2020 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer - Dessert
2020 LATE HARVEST GEWÜRZTRAMINER - 375ml
Tasting Notes:
Extravagant notes of honey, apricot and cardamom showcase this well-balanced dessert in a glass. While we think this wine does great on its own completing any meal, we welcome you to enjoy it as an aperitif with some Roquefort or after dinner with some warm nuts and maybe a sharp cheddar. This wine should continue to develop in complexity and richness over the next 5-10 years.
Winemaking Notes:
As it generally does not get cold enough here in the Willamette Valley to freeze grapes on the vine for ice wine we make our Late Harvest Gewürztraminer the modern way by sending the fruit to a commercial freezer immediately after picking. After freezing the berries solid we load them into our screw press, apply some pressure and start waiting for the nectar to drip out. The press cycle takes about two days depending on ambient temperatures and in the end we concentrate the juice about 50%. Fermentation goes very slowly in a 55gal drum, taking about two months to come into balance. Fermentation was stopped by the use of the crossflow filter and the wine was bottled in September 2021.
Harvest Notes:
The 2020 growing season started with a mild winter and drier than normal spring. While there were some untimely rains in mid-June for most of the Willamette Valley our cool site meant that bloom came along almost immediately after and we were spared crop thinning by Mother Nature. The rest of the growing season was almost ideal with moderate day time temperatures and cool nights, leading to a long, slow ripening season. The fires that struck at Labor Day were nerve racking and many lost their homes making the worry about grapes seem insignificant. However, growing grapes and making wines is our livelihood and so we persevered. It again appears that our little bowl of a valley saved as we looked up to the smoky black skies and drifting ash but still had remarkably clean air in our vineyard. The lack of sun slowed ripening even more and we started harvest closer to our traditional date October 2nd. Great flavor concentration, balanced acidity and moderate alcohols means the 2020 wines will be excellent now and into the future.
Our winery and our estate vineyard, Dunn Forest, are LIVE Certified Sustainable and Salmon Safe. The vineyard is hand cultivated allowing us to respond to individual vine needs.
