North America | Oregon | Fossil & Fawn | Willamette Valley Pinot Gris

Willamette Valley Pinot Gris (2021)

VARIETAL
Pinot Gris

NOTES
VINEYARD: No Clos Radio Vineyard (66%), Silvershot Vineyard (34%). Both are own-rooted, organically-farmed, and the vines range in age from 21 to 47 years.
No Clos Radio is a 70-acre site nestled in the Coast Range foothills on the western edge of the Willamette Valley, and planted to 30 acres of vines, some of which are the oldest in the region. First planted to grapes in 1972 (prior to this it was used for strawberry cultivation), No Clos Radio is one of the oldest extant vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley, and Washington County.
Silvershot is the home vineyard of Fossil & Fawn and was planted by Jim's father and uncle in 2000. They farm fifteen acres of vineyards, fourteen of which are Pinot noir (114, 115, 777, Pommard, and a few "suitcase" clones of unknown provenance), with an acre of Pinot gris (Colmar clone). All of the vines are dry-farmed (no irrigation) and most are own-rooted (ungrafted), pushing through thin sedimentary soils and fractured sandstone that were once the seafloor during the Oligocene epoch. The site is south/southwest-facing on Holmes Hill at the exit of Holmes Gap (better known as the end of the Van Duzer Corridor) and gets strong, cooling marine breezes.

VINIFICATION: Harvest took place between September 20th and 23rd. Most of the fruit was de-stemmed, but about 31% of the lot was whole-cluster fermented. The average length of maceration was 14 days on the skins before being pressed into a mix of French and Oregon oak barrels. Aged for 9 months before being racked once and bottled without fining or filtration.