot Noir Petillant Naturel
- Grenache Blanc
- Willamette Pinot Noir
- Pinot Noir Rosé
- Columbia Valley Mourvedre
- Sec Siemefe Touriga Nacional
- Cancilla Vineyard Sans Soufre Pinot Noir
- Ellaguru
- Only Zuul
- Rousanne
- Marsanne
- Chenin Blanc
- WYD? U UP?
- City Pop
- Piquette 1.0-4.0
- Gamay Noir Pet-Nat
- Pet-Natch
- Albariño
- Sémillon
- What are we?
- Pinot Gris Skin Contact
- Cinq a Six (Malbec chillable)
- Sauvignon Blanc Skin Contact
- Palhete
- The Flood
- P-chill
- Bring It
- Zero Point Zero Gamay Noir
- Un Oeuf Gamay Noir
- The Heights
- City Nights
- Mallsoft
- Chillable Red
- Zero Point Zero Gewurztraminer Orange
- Zero Point Zero Chardonnay Orange
- Un Oeuf Chardonnay
- Un Oeuf Gewurztraminer
Blanc de Noir Cancilla Vineyard — Back to the top
Blanc de Noir Cancilla Vineyard tech sheet
Total Production: 1400 bottles
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Age of Vines: 18 years
Yields: 5 tons per hectare
Altitude: 700 feet
Soil: Sedimentary transitioning into Volcanic
Varieties: 100% Pinot Noir
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The skins are never in contact with the juice, and the wine ferments in 228-liter 4-6-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no battonage. The wine is unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
Verdelho Columbia Valley — Back to the top
Verdelho Columbia Valley tech sheet
This wine is made from the Douro version of this grape variety (not the Madeiran Verdelho). Also known as Gouveio in the Douro Valley and Godello in Spain.
Total Production: 1600 bottles
Appellation: Columbia Valley Washington (Yakima Valley)
Age of Vines: 13 years
Soil: Loam
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228 and 500 liter 2-4-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no battonage. The wine is unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
Cancilla Vineyard “Hibernation” Pinot Noir — Back to the top
Cancilla Vineyard “Hibernation” Pinot Noir tech sheet
Total Production: 840 bottles
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Age of Vines: 18 years
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Soil: Sedimentary transitioning into Volcanic
Varieties: 100% Pinot Noir
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand harvested, and the whole bunches are sealed inside a concrete egg for 6 months of fermentation. The whole bunches rests in the egg with no pigeage or pumping over. The intact berries are then pressed and combined back into the egg with the free-run juice for 4 further months of elevage. The wine is unfiltered, unfined, and has zero sulfur added.
Melon de Bourgogne — Back to the top
The idea behind this wine is not to imitate the Muscadet style but to make a wine from Oregon, made by an Oregonian, with a grape that happens to be Melon. The soils of Oregon are completely different, hence Joe wasn’t trying to make it anything like a Muscadet.
Total Production: 1000 bottles
Appellation: Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Willamette Valley
Age of Vines: 15 years
Soil: Sandy Loam
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228-liter 8-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 1 month. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no battonage. The wine is unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
Cancilla Vineyard “Ken’s Pom” Pinot Noir — Back to the top
Cancilla Vineyard “Ken’s Pom” Pinot Noir tech sheet
Total Production: 400 bottles
Yield: 5 tons per hectare
Appellation: Columbia Valley Washington (Yakima Valley)
Age of Vines: 18 years
Soil: Sandy into Volcanic
Varieties: 100% Pinot Noir
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and whole bunches ferment semi-carbonically in plastic microbins for about 1 month with indigenous yeast and occasional pigeage. The wine goes into 500-liter 5-year-old barrels for about 11 months of elevage. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and has zero sulfur added.
Verdelho Petillant Naturel — Back to the top
Total Production: 700 bottles
Appellation: Columbia Valley Washington (Yakima Valley)
Age of Vines: 13 years
Soil: Sandy Loam
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228-liter 6-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 2 weeks. The wine is bottled with a small amount of residual sugar remaining and finishes fermenting in bottle with zero filtration and zero sulfur added. The bottles are hand-disgorged and then recapped.
Rose of Pinot Noir Petillant Naturel — Back to the top
Rose of Pinot Noir Petillant Naturel tech sheet
Total Production: 400 bottles
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Age of Vines: 18 years
Soil: Sandy into Volcanic
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228-liter 6-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 3 weeks. The wine is bottled with a small amount of residual sugar remaining and finishes fermenting in bottle with zero filtration and zero sulfur added. The bottles are hand-disgorged and then recapped.
Grenache Blanc — Back to the top
Grenache Blanc tech sheet
Total Production: 1400 bottles
Appellation: Columbia Valley Washington (Yakima Valley)
Age of Vines: 13 years
Soil: Sandy Loam
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228-liter and 50-liter 2-4 year old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 4 weeks with about 24 hours in contact with the skins. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no battonage. The wine is unfiltered and has zero sulfur added.
Willamette Valley Pinot Noir — Back to the top
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Vineyards: Cancilla Vineyard (NW Willamette Valley) and Silvershot Vineyard (Eola-Amity AVA), Mixed Basalt and Sedimentary soils
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and whole bunches ferment semi-carbonically in 500-liter barrels with indigenous yeast and pigeage one to two times a day. The wine goes into 500-liter 5-year-old barrels for about 10 months of elevage. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and has a small addition of sulfur.
Personality: a classic Oregon nose with a mix of black cherry, damp earth and mushrooms. Medium bodied and fresh, an intense, fruit-forward, Pinot Noir lover’s dream.
Pinot Noir Rosé — Back to the top
Grape: Pinot Noir (Pommard clone)
Vineyard: Alluvial and Basalt in Willamette Valley. Cancilla Vineyard (planted 1999-2005, organic since 2009) and Greyhorse Vineyard (organic, planted in 1998)
Making of: Direct pressed. Fermented and aged in neutral French oak barrels for 6 months before bottling. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered with a small addition of sulfur.
Personality: “The 2020 is without a doubt one of the most acid-driven rosés we ever made. Also my personal fav.” Joe Swick, creator
Columbia Valley Mourvedre — Back to the top
Appellation: Columbia ValleyTotal Production: 1800 bottles
Elevation: 1650 feet
Age of Vines: 20 years
Soil: Sandy/Loam
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches ferment semi-carbonically in 500 liter barrels with indigenous yeast and pigeage one to two times a day. The skins macerate for about 30 days before pressing. The wine goes into 500-liter 5-year-old barrels for about 9 months of elevage. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and has a small addition of sulfur.
Sec Siemefe Touriga Nacional — Back to the top
Appellation: Columbia ValleyTotal Production: 840 bottlesSoil: Alluvial Age of Vines: 20 years
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and whole bunches ferment semi-carbonically in 500-liter barrels with indigenous yeast and pigeage one to two times a day. The skins macerate for about 30 days before pressing. The wine goes into 228-liter 5-year-old barrels for about 11 months of elevage. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and has zero sulfur added.
Cancilla Vineyard Sans Soufre Pinot Noir — Back to the top
Total Production: 1056 bottles
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Age of Vines: 20 years
Soil: Alluvial and Basalt
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches ferment semi-carbonically in 500 liter barrels with indigenous yeast and pigeage one to two times a day. The skins macerate for about 30 days before pressing. The wine goes into 500-liter 5-year-old barrels for about 12 months of elevage. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and has zero addition of sulfur.
Ellaguru — Back to the top
Total Production: 150 cases
Age of Vines: 20 years
Soil: Alluvial
Varieties: 50% Melon from Oregon, 50% Counoise from Washington
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: The two vineyards are hand-harvested on the same day and are co-fermented and ferment as whole bunches. The bunches are foot tread and the skins macerate for about 30 days in 228 liter used wooden barrels before pressing. The wine spends about 6 months in elevage and is bottled with a small addition of sulfur.
Only Zuul — Back to the top
Grapes: 50% Gewürztraminer, 50% Pinot Gris
Vineyard: the 2021 comes from Lacewing Vineyard (Columbia Gorge AVA, White Salmon, WA, practicing organic) and Finnigan Hill Vineyard (Chehalem Hills AVA, Hillsboro, OR, certified organic)
Making of: Skin macerated for 30 days and aged in neutral French oak barrels for 8 months before bottling. No fining, no filter, blended and bottled with a small addition of sulfur.
Personality: a really delicious vintage of Only Zuul with roses, grapefruit and wet rocks on the nose. Medium-bodied and tastes like blood oranges.
Roussanne — Back to the top
Total Production: 23 cases
Age of Vines: 20 years
Soil: Alluvial
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228-liter 8-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 1 month. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no battonage. The wine is unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
Marsanne — Back to the top
Total Production: 150 cases
Age of Vines: 20 years
Soil: Sedimentary
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228 and 500-liter 8-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 1 month. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no battonage. The wine is unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
Personality: salt, lime, grapefruit.
Chenin Blanc — Back to the top
Soil: Sedimentary
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and immediately pressed as whole bunches. The wine ferments in 228 and 500-liter 8-year-old barrels with indigenous yeast for about 1 month. The skins remain in contact with the juice for one week, after which they are pressed. The wine rests in the same barrels for 6 months of elevage, with one racking before bottling and no batonnage. The wine is unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
Wyd? U up? — Back to the top
Total Production: 125 cases
Age of Vines: 20 years
Varieties: Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Soil: Sandy Loam
Yield: 2 tons per acre
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine ferments in 500-liter neutral oak barrels with indigenous yeast for about 1 month and then rests in barrels for 8 months of elevage. Unfiltered and lightly sulfured before bottling.
City Pop Pet-Nat — Back to the top
City Pop is a genre of music, born in Japan in the late 1970s & 80s.
Total Production: 200 cases
Grapes: Pinot Noir, Verdelho, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Roussanne
Vineyard: sandy loam. The Pinot Noir grows in the Willamette Valley at 600 feet of altitude, the remaining grapes are from the Columbia Valley at 1,600 feet elevation.
Cellar: Pinot Noir was direct-pressed and fermented separately. Verdelho, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Roussanne fermented separately with 14 days of skin maceration, with the ferments gently worked by foot 1-2 times a day. No temperature control, native yeast only. Bottled in November to finish fermentation in bottles. No fining, no filtration, a small addition of sulfur at disgorgement.
Piquette 1.0 – 4.0 — Back to the top
Grapes:
Piquette 1.0 = 50% Verdelho, 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon from Columbia Valley (the blend used for City Pop)
Piquette 2.0 = Gamay Noir Willamette Valley
Piquette 3.0 = Cinsault Columbia Valley
Piquette 4.0 = skin-contact Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley
Cellar: After pressing the grapes for the given wine, the leftover skins were rehydrated with water, which brings out any sugars left in the pomace. After letting them soak a bit, the rehydrated pomace is pressed again for a second time and treated just like a pet-nat. The juice is bottled at about zero Brix and 7.5% to 8% ABV. Fermentation finishes in the bottle.
Personality: “Very smashable.” Joe Swick, the creator.
Gamay Noir Pet-Nat — Back to the top
Grape: Gamay Noir
Total Production: 30 cases
Vineyard: Willamette Valley
Cellar: the grapes are pressed and fermented with no temperature control and native yeast only. Bottled in November to finish fermentation in bottles. No fining, no filtration, a small addition of sulfur at disgorgement.
Pet-Natch — Back to the top
Grapes: 50% Graciano, 25% Cinsault, 25% Pinot Gris
Vineyard: Columbia Valley
Total Production: 30 cases
Cellar: the grapes are pressed and fermented with no temperature control and native yeast only. Bottled in November to finish fermentation in bottles. No fining, no filtration, a small addition of sulfur at disgorgement.
Albariño — Back to the top
Grapes: Albariño
Vineyard: Naches Heights AVA, Yakima Washington.
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine ferments on skins for 30 days. Foot stomped 1-2 times daily. Gently pressed and then rests until spring. Bottled unfiltered, lightly sulfured.
Personality: “Pair with tapas.” Joe Swick, creator
Sémillon Skin Contact — Back to the top
Grapes: Sémillon
Vineyard: Konnowac Vineyard. NW Yakima, Washington.
Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine ferments on skins for 30 days, foot stomped 1-2 times daily. Gently pressed and then rests until spring. Bottled unfiltered, lightly sulfured.
Personality: “Geek out with this one.” Joe Swick, creator
What are we? — Back to the top
Label artwork by Cerise Zelenetz
Grapes: Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Noir, roughly equal parts of each
Vineyard: Conley Vineyard in Yakima, Washington. 1700 feet elevation. Sandy soils. Certified organic.
Making of: the grapes are vinified separately. Marsanne and Grenache Blanc are both direct-pressed white wines. The Grenache Noir spends 30 days on skins, whole cluster maceration. Foot stomped 1-2 times daily. The wines are then aged in neutral French oak for 8 months. Blended and lightly sulfured at bottling, no fining or filtration.
Personality: fresh & chillable red-white coferment, showing the beautiful spiciness and flinty iron of the Southern-Rhone-valley grape trio used. Grapefruit, citrus, mineral note, best served slightly chilled.
Pinot Gris Skin Contact Willamette Valley — Back to the top
Grapes: Pinot Gris
Vineyards: Merten Vineyard in the Washington County AVA, practicing organic. A new AVA that has some of the higher and colder sites in the Willamette Valley, located at its northern end.
Making of: 30 days of whole-cluster maceration on skins. Foot stomped 1-2 times daily, then 7 months in neutral French oak.
Lightly sulfured at bottling, no fining.
Personality: “Nose of sour cherry, blood orange, a little bit of flintiness, the palate is medium-bodied, and a lot like a Tavel,” says Joe himself. For those who don’t like Pinot Grigio but might enjoy a very macerated Pinot Gris…
Cinq à Six — Back to the top
Grapes: 100% Malbec
Vineyard: Conley Vineyard, Yakima, Washington. 1700 feet elevation. Sandy soils. Certified organic.
Making of: 5-6 hours of skin maceration before a very gentle press. Then fermented and aged in neutral French oak for 8 months. Lightly sulfured at bottling, no fining or filtration.
Personality: very chillable and fun. It’s herbaceous on the nose with anise notes, black pepper, fresh raspberry and dried cherry in the mouth. Thanks to the very short skin contact, this rosé/red surprising incarnation of Malbec is light and drinks wonderfully, and not just between 5 and 6.
Sauvignon Blanc Skin Contact — Back to the top
Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Vineyard: Konnowac Vineyard, Yakima, Washington. 1100 feet of altitude. In conversion to organic farming
Making of: the grapes spent 30 days on skins. Foot stomped 1-2 times per day. Aged in neutral French oak for 7 months. Lightly sulfured at bottling, no fining or filtration.
Personality: Salty, peach and nectarine pit, citrus, fresh and firm.
Palhete — Back to the top
Grapes: 90% Verdelho, 10% Graciano
Vineyard: Sonrisa Vineyard in Zillah, Washington. Practicing organic
Making of: The grapes are vinified separately. First, they spend 30 days on skins, then aged in neutral French oak for 8 months. Blended and lightly sulfured at bottling, no fining or filtration.
Personality: Joe on this wine: “Palhete is a type of wine I learned about when working in Portugal – red and white grapes blended into an easygoing, fresh and smashable light red wine. Breakfast wine?!”
P-Chill Willamette Valley — Back to the top
Grapes: 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Pinot Gris
Vineyards: the Pinot Noir is from Cancilla Vineyard in Gaston, Oregon. Pommard clone, own-rooted. Certified Organic. The Pinot Gris is from Finnigan Hill Vineyard. Certified organic. Chehalem Mountains AVA.
Making of: the Pinot noir spends 30 days on skins as whole clusters, the Pinot Gris is direct-press. The wines then ferment and age in a mix of neutral French oak and stainless steel drums. Blended and lightly sulfured at bottling, no fining.
Personality: This is strawberries and cream, easy-drinking and best served chilled.
Bring It — Back to the top
Joe’s flagship red blend that is is always a representation of the vintage as a whole at Swick Wines. The wine changes every year but is always based on Oregon Pinot Noir for freshness and fuller-bodied grapes from Washington State like Cabs, Malbec or Rhone-Valley varieties.
Also available in 20L kegs.
Grapes: the 2021 vintage is 60% Pinot Noir, 20% Syrah, 5% Grenache Noir, 5% Mourvedre, 5% Touriga Nacional, 5% Gewurztraminer
Vineyard: vintage barrel selection of different vineyards. Pinot Noir: Finnigan Hill Vineyard, certified organic; Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvedre: Conley Vineyard, certified organic; Touriga Nacional: Wilridge Vineyard, biodynamic; Gewürztraminer: Lacewing Vineyard, practicing organic
Making of: the grapes are spontaneously fermented with stems included (except for the Cabernet Sauvignon). The wines age in old French oak barrels of various sizes for about 9 months before being blended and bottled. Unfined and unfiltered, a small amount of SO2 at bottling.
Personality: cranberry-like freshness and earthy Pinotey tones mingle with succulent ripe fruit and a distinct body. Bring It on! “The 2021 harvest brought us some amazingly complex Pinot Noir from top-notch terroir that we used as the base for this wine. Syrah contributes smoke and leather, Touriga brings the dark cherry, and Gewürztraminer adds a floral aromatic embellishment. Would be delicious served alongside a warming dish of beef bourguignon.”
Syrah Columbia Valley — Back to the top
Grapes: Syrah
Vineyard: Conley Vineyard. North of Yakima, Washington. Certified organic.
Making of: 100% whole cluster, 30-day maceration. Worked by foot 1-2 times a day during fermentation. Aged in neutral French oak barrels for 10 months. Unfined and unfiltered, a small amount of SO2 at bottling.
Personality: crunchy! Delicious, tangy take on the grape that works great with anything BBQed, from veggies to ribs.
The Flood — Back to the top
A skin-contact blend of vineyards in OR and WA, named after the Missoula Floods that shaped the Columbia Gorge and Willamette Valley ten thousand years ago.
Grapes and vineyards:
33% Chardonnay, Finnigan Hill Vineyard Chehalem Mountains AVA, Certified organic
33% Gewurztraminer, Lacewing Vineyard Columbia Gorge AVA, practicing organic
22% Pinot Gris, Finnigan Hill Vineyard, Chehalem Mountains AVA, Certified organic
8% Auxerrois, Zenith Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills AVA, Sustainable
4% Riesling, High Pass Vineyard, Lower Long Tom AVA, Sustainable
Making of: the grapes are vinified separately. All of them undergo 30 days of skin contact, are aged in neutral French oak barrels for 6 months and then blended. Unfined and unfiltered, a small amount of SO2 at bottling.
Personality: aromatic, vivid, joyous! “Might be one of the best blends we’ve assembled. Maybe?” Joe says.
Auxerrois Willamette Valley — Back to the top
Grape: Auxerrois
Vineyard: Zenith Vineyard in the Eola Amity Hills AVA. Sustainable.
Making of: the grapes undergo 30 days of skin contact. Aged in neutral French oak barrels for 6 months. Unfined and unfiltered, a small amount of SO2 at bottling.
Personality: crisp and delicious with a frosty, floral flair. Honeysuckle, orange blossom, salted grapefruit.
Zero Point Zero Gamay Noir— Back to the top
Grape: Gamay Noir
Vineyard: Zenith Vineyard, Eola-Amity AVA, Willamette Valley. Sustainable; this is a high disease pressure site that uses synthetic treatments only in high disease pressure years, instead of high use of sulfur and copper. They use their own compost, in-row cultivation, hand-hoeing, absolutely no herbicide/ Roundup use. Have a look at their website to get in-depth information on their farming practices.
Making of: 100% whole cluster, 30 days maceration. Aged in neutral French oak barrels for 7 months. No sulfur addition, no fining or filtering.
Personality: crunchy, juicy, wild!
Un Oeuf Gamay Noir— Back to the top
Oeuf means “egg” in French, as the wines from this series are aged in egg-shaped concrete vessels.
Grape: Gamay Noir
Vineyard: Zenith Vineyard, Eola-Amity AVA, Willamette Valley. Sustainable; this is a high disease pressure site that uses synthetic treatments only in high disease pressure years, instead of high use of sulfur and copper. They use their own compost, in-row cultivation, hand-hoeing, absolutely no herbicide/ Roundup use. Have a look at their website to get in-depth information on their farming practices.
Making of: 100% whole cluster, 30 days maceration. Aged in a 700-liter concrete egg. Small sulfur addition before bottling, no fining or filtering.
Personality: lovely, rounded and lip-smackingly fruity expression of this ever-popular grape.
The Heights— Back to the top
Winemaker’s note: “One of my personal favorite white wines from 2021. The silty loam soils of the Naches Heights always provide softer versions of normally acidic white wines.”
Grapes: 48% Pinot Gris, 28% Gewurztraminer 24% Riesling
Vineyard: Strand Vineyard in the Naches Heights AVA, north of Yakima, Washington. Loess Soils at 2000ft elevation. Sustainably farmed, no herbicide use.
Making of: the grapes are direct-pressed and vinified separately. Fermented and aged in a mix of 228-liter and 500-liter older French oak barrels. Blended, bottled without fining or filtration. A small sulfur addition at bottling is the only addition.
Personality: a classic example of freshness balanced by palate weight. Tangerine, lime zest, mineral.
City Nights— Back to the top
A delicate, juicy rosé inspired by blends from the Rhone Valley in France.
Grapes: 44% Mourvedre, 36% Grenache Noir, 20% Syrah
Vineyard: Conley Vineyard, Columbia Valley, Yakima, Washington. Certified organic situated at 1600-1700 feet elevation
Making of: direct pressed as whole clusters. Fermented and aged separately in a mix of 228-liter and 500-liter used French oak barrels. Blended, bottled without fining or filtration. A small sulfur addition at bottling is the only addition.
Mallsoft— Back to the top
A wine inspired by the “Mallsoft” genre of music that Joe enjoys: “I turn on the music and start tasting through the cellar and blend.”
Available in 20L kegs.
Grapes & vineyards:
38% Chardonnay | Conley Vineyard. Certified organic. Yakima, Washington
31% Gewürztraminer | Lacewing Vineyard. Organic. Planted in 1968. Columbia Gorge AVA. White Salmon Washington
31% Counoise | Sunland Vineyard. 3rd year of organic conversion. Yakima Washington
Making of: the wines are vinified separately: Gewurztraminer – 30 days on skins, aged in neutral French oak barrels; Counoise – Direct pressed, aged in neutral French oak barrels; Chardonnay – 30 days of skin contact, aged in French oak barrels. Blended and bottled unfined, unfiltered, with a bit of sulfur.
Personality: balanced and aromatic! Chardonnay brings peachiness, Gewürz tropical notes (cantaloupe, papaya, guava, dried flowers), and Counoise adds salty notes.
Chillable Red— Back to the top
An eclectic mix of barrels that took their sweet time to finish primary fermentation, but the happy end is a juicy red ready to chill.
Grapes & vineyards: 2020 is
Mourvedre | Conley Vineyard | Yakima, WA | (certified organic)
Malbec | Conley Vineyard | Yakima, WA (certified organic)
Verdelho | Sonrisa Vineyard | Rattlesnake Hills AVA | Zillah, WA (practicing organic)
Pinot Noir | Cancilla Vineyard (certified organic)
2021 is Mourvedre | Conley Vineyard | Yakima, WA (certified organic)
Malbec | Conley Vineyard | Yakima, WA (certified organic)
Cinsault | Strand Vineyard (sustainably farmed)
Pinot Noir | Cancilla Vineyard (certified organic)
Making of: the Pinot Noir grapes were direct-pressed, while the Verdelho grapes were macerated on skins, as well as the reds. The wines were then racked into barrels where they slowly naturally fermented before being blended.
Personality: Cherry starburst, floral, black tea.
Zero Point Zero Gewurztraminer Skin Contact— Back to the top
Grapes: Gewurztraminer
Vineyard: Lacewing, Columbia Gorge AVA, White Salmon, WA. Planted in 1968 and practicing organic
Making of: 30 days of skin maceration. Aged in neutral French oak for 8 months. Zero sulfur added.
Personality: The nose is dried orange fruits, flint and lychee with a palate of orange peel and roses.
Zero Point Zero Chardonnay Skin Contact— Back to the top
Grapes: Chardonnay
Vineyard: Finnigan Hill Vineyard, Chehalem Mountains AVA, Willamette Valley, OR. Certified Organic
Making of: Destemmed and macerated for 30 days. Aged in a mix of 228- and 500-liter French oak barrels. Zero sulfur added
Personality: Peach, wet stone, and mineral greet you on the nose. With dried orange fruits, citrus, and damp earthiness on the palate.
Un Oeuf Chardonnay Skin Contact— Back to the top
Oeuf means “egg” in French, as the wines from this series are aged in egg-shaped concrete vessels.
Grapes: Chardonnay
Vineyard: Finnigan Hill Vineyard, Chehalem Mountains AVA, Hillsboro, OR. Certified Organic
Making of: 30 days of skin maceration. Aged in a 700-liter concrete egg for 8 months. SO2 at bottling.
Personality: Nose of lemons and wet rocks with dried orange fruits, nectarine and sea salt on the palate. Only 100 cases produced
Un Oeuf Gewurztraminer Skin Contact— Back to the top
Oeuf means “egg” in French, as the wines from this series are aged in egg-shaped concrete vessels.
Grapes: Gewurztraminer
Vineyard: Gillespie, Eola-Amity Hills AVA, Salem, OR. Practicing Organic
Making of: 30 days of skin maceration. Aged in a 700-liter concrete egg for 8 months. SO2 at bottling.
Personality: Green tea on the nose with a hint of orange zest and lime. This is an acid-driven wine, very citrusy and limey. Only 100 cases produced.