2016 Yellow Bird Vineyard Grenache
Tasting notes
Beautiful aromatics of wild herbs and lavender with just a hint of sweet spices. Medium to full bodied yet balanced and elegant. The velvety smooth mid-palate is loaded with black raspberries and black cherries that mingle nicely with chocolate and cinnamon. Natural acidity and ultra-fine tannins result in a juicy and long finish.
The fruit was harvested and sorted by hand in early October. Approximately fifty percent of the fruit was left intact for whole cluster fermentation. A three-day cold soak was employed prior to primary fermentation. During fermentation only yeast hulls and oxygen were used to aid fermentation - no chemicals. Primary fermentation lasted approximately fourteen days, while the wine stayed on skins for a total of twenty-five days including an extended maceration. During fermentation manual punch downs were performed three times per day with a rack-and-return performed as necessary to aid fermentation. During secondary fermentation, the lees were stirred weekly, and ultimately, the wine was never racked and remained on lees. The wine was aged for seventeen months in neutral French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered in February of 2018. No chemicals, adjuncts or other nonsense has been added to this wine.
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Varietal Composition | 80% Grenache and 15% Syrah |
| Appellation | Walla Walla Valley |
| Vineyard | Yellow Bird |
| Harvest Date | 10/05/2016 |
| Acid | 5.5 g/L |
| PH | 3.64 |
| Aging | 17 Months Neutral French Oak |
| Alcohol | 14.70% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 02/20/2018 |
| Cases Produced | 88 |
High atop the foothills of the Blue Mountains sits Yellow Bird Vineyard. Owned by the Chan family and farmed by the venerable Kenny Hart, the vineyard is dry farmed and uses sustainable farming practices. Deep Loess soil with excellent drainage. The Grenache we use reaches 1,450 feet in elevation. The high elevation and naturally struggling vines produce fruit with great depth and concentration. The struggling vines and ultra-low yields are unfortunate from a commercial producer’s standpoint but perfectly beautiful from ours. This higher elevation site has warm nights that ripen the heat dependent Grenache, but also have cool nights that help maintain natural acidity resulting in an elegant and well-balanced Grenache.
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other vintages.
2018
2017
2016
