2022 Pinot Gris

2022 PINOT GRIS

Tasting Notes:
Captivating aromas of melon and tropical fruit lead into a medium bodied mid-palate with notes of pear, peach and a touch of spice.  The lingering finish complements this dry, crisp wine.

Winemaking Notes:

The fruit was gently de-stemmed directly into the press to minimize skin contact. Pressing decisions are done by taste and the press was stopped at just over one bar of pressure.  Being 100% estate fruit and a smaller vintage, we decided to blend our typical pair of yeasts in an attempt to bring complexity to a smaller fermentation.  Fermentation temperatures were kept at 53°F to 58°F and lasted about six weeks until the wine was nearly dry and tasted balanced. The wine was crossflow filtered and bottled under screwcap in February 2023.

Harvest Notes:

The 2022 growing season started early when a warmish March had us envisioning an early bud break and subsequent harvest.  Then April came and the Willamette Valley was hit by a hard freeze event that threw everything in disarray.  Not every vineyard was affected equally by the freeze with damage ranging from total losses to spotty losses, to no loss at all and, because of the timing, some couldn’t tell if they had been damaged until weeks later.  Our estate Dunn Forest vineyard fell into the latter category and in the end, we were hit hard but it was not a total loss, we still had some fruit.  Summer came in cool and wet and by July the grapes were clean and healthy but weeks behind schedule.  Fortunately, a nice warm August and September, followed by a beautiful October helped the fruit turn the corner just in time for a hurried harvest when the rains began.   

Our estate Dunn Forest vineyard is LIVE Certified Sustainable and Salmon Safe. The vineyard is hand cultivated allowing us to respond to individual vine needs.

A printout of this and the technical data is available under the 'Wine Information' tab above, 'Download Wine Notes'.