North America | Oregon | Fossil & Fawn | Oregon Gewurztraminer
Oregon Gewurztraminer (2021)
VARIETALS
91% Gewurztraminer, 9% Riesling
NOTES
VINEYARD: Andreas Vineyard for Gewürztraminer, located in the Van Duzer Corridor AVA. The dryland-farmed, LIVE-certified/Salmon Safe acreage of Andreas Vineyard is nestled in a particularly cool setting in the foothills of the Oregon coastal range, near Dallas, OR. Andreas Wetzel focuses more on white wine varietals than reds, so this cooler pocket is the ideal place to grow his vines. Planted in 1990 on silty, clay loam soil.
Sunnyside Vineyard for Riesling. Tended by Luci Wisniewski and Tom Owen since the early 1980s, Sunnyside is a fun and funky mix of old-vine Gewürztraminer, Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Tempranillo, Dolcetto, and Auxerrois. The vines, like many older sites in the valley, are planted on an east/west orientation instead of north/south. This is now against conventional wisdom for getting the most sun exposure, but frankly this means that beautiful, later harvest fruit comes in at moderate sugars in ever-hotter years. Vines are own-rooted into the brilliantly red volcanic soils on the gentle southwest slope of Sunnyside at about 630’ elevation.
VINIFICATION: Harvested between September 15th and October 3rd. Grapes were de-stemmed into egg-shaped fermenters. After 249 days of maceration on the skins, the wine was drained, pressed, then aged for two months in French oak barrels. Unfined, unfiltered.