2019 Albariño Concrete Fermented

Description

Tasting Notes

Slate, Meyer lemon, lemon zest, white peach, and a touch of minerality, this wine is bursting with aromas. The wine starts off with tricky sweet fruit flavors giving way to a clean crisp finish. The mouth feel is rich and luscious with a lingering finish. Stone fruit flavors and citrus combine for a complex and balanced profile. This is our second vintage of concrete fermented Albariño and we love the complexity and elegance of this wine. 

Vineyard Designation

Coyote Canyon Vineyard – Horse Heaven Hills AVA

Vineyard Notes

2019 started with some cold winter weather. The month of February was one of the whitest months I can remember. We had lots of snow that continued into March. The soils were wet and when spring hit growth took off. 

We didn’t need to irrigate the grapes until July, much later than average. The summer was warm but not overly extreme. The heat units were on pace with some of the hotter vintages early but trailed off as summer came to an end. 

We picked our Rose in late August and got started with the rest of the whites in September. Harvest continued smoothly until we got a cold snap in October. It was all hands-on deck at that point, and we hustled to harvest the rest of the grapes. Unfortunately, we did lose some grapes but were able to salvage most of the harvest.

The wines from this vintage are tasting amazing and we think it will end up being another stellar vintage of wines from Coyote Canyon Vineyard. 

Winemaking

Coyote Canyon Vineyard was the first vineyard in Washington State to plant Albariño grapes back in 2006. This exciting Spanish varietal is a rarity in Washington State but is starting to gain in popularity. Albariño originated in Spain and continues to be a major player in wines from Spain where they are primarily used in Rias Baixes blends. 

This has always become my favorite white wines to make. It has such great concentration of flavors with bright acidity. It is fun to see how each vintage is a little different. We loved our first vintage of this style so had to add another concrete tank to designate to this varietal.  

Awards

Gold – Savor Northwest