Description
It would be silly to over-describe a wine with a questionable owl on the label, but we should point out that this wine has texture and volume while retaining acidic structure, a result of full malo and long contact with active yeast, along with a small portion of skin macerated Vidal blended in post fermentation. The aromatics are stony and savory and preview the umami character that we find on the palate, with fresh stone fruit peaking through on the back end. The laters and depth of this Vidal are a subtle reflection of the natural technique in the cellar, and for the first time, we have bottled this unfined and unfiltered and with nothing added other than the grapes. Every year, we dial this wine in a bit more, and we are excited by the harmony of the blending components this vintage.
While the goal of this project is wine that is joyous/casual/chill, the minimalist approach is actually one of the more challenging ways to make clean and delicious wines. Because of that, we source the grapes from the Shenandoah Valley, where cooler temps give us higher acidity that protects the grapes through fermentation and the wine during aging. In 2021, we fermented in a mixture of neutral barrel and stainless steel, adding to the textural layering of this wine. A long fermentation brought savory components to compliment the ample fruit character of the grape. The inherent acidity of 2021 makes this one of our favorite young wines yet.
100% Vidal Blanc
