Happy Spring wine list members. We have two wines for you this season that are very special to us. These are both the third vintage for each, and we are in love with both.
***Our 2016 Dowsett Family “Aunt Diane’s Vineyard” Riesling, Columbia Gorge is the third release of this wine. The vineyard was planted in 1980 at a site that had been owned by our Aunt Diane’s family for over a century. The tiny blocks were sitting just above 1100 feet in elevation, staring down at the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood. The vineyards had been neglected over time and needed some care. Our family, friends and Aunt Diane herself began to revive this site in 2012. The first vintage was 37 cases, and this year we were up to 73 cases total off of the almost 2 acres!
The wine is similar in style to our Gewurztraminer: hand harvested, gently pressed, fermented and aged in three very old barrels, no malolactic, and bottled without cold stabilization. Be prepared for the racy acidity and it is almost fully dry. We looked to more of an Austrian style of Riesling that could express the beauty of Riesling as well as the minerality of the soil on the hill. This wine can stand up to meals of varied origin. It will attack spice, cream or rich stews yet not overpower more delicate seafood or soups, and show amazing clarity with oysters. Another wonderful aromatic white wine which should benefit from short term or long cellar aging.
For our mailing list members, the 2016 Dowsett Family Riesling “Aunt Diane’s Vineyard” will be $14.00 per bottle until April 23rd. After that date it will return to the current retail price of $16.00 a bottle. We continue to offer a 10% case discount on 12 or more bottles. This wine sold out quickly last year, so if you are interested please let us know.
We will offer $10 ground shipping on any orders of six bottles or more, free shipping for 12 or more, and mixed orders of the two wines will qualify for both case discounts and shipping discounts.
***We also have another true family collaboration. We offer you the 2017 Georgia Rose Becklin Vineyards. A dry Pinot Noir Rosé from Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Chris and his sister Libby Dowsett (Becklin) grew up in the Willamette Valley, and lived on a vineyard while they were in their teens. Their maternal grandmother Georgia Rose Hannigan Johnson came each summer and cared for the family, while the others worked on the old house and vineyards. We have dedicated this wine to her memory.
In the spring of 2015, Libby and her husband Don Becklin found and purchased a hillside vineyard on Pete’s Mountain, in the east Willamette Valley, where they are building a home. The vines were planted to three clones of Pinot Noir in 2000. Most of this fruit is sold to other wineries, but we were able to walk the land and find a specific area to pick amazing fruit from to make a dry rosé. We chose the 777 clone at the lowest elevation to balance fruit and acid.
The fruit was handpicked into slotted bins to avoid oxidation, and pressed whole cluster. The wine was fermented cool in stainless steel. It is a very pale salmon/pink with beautiful clarity. The aromas of berries and melon merge with the fresh character of Pinot Noir.
Paul Gregutt gave the 2015 and 2016 both a 90 point rating in the Wine Enthusiast, saying that the 2016 could be enjoyed into 2020!
We wish to offer you, our mailing list, the first chance to get this wine at a reduced cost. Until April 23rd, we will offer you this wine at $14.00 a bottle. There is a 10% discount on 12 or more bottles, and $10 ground shipping for 6 or more with free ground shipping for 12 or more bottles. After that date, the price will return to the normal retail of $16.50 a bottle.
If there are any other of our wines we can package for you as well, please ask for availability. We will see what we can find! Thank you for your continued interest in our wines!
From our family to yours………..
