2019 Riesling Late Harvest
A classic fresh and floral sweet wine made from our old vines Riesling blocks.
Vintage
VINTAGE 2019 required experience and courage. After 45 years, we often say there isn’t a harvest we haven’t seen, but 2019 was an odd one. After a warm May and a healthy, early fruit-set, the summer ended cool with no threat of the sunburn or hazy, smoky skies seen in recent years. We expected to pick in early September, but weeks of unseasonably cool weather took us by surprise. Rather than rushing to pick too early, we waited patiently for concentrations and sugar levels to rise, confident that our vineyard practices would protect the fruit.
According to Winemaker/Owner Adam Campbell “You pick your moments. If you’re 100% estate grown and you have impeccable timing – you can grow fantastic fruit in any year. It took months of preparation in the vineyard, and some very long days during crush, but we had a great crew in 2019 and managed to get sugar levels right where we want them.”
Our goal is a minimum 100 days from bloom to harvest; 2019 saw hang times as long as 125 days in some blocks. Expect wines with a big ripe core of concentrated fruit and a bright, fresh profile.
Vineyard
We only produce our Riesling Late Harvest in years when we can allow the fruit to ripen fully on the vine. In Oregon, this depends both on the timing of both harvest and the fall rains.
Winemaking
Our Late Harvest Riesling is made from very ripe fruit with 5-20% botrytis (noble rot) which adds an earthy honey character to the wine. The grapes are whole-cluster pressed and fermented at very cool temperatures in small stainless steel tanks to retain the freshness of the Riesling grapes. Some of the original sweetness is always retained in the final wine, without sacrificing structure and acidity.
Viticultural & Enological Data
- Vine Age 12 years
- Harvest Sugars 22 brix
- pH 3.07
- Vatting Whole-cluster pressed and cold fermented in small stainless steel tanks.
- Cases Produced 199