JUNE 2022 FEATURED PREMIUM WINES
WINE ONE: MALOOF ROUGE DE GRIS
About: Johan Vineyard is planted in the cool Van Duzer Corridor Sub-AVA of the Willamette Valley. Achieving Demeter Biodynamic certification in 2010, this site features marine sediment and granite. The Pinot Gris grapes were treated as you would Pinot Noir. 70% was destemmed and fermented on skins for 17 days with quotidien punch downs to ensure the cap stays moist. 10% was fermented carbonically and the remainder was direct pressed. Élevage was completed in neutral barrels before bottling unfined and unfiltered eight months later. 299 cases were produced.
Taste: This wine’s colour is nearly impossible to describe – almost like steeped oolong: amber, ochre, rust. The nose is warming with aromas of clove, persimmon, black cardamom, Ethiopian coffee, orange rinds, patchouli, rosehips, dried apple, nutmeg, and red plums. The palate is tactile and toothsome with modest tannins and a woodsy texture on the finish. Bright acidity helps balance the fruit. Despite being a comfortable middleweight, it has ample viscosity and presence. On the finish, you’ll find flavours of candied pumpkin, cranberry, allspice, fig, peach, and almond.
Pairing: For me, Munster cheese is borderline offensive, yet I can’t seem to help myself when the perfect pairing appears. Alsace’s Feuilletés au Munster are little savoury, cheesy pastries that wrangle the stink flawlessly. Alternatively, I’d suggest making yourself a Tarte à l’Oignion. This relative to quiche highlights the incredible sweetness of browned onions alongside smoky bacon and fragrant thyme. Rumour has it that the best chefs add a little white anchovy to their egg custard filling to make all the flavours pop. Our final Alsatian suggestion is Fleischnacka, a pasta spiral stuffed with the incredibly savoury meat leftover from a Pot Au Feu – a traditional beef stew.
WINE TWO: MALOOF NO CLOS RADIO PINOT GRIS
About: This site is in the newly recognized AVA of Tualatin Hills, west of Portland. The isolated vineyard is surrounded by forest and features typical Jory and Loess, as well as pisolitic iron and manganese. It was originally planted by Harvey Shafer in the 1970s, but Ross & Bee were able to purchase the site in collaboration with their friends Jenny & Jim of Fossil & Fawn. The vines are own-rooted and dry farmed. Although the vineyard was being farmed sustainably, its new stewards are pursuing organic certification. The Pinot Gris was direct pressed into neutral barrel for fermentation and élevage on full lees. No batonnage is done. The wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with 30ppm of SO2. Only 69 cases were produced.
Taste: This wine is a pale lemon yellow in the glass. The nose is coy and bashful with aromas of fresh pear, meyer lemon, sourdough, ylang ylang, caraway, pine nuts, summer savoury, fresh linen, and nectarine. The palate is ethereal and weightless; it seems to float like mist – edgeless. There’s a minerality on the finish, adding tension. The acidity makes the wine feel clean; it has a restorative property I can’t pin down. You’ll find additional flavours of lemon balm, poppyseed, raw sesame, quince, celery leaf, pastry dough, plantain, and verbena.
Pairing: Carpe Frite Sundgauvienne is a traditional Alsatian dish where carp is marinated in white wine (we’d suggest Pinot Gris) and then is battered in semolina and fried until crispy and tender. It’s usually served alongside frites and a healthy dollop of mayonnaise. No cutlery required, only a large mug full of Maloof’s No Clos Radio Pinot Gris.
WINE THREE: RIGOUR & WHIMSY INTO THE DARKEST WOOD
About: The grapes for this cuvée come from an organic vineyard in Osoyoos. After a rather late harvest on October 25th, the grapes were placed into fermenting bins whole-cluster. Because of the cold temperatures, fermentation didn’t kick off for nearly a week. They foot-crushed the grapes, and the wine was pressed off into barrel after a month on skins. After a sixteen-month élevage, the wine was gently racked and bottled. 3.84pH, 6.99g/l TA, 1.56 g/l VA
Taste: This wine is bright purple-ruby in the glass. The nose is as whimsical as the name would suggest, immediately pulling you into an adventurous storyline: blackberries, wild raspberries, lichen, prairie sage, cubeb, bresaola, violets, balsam, embers, and frankincense. The palate is skittish and nervous. It fidgets between ripe red fruits and an acidity full of static electricity. The tannins are well integrated, backed up by the spice of smoke and a granitic minerality. You’ll find further flavours of red cherries, coal, rosemary, iodine, heliotrope, and redwood.
Pairing: With seemingly endless rain coming down, I crave comfort food. Rounding out our Alsatian-themed pairings is Baeckeoffe, a rustic stew that features mutton, beef, and pork marinated in white wine and juniper. The name translates from the Alsatian dialect as ‘Bake Oven,’ which refers to the tradition of cooking the stew overnight in the village baker’s oven as it cools down. A length of dough would be wrapped around the edge of the casserole dish to keep the lid tight and the meat moist. It typically features potatoes, onions, leeks, parsley, and marjoram, although the recipe varies from family to family.