2021 GOWC La Chouette Willamette Valley Skin Contact Pinot Gris

12.6

La Chouette Vineyard - 100%
La Chouette Vineyard faces southwest toward the Coast Range and comprises 11 acres of carefully farmed, estate-grown fruit. The Pinot Gris is grown in fertile Steiwer and Chehulpum Silt Loam soils, with about 3 feet of topsoil before the vine’s roots reach sedimentary rock beds with plant and shell fossils.

The fruit was destemmed and cold-soaked for four days and fermented for five additional days on the skins before being pressed near dryness. The wine was then settled and racked to barrel, where it was aged an additional four months before being racked, lightly bentonite fined, cold stabilized, filtered, and bottled.

The 2021 vintage began with a cool but dry spring, with bud break occurring right on schedule in April. After a fairly typical spring, bloom took place during an extended period in mixed weather in early June, leading to mixed fruit set--we observed strong set in our earliest and latest sites, with some areas of light set and millerandage where rain took place during bloom. In late June, a record-breaking heat wave struck the West Coast, but the vines came through the heat in great shape and ripened evenly throughout the rest of a warm, dry summer. A cooling trend took place in early September, preserving fresh fruit flavors and natural acidity and allowing the harvest season for our vineyards to take place over a period of nearly two months. The fruit in 2021 was remarkable for its delicate flavors, perfect condition, and balanced acid and tannin profile; the young wines are compelling and easy to love.