I was working on a format to show the level of sweetness of our wines relative to one another. I had the idea of using the taste scale from the International Riesling Foundation. I liked it so much that I thought I would just post it. The wines are lined up from dry to sweet from left to right. Neat way to see the entire range of wine we make isn’t it? It is also a great way to realize that we really make wines at every sugar levels. They are 12 wines above and 7 of them are Rieslings. Cheers!

Wallula is the largest vineyard we source grapes from representing about 40% of all our Riesling grapes. It is also our only Biodynamic Vineyard (the first in Washington and the largest). It is the source of our Single Vineyard Wallula, a large contributor to our Riesling made from Organic grapes and a good contributor to our Sweet Riesling. I was there two week ago to check the development of our growing season. The vineyard looked good, appropriate crop level, good growth etc… Below is a picture of how things look like:

 Of course one of the pleasure of walking at Wallula is to spot the sheeps. We use them to weed the rows (remember we don’t use any herbicide or pesticides for Biodynamic farming).  Here they are between the rows:

Wallula is a special place from many different propectives. First is is a high elevation vineyard (1,300 feet) above Missoula flood levels (click here for the story of the flood) and that is very interesting for a higher mineral content. It was also planted biodynamically from the get go and the farming practices are very unique and highly sustainable (see earlier post on biodynamic farming).  The density is high for Washington (1613 vines/ac) resulting in less crop per vine. The trellis is also very peculiar - it is a sort of a modified lyra with a tall vine (the fuit zone is 5 feet off the ground) - promoting lots of shading which protects the clusters from too much sunlight and provides a cooler environment. Finally we have a few buried drip lines that promote more root exploration enhancing mineral content. There are very few vineyards in the world that are so complex and advanced. Below is a picture of a vine so you can picture the whole thing.

I am getting somewhat addicted to a new cocktail with Framboise (our raspberry infusion) and our newly released sparkling Riesling. I like the combination for the summer. The sparkling, being so sharp and low alcohol, blends very well with the high sugar, higher alcohol Framboise. I suspect that the sparkling Riesling would be a great cocktail base for all sort of liqueurs.

My recipe is 1/3 Framboise and 2/3 Sparkling but you should try for yourself and decide what you like.

Just came across a good Tuna recipe on the web (click here for the recipe) where the writer (Mark) used our Dry Riesling for food pairing. Thank you for the recommendation Mark! Looking forward to try the dish!

Just to clarify the “hybrid” status of our Dry Riesling, we have always blended 15% + of Mosel Riesling in our Washington Riesling to give it a bit more zesty acidity and reduce the final alcohol ofthe wine. The label on Mark’s blog in the 2006 vintage (20% German). The Mosel wine always comes from our dear friend Johannes Selbach in Zeltingen (Johannes owns the Selbach Oster estate and also a negociant business).

Summer is definitely here in the great Pacific Northwest and I find myself gravitating towards lighter, fresher and sweeter wines. I like the low alcohol/high acid/carbonation combo on a hot sunny day. My favorite Riesling for this time of the year are the Sweet Riesling (8.5% Alcohol - definitely sweet), the Organic Riesling (10.5% Alcohol - medium sweet) and I must say that I found two great friends in the Sparkling Riesling (10.5% Alcohol - almost dry) and our Single Vineyard Daunhauer (8.5% Alcohol - sweet). That’s four wines for a hot summer and with our great free shipping on 6 bottles it is easy to try them all!

It is not uncommon for our Framboise to throw a little sediment after bottling. Usually it is a fine red colored dust at the bottom of the bottle. The sediment is totally harmless and does not affect the sensory properties of our Framboise. The deposit is made of ellagitannins (a type of tannins found in many berries including raspberries) that precipitate in the presence of alcohol, not unsimilar to the tannin-anthocyanin deposit found in some red wines. The ellagitannin deposit is actually very rich in antioxidant molecules which have been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease (so scoop it all up).

In about one week we will bottle our first Autumnus white (right after the red). The idea of a white blend as always seemed very appealing to me for the same reason than a red blend: harmony. Just like blending voices  in a choir, the combination of different wines produces a blend with high emotional resonance that hits you from multiple places. For the Autumnus White  we have chosen our favorite white varietals namely Gewurztraminer, Chenin and Riesling. The Gewurzt contributes the backbones of the fruity profile while the chenin adds a touch of mintiness. The Riesling is the structuring agent in the blend and brings the body and the acidity. This is a very nice wine with an unusual blend. 1.2% RS but tastes quite dry.

The news is out (see the Wine press Northwest website): Pacific Rim is releasing a red wine. So before the chatter starts let me have a conversation between the “Evil Nicolas” (aka EVN) and the “Good Nicolas” (aka GDN). Hopefully that will set the message right.

EVN: Whao, thought you were just making Riesling? GDN: Do you have a problem with reds?

EVN: No, no, thought you were the Riesling specialist (eheh)! GDN: OK, so we can’t make a red wine?

EVN: Seems a bit off message (eheh). GDN: right… Want to walk home tonight?

EVN: Forget about it, so what is SOOOO special about this red? GDN: Autumnus red is an Italian inspired red. No oak, very food friendly, low alcohol (12.5%). In some fashion, the red mirror of our Rieslings

EVN: No Riesling in it right (eheh)? GVN: No, no Riesling, what kind of question is that (may be that would be fun?)? It is mainly Sangiovese, Barbera, Primitivo with a touch of Pinot Nero. Mostly from the Wahluke slope

EVN: OK, sounds interesting, how would you describe this beverage. The “slope” is pretty hot, big wines usually. GVN: Good color, though not inky, with lavender from the Sangiovese and cherry from the Barbera, It is fairly soft with a great weight. Good acidity so it can go with the food.

EVN: Vintage? GVN: 2007. We’re home, get out….

Thank you to the folks at Winery Exchange for their great review of our 2008 Riesling made from organic grapes. Below is a full transcript:

Linda Murphy has named our series of Single Vineyards as the wine of the year on Wine Review Online (Linda is also the corresponmdant for Jancis Robinson on the West Coast). Thank you so much Linda, a great honor.

Below are Linda’s comments on the wines:

Wines of the Year:  Pacific Rim Single-Vineyard Rieslings 2007 Columbia Valley, Washington

I’m cheating in picking not one but three new, single-vineyard Rieslings from Randall Grahm’s Pacific Rim winery in Washington state’s Columbia Valley, yet they are most impressive as a group, showing Grahm’s commitment (and that of his Pacific Rim general manager/winemaker, Nicolas Quillé), to producing outstanding Riesling in Washington.  Chateau Ste.  Michelle and Long Shadows’ Poet’s Leap wineries have been doing that for some time, though having another player is good for the neighborhood and for consumers. 

Pacific Rim’s ‘regular’ Rieslings come in dry and sweet versions and are fruity, quaffable blends from multiple Columbia Valley vineyards, selling for around $8.  The Solstice Vineyard in Yakima Valley and Wallula Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills sub-appellations are the sources for the new range of Pacific Rim Riesling — one from Solstice and two from Wallula, of which one is made from biodynamically grown grapes.  All are sealed with screw caps.

Pacific Rim, Yakima Valley (Washington) Solstice Vineyard Riesling 2007 ($30): This is the sweetest of the three wines, with 1.14 percent residual sugar, yet it remains dry on the palate.  Stony and nutty on the nose, the wine crackles in the mouth with lime and grapefruit, with some spicy baked apple and richness on the finish.  It’s crisp and refreshing, clocking in at 13.5% alcohol.  89
 
Pacific Rim, Columbia Valley (Washington) Wallula Vineyard Riesling 2007 ($18): This wine tastes bone-dry (the residual sugar percentage is 0.9) and has an inviting honeysuckle aroma with a flash of minerality.  It starts out rather austere, with earthy notes and racy citrus and white peach flavors.  There’s some creaminess and tropical fruit in the mid-palate, and the wine closes with mouthwatering acidity — tart and minerally.  This wine is delicious now, yet two or three more years in bottle should unleash some secondary complexity.  Another plus: it has just 12.3% alcohol by volume.  Note that Wallula Vineyard is in the Horse Heaven Hills American Viticultural Area, although the front label reads ‘Columbia Valley.’  91

Pacific Rim, Columbia Valley (Washington) Wallula Vineyard Biodynamic Riesling 2007 ($30): Produced from a young, 145-acre, certified biodynamic plot at Wallula Vineyard, this floral, flinty Riesling has pure, focused Meyer lemon, citrus pith and white-peach fruit notes.  It’s dry (.76% residual sugar) though slightly plumper than the non-biodynamic wine above, and layers of flavor continue to unfold through a long finish.  A pleasant leesiness adds complexity.  It, too, will benefit from cellaring, for up to five years for those who like more mature Riesling.  13% alcohol.  92

A couple nights ago we opened a delicious Woodward canyon Cabernet 1996 and the alcohol was 12.9% on the label. The wine was still young and just fine.  In many ways it was more balanced that most Cabernet you would find today. I don’t know about everybody but I am really tired of over extracted, over alcoholic wines, may be I am just getting old. It seems that dry wines around 12.5% ethanol and sweet wines below 11% are most attractive and I would think they should be attractive to many food and wine lovers. As we tend to go for fresher, less fatty meals, we need to make wines that match those modern food. This is definitely a theme that runs through all our wines and our winemaking. Nothing is more refreshing than a Sweet Riesling at 8.5% Ethanol with some spring rolls…

30% of our grapes are grown biodynamically and to my knowledge we have the only certified biodynamic vineyard in Washington State. We also are the only certified biodynamic producer in the State. We are not fanatical about biodynamie but it has taught us many things and has connected us better to our terroir.

Our understanding of Biodynamic agriculture

What we have learned from Rudolph Steiner’s biodynamic agriculture principles is that our goal should be to set the farm as a self contained entity focused on exporting goods without importing any from the outside world. The farm is in some way limited, just like our planet, and it has to become its own ecosystem to become a sustainable and perennial entity. Of course this preclude the use of any chemical at the farm unless they can be produced at the farm. For these reasons we use only natural products that could be produced at the farm that we call preparations (we actually do not make our own at this point but would like to). The preparations are numbered from 500 to 508:

This is all we use in the vineyard - no other chemical organic nor synthetic. The compost making is very important as it is the key to a healthy soil and in return to a healthy vine. Also we do use the moon cycles to do most operations in the vineyard.

Our understanding of Biodynamic winemaking

At the winery we do not correct any grape deficiencies (no acid, no sugar, no water). We do not use commercial yeasts, only the yeasts that came with the grapes. The only chemicals we use are bentonite (for protein stability, it is remove and does not stay in the wine) and we add sulfites below 100ppm.

Lesson learned

In the vineyard we understand that we do not need heavy chemicals to grow our grapes. Yes, it is more work but there are alternative ways to grow grapes in an economical way. It makes sense and it does not make us a bunch of hippies. Consequently we have pooled our growers together to find alternative ways to grow grapes in a more sustainable way and we are creating an Integrated Environmental Stewardship Charter to move our sustainability agenda forward.

At the winery we know understand that we do not need commercial yeasts and that we can also make wine with fewer chemicals. Yes, the wines might not always be “technologically” correct but we hope they taste better and are healthier for you, just like an organically grown fruit.

We hope that you care as much as we do.

Twice a year I sit down with the our winemaking dream team and we go through the latest bottling to see how our bottled wines are holding. We also remember how we made them all. It is some sort of a 360 evaluation six month to a year after bottling to gauge our performance. Below is a list of the wine we’ve tasted and our winemaking comments:

Wallula Riesling Biodynamic 2007: Great wine, aromatic and mineral, nice acidity. Would not change a thing.
Wallula Riesling 2007: Tighter than the Biodynamic version, sharp, some lime, bit austere right now but armed to age well. May be a little austere?
Solstice Riesling 2007: Very clean, intense, shows some sign of petrol, very nice right now. Recommend drinking now.
Chenin Blanc 2007: We actually did a vertical of the 06-07 and 08 vintage. Those wines really evolve nicely overtime from tight/lime to opulent/Sauvignon blanc like. The 07 is still in its lime/clean phase but is starting to show some hay from the bottle age.
Gewurztraminer 2007: Nice wine, a bit tight, we can improve on this one though this is a nice effort (FYI, the 2008 is very good).
Dauenhauer Riesling 2007: Sl mushroom/botrytis, balanced, very nice. This is one of those wines that we might never be able to do again. What a great bottle.
Sweet Riesling 2007: This is sold out (we are selling the 2008) but for those of us that are keeping the wine in the cellar it will be rewarding. the wine is totally fresh and alive.
Selenium Riesling Vin De Glaciere 2007: Clean, great dessert wine. This is built to age nicely.

If you do taste those wines and have some comments, please leave a post!

We have bottled last month our first Riesling “made from organic”. We have been playing with Biodynamic grapes and winemaking over the past few years and we thought it was time to play with organic. We did have organic grapes but never made them into a commercial organic wine. We have certified the winery last summer, so we are now the only Washington Winery with an Organic Producer and a Biodynamic Producer certification. The organic winemaking is pretty simple and was really straightforward for us because we don’t really use many additives. We use only native yeasts (no commercial stuff), organic nutrients, no acidification nor sugar added and we do not use any heavy filtration material (just membrane filtration).  I could not go the whole way and not add any non organic sulfites but we have stayed well below the 100ppm requirement for total sulfites (closer to 80ppm total in fact) so the wine is 99.84% Organic. Because we use non organic sulfites (note that yeasts produce organic sulfites naturally) we  qualify for “made from organic grapes” and not for “Organic”. Interestingly this wine would qualify as “Organic”‘ if produced in Canada and many other country that have a waiver on non-organic sulfites (at least to a certain level).

The wine is made in an off dry style somewhere between our Dry and our Sweet Riesling. With 11% alcohol it is very refreshing and quite frankly as pure as it gets. Pick a bottle and comment back on what you think about the wine.

Today I saw our first order ever from Thailand for the American Embassy. They took a bit of Chenin, Gewurztraminer, Dry and Sweet Riesling. That made me wonder if there is a food and wine pairing event at the embassy in Bangkok. If anyone at the embassy reads this blog, could you please report?

I would bet that our Sweet Riesling will be a winner with spicy hot thai food, though Gewurz with a curry could be a very good combo as well.

The obvious difference between the dry and the sweet Riesling is obviously the residual sugar content which is about 10 times higher in the sweet Riesling. But that is not all and below is a list of what makes those two wines very different beyond the obvious:

- The sweet Riesling grapes are picked about two to three weeks before the Dry Riesling grapes so the flavors are much greener fruit for the sweet (pear, apple) than for the dry (apricot, tropical). The acid structure (providing balance to the sugar) and phenolic content (providing structure to the wine) is also different and sweet Riesling wines tend to be much tarter and less phenolic.
- The Dry Rieslings are left on fine fermentation lees for at least six months giving the wine extra body and added yeasty flavor (think of the smell of a great slice of bread). The sweet does not see any lees aging.
-The combination of the early harvest picking date and the natural residual sugar in the sweet leads to low alcohol wines (about 9%) versus the dry (usually about 12.5%).
- The amount of natural carbon dioxide from fermentation is different for the sweet (higher) than the dry (lower) due to the length of aging. This works well because the early bottling sweet, having a higher sugar content, enjoys more carbon dioxide (usually 25% more) to balance the wine. The Dry has much lower carbon dioxide content.
That reminds me that I wanted to post my tasting sheet for Rieslings so you can see how we rate and sort wines at Pacific Rim.

About five weeks ago we have received the raspberries from Mount Vernon that will make our Framboise this year. We have brought this reicipe out of the closet because we got so many folks calling asking for it. Well, it is back and I must say it is a very very delicious batch! We are one of the rare winery to make this type of wine/liqueur from fresh raspberries. I think it is because it is such a pain in the neck to make this type of beverage from fresh fruit rather than from concentrate. The reward for using fresh fruit is theintense raspberry flavor we extract during the making. It must be one of the most deliciously raspberrishly insane drink out there. We are now done with the infusion part of the making where we put the berries in contact with alcohol to extract the flavors and we now are settling the finished Framboise before filtration. If all goes well, we should have the Framboise out by Christmas time.

This is a picture of Scott, our Enologist, after a Framboise bath - Nice job Scott, it tastes great!

Thank you to Jancis Robinson for featuring our beloved Riesling book on her blog (http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/20080820_4). Hopefully this will bring all the blogosphere and friends to our site and they will enrich our great content evolving our website into the ultimate Riesling resource.

Remember that Riesling rules - Thank you Jancis

Duane at WineFoot.com has reviewed our 2007 Wallula. Thank you Duane, you are one of the first one in the country to review the wine.

http://www.winefoot.com/index.php/2008/08/08/2007-pacific-rim-wallula-vineyard-riesling/

Yesterday I got a call asking me if our wines were vegan. Well, first I had to think about what that really meant (from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind) and then think back about our winemaking and our package. I can think of any animal product in our package at all (glass, aluminum, paper, plastic…) and in the winemaking either, except in the Dry Riesling since we use a microscopic amount of Isinglass (sturgeon bladder) at the end of our winemaking. There might be also some insects (do they count?) that might be picked with the grapes and a few fruit flies that fall in the tank during fermentation. So,can I claim that all our wines are Vegan ( with the exception of the Dry Riesling, though honestly we use about one pint of the Isinglass for the whole blend…)?

Yesterday I have received an email from a national restaurant chain announcing that they will now only purchase wines that have received 90 points plus from the Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast or Robert Parker. This is very sad news because all of this score madness is truly pushing winemakers to make wines that will please their local Wine Spectator, Enthusiast or Parker journalist. It is a bit of a self fullfilling prophecy, the “specialist” rate wines according to their taste, the buyers wanting to offer the best to their customers buy those highly rated wines, the same wines with the same styles end up everywhere forcing winemakers to compete with the same style if they want to get a score and sell their wines.

Do you buy on score? How much impact they have on you?

We are now releasing our 2007 Gewurtz. This year we made a blend of one Oregon Vineyard (Dauenhauer near Dayton in the Willamette Valley from which we also get some Riesling for one of our single vineyard Riesling) and two Washington Vineyard (Pearson on Snipe Mountain and Solstice on the Snipe road bench both in the Yakima Valley). The intent was to bring some cooler climate (Willamette Valley) element in our Gewurtz thus reducing the final alcohol in the wine, increasing acidity and increasing varietal flavors. I think we got it right and the wine is much closer to my vision than the 2006 vintage. By the way, the 2007 just got Best Of Class at the LA wine and spirit competition, so others are noticing…

I am curious, what is your favorite Gewurztraminer?

We are now releasing our 2007 Sweet Riesling. This is our first released wine made in our new winery in Eastern Washington. Because it was made in Washington, we can finally display a vintage (2007) and an appellation of Origin (Columbia Valley) on this wine. OK, now for the numbers:
- 100% Riesling, 100% 2007
- 68% Yakima Valley, 25% Horse Heaven Hills, 5% Mosel
- 25% Wallula Biodynamic grapes (HHH), 25% Blackrock Vineyard (YV), 22% Boast Vineyard (YV), 21% Selenium Vineyard (YV), 5% Mosel from our dear friend Johannes Selbach
- 9% Alcohol, 7% Residual Sugar, 2.99 pH, 0.81 Total Acidity

The wine was fermented at 75% with native yeasts that came on the grapes; this is a fantastic addition to our winemaking book leading to wines with greater sense of place and minerality. Overall the Sweet 2007 is an exceptional wine, very balanced with a great acid/sugar ratio. We have tried a bit of Mosel fruit this year in the blend to see if we could spice it up a bit (I think we did). Same great profile as the 2006, very refreshing and made to go well with a very wide range of food. I had it over Easter with a cold Salmon and beet salad and it was delicious and the low alcohol was nice for lunch (all that to say that it is not only good with spicy food).

The 2006 Chenin blanc will soon have so many medals and awards (including a best white wine at the Houston rodeo, a double gold at the Tri Cities festival and a top 100 “best of the West” by the San Francisco Chronicle) that you won’t see the label anymore. Why is this wine receiving so many awards? I am convinced there is something to do with the old vines we are harvesting our Chenin from. Most of the Chenin in Eastern Washington were planted in the late 60’s to the early 80’s. No Chenin has been planted since then. The vineyards are mainly located in the Yakima Valley where the viticulture first started in Eastern Washington. The acreage is scattered because often Chenin was planted by growers wanting to diversify their crop and it was never intended as a large commercial planting at the time. The acreage survived to time and the lack of commercial interest sometimes by sentimental attachment as Chenin vineyards were often the first blocks of vinifera that the family planted. It surely did not survive because of the popularity of the varietal which is a pity. Chenin is a very noble varietal and probably one of the most complex and interesting in the world with Riesling. Our Chenin is quite dry (about 1.2% RS) and fermented very anaerobically. We keep the wine in stainless steel at all time with little contact with the lees, no oak and of course no malolactic fermentation. We are looking for a fresh style with just enough sugar to coat the varietal grapefruit rind finish that Chenin often displays. The 2006 was spot on in my mind with flavors of citrus and fresh cut grass.