2022 Roussanne

Silver, 2024 Pacific Northwest Wine Competition

This is a different approach for Roussanne. Which you’ve probably never had all by itself, anyway. After many conversations with our winemaker, Lars, we decided to avoid the typical approach, where Roussanne lives its life in stainless and is blended with Marsanne. 

So, it was subjected to neutral French oak with the idea of creating roundness, and mouthfeel; “crispness” be damned. In Rhône style winemaking, Roussanne is an important constituent in Châteauneuf-du-Pape whites, and it is typically barreled in oak, anyway.

For a white, Roussanne will typically mature late and can be subject to spotty yields. Needing a longer growing season to ripen, it can then end up with higher alcohol concentrations. Ugh. But this one comes in at 13.8% alcohol, and with less than 14% considered ideal, has hit the sweet spot.  

Roussanne features significant aromatics, and an elegant attitude and acid balance that comes along with the potential to age in the bottle.

On the palate the overarching theme for this Roussanne is subtlety and our guess that’ll continue to change in the bottle for as long as you decide to cellar it. It features nectarine, apricots, and peach flavors, basically an homage to the pantheon of white stone fruits. And for good measure, a bit of brioche is thrown into the mix.  

Not bad for a rogue approach.

Yakima Valley AVA