Grape sourcing:  Our Chenin comes now exclusively from the Yakima Valley around Prosser. We have two vineyards but one (Hahn Hill) is by far the largest. Since those vines are old they are on an old trellis system (call the fan) that is not used anymore. Below is a picture of that system:

Our style: we use to make the Chenin a bit sweeter but with time passing we have settled for a drier style, closer to a Loire Valley style rather than a CA Chenin. Those wines usually change in the bottle going from a tight and fruity (pear, melon) style to a more exuberant (hay, passion fruit) style after 2-3 years in the bottle (I prefer them with some bottle age to be honest). I believe our Chenin totally rocks. We make 100% Chenin Blanc, no blender.

What do we do to have a certified “Made from Organic Grapes” Riesling: to be organic the wine as to 1) be made from certified organic grapes 2) be made in a winemaking facility certified to organic standard 3) follow a process filed with USDA that is organic. Pacific Rim is certified by the Washington State Department of Ag which, in turns, is certified by USDA. The process is fairly restrictive, expensive (we pay a percentage of sales to WSDA) and requires yearly inspections from WSDA and yearly filing.

Why is our wine labeled ”Made From Organic Grapes” rather than “Organic”: Everything we use in our winemaking is certified organic. We actually go beyond the regulation because 1) we do not use commercial yeasts 2) we do not add any acid to our wines. The only non organic element we use is sulfur dioxide know as sulfites (not to be mistaken with sulfides which is a term gathering a bunch of stinky rotten egg compounds sometimes found in wines). Sulfur dioxide is a very common preservative in dry fruits, pre packed vegetables and juices. It is authorized in wines up to 350 mg/L but in Organic and biodynamic winemaking it is limited to 100 mg/L which is why at Pacific Rim all our wines are bottled with less than 100 mg/L of sulphur dioxide – guaranteed. We bottle the Riesling MFOG at around 90 mg/L (or ppm). Therefore the non organic fraction of the Riesling MFOG is really 0.009%. So it is quite a pure organic wine but since it has 0.009% of non organic product we have to call it MFOG.

Why use sulfites in wines by the way?: Sulfites act as 1) an antioxidant which is very important in white wines (we don’t need much for that purpose because we use air tight screwcaps and we make sure that our wines have no dissolved oxygen when they go in the bottle) and 2) an anti bacterial and anti fungal agent which is important for us because we have residual sugars and residual malic acid (we do not do malolactic fermentations). A last bonus of sulfites is that it is a bit like salt with food (Just like sulfites, salt is not healthy if you eat too much of it!) as it highlights and focuses the aromas and flavors of a wine. Finally note that sulfites are naturally produced by yeast in the 30ppm range usually - so even an Organic wine probably contains a small amount of sulfites. 

Our style: The grapes are picked around 22 Brix which would qualify for a very ripe Spatlese in most German regions. We make it in a definite sweet style but beware the acid on that one! About 0.78 TA, 3.04 pH and 3.5%RS. I think this is a very balanced wine with always very refined aromas of fresh white flowers and some peach. This is really a chameleon wine as far as pairing goes and at 10.5% Ethanol it is easy to drink!

Yes, it has been three years already since we have embarked on our ambitious project of becoming the best Riesling producer in the world. I was reminded of the time gone by last week during a vertical tasting of two of our dryish style single vineyard Rieslings: The Wallula Vineyard Riesling and the Solstice Riesling.

Wallula is our Biodynamic vineyard located in the Horse Heaven Hills appelation. It is planted at about 1,300 feet of elevation, above flood levels. Wallula is a high density, pergola like, planting that is usually quite ripe and very Washington like. Our Single Vineyard from Wallula is certified biodynamic. The 2007 showed nice peach, very clean wine, yeasty, straight, showing a lot of youth. The 2008 was more on the pear side, but very similar to the 2007, clean, may be a bit sweeter right now on the palate with a big structure. The 2009 was very floral and dry, a winemaker’s wine definitely. Those wines showed great balance and even if they are different I could tell they all came from the same vineyard.

Solstice is an old Riesling planting (40 years old vines) in the Yakima Valley. It produces a very minerally styles. The 2007 was clean with some petrol notes, very sharp and concentrated, great serious wine. The 2008 vintage was crisp, hard and sharp, a very young wine with tons of aging potential. The 2009 had some slight green apple, very pure Riesling style, very similar to the 2008. I love solstice because it is a very honest see through wine.

We are releasing a new Riesling this month- we have now up to 10 different Rieslings in our lineup . This new release is a 2009 Riesling that we made in what I would call the “traditional” Johannisberg style (I know, I know, we are not supposed to use this term anymore). So, what is a “J” style? Well, it is usually a 2% residual sugar Riesling picked around 22.5 Brix (Auslese ripeness level) with about 12.5% of ethanol. It is the most proeminent style in Washington State. Ours is slightly different (of course) in the way that it is about 2.3% residual sugar and 11.5% ethanol therefore picked at 21.5 Brix (a ripe spatlese ripeness level). Like all of our Rieslings we like to pick grapes earlier than most folks in order to contribute a lot of natural acidity to balance the sugar and also to keep a lower alcohol content. The grapes come from the Yakima Valley, a cooler climate more appropriate for this style I believe. The wine is very fruity (think mango, guava, apricot with a hint of floral notes) and refreshing, a nice addition to the portfolio that does not replicate any other Riesling we make. When I was looking at the Riesling line up a few weeks ago it dawned on me that we have a geometric RS series in our portfolio: 0-2-4-8-16! 0% RS is our Dry Riesling, 2% RS is our new Riesling, 4% RS is our Riesling made from organic grapes, 8% is our sweet Riesling and 16% is our Riesling Vin De Glaciere Selenium Vineyard. Pretty fun, no?

This is the time of the year when we are bottling our first Rieslings blends. This year, the first blends to go to bottle are our Riesling made from organic (4% Residual Sugar), our Sweet Riesling (about 8% Residual sugar) and our new Riesling (2% Residual Sugar - another post about this Riesling later this week). It is always very satisfying to come to this point after months of work in the vineyard and at the winery. The challenge, and somewhat the fun part of the job, for a Riesling winery like us is blending smartly the different vineyard lots we produce in order to optimize each style we make (we make nine different Rieslings). In order to have plenty of options for blending we make many different lots of wines that are based on the vineyard they came from. The selection for those lots starts during the growing season where we usually sort each vineyard based on their intrinsic potential that year:  sparkling base potential, dryer Riesling potential and sweeter Riesling potential. Based on that designated potential, the grapes are picked either earlier in the season (for the sweeter styles so they have more acid to balance the sugar) or later (for the drier styles).

When the grapes are picked, the juices are evaluated pre fermentation to make sure that the designated style we had of this particular vineyard still makes sense. At that point we also refine the target style beyond sweet and dry based on flavor profile, sugar content, acid levels, phenolic content and the Biodynamic or Organic status of the juices. For Dry styles we divide the juices for sparkling, Dry Riesling, Solstice Single Vineyard and Wallula Biodynamic Single Vineyard. For Sweet styles we divide the juices for Riesling (2% RS), Organic and Sweet Riesling. Each lot is then allocated a target final residual sugar and we stop the fermentations based on our juice evaluation in most cases. Finally comes blending times where we pretty much review every single fermentation lot and we always tweak the blends left and right based on our desired final flavor profile, acid level, phenolic level and sugar level. That makes usually for a busy November/December.

The ice cold temperature is not bad for everyone, at least not for Pacific Rim. As you might remember, we had left some grapes in the field this year in the hope of making a TBA of sort i.e. a botrytized wine better known as noble rot wine. It got too cold to produce a 100% Botrytis wine (though we got a good amount of botrytis) and in exchange we are getting several nights below 10F which is allowing us to make a true ice wine this year! We just got done picking today and received 6 tons of frozen grapes with lots of botrytis (yum yum). We are pressing tomorrow morning and we hope to get 500 gallons of the precious high Brix, complex juice. This should be a very very interesting wine (and yes another style of Riesling). A picture of the vineyard yesterday is above - amazing that such a odd looking bunch produces such an amazing wine.

Big thank you to Cost Plus for the great partnership and especially the great support during the holiday period. We already had our Dry Riesling nationally in all of Cost Plus’ stores and now we will have the Sweet Riesling as well. Additionally several States (CA, WA, OR, FL, TX, IL) will be carrying our White Flowers Sparkling Riesling for the holidays. At Pacific Rim we truly appreciate the opportunity that Cost Plus if offering smaller brands like us to expose our great wine on a national level. So, pick up a bottle of Pacific Rim at cost plus for the holidays!

A couple days ago I got a question from a friend asking about why we use screwcap. I guess I thought this was so evident that I almost did not know what to answer.

We use screwcap on all our wines (even our Autumnus Red). The only exception is for our white flower sparkling Riesling (I guess I cannot get over not having a “pop” when you open a bottle of bubbly). We chose screwcaps because really it is the only show in town as far as closure. Screwcap does not let any air inside the bottle (and that is very important especially for aromatic delicate wines), it preserves every bottle the same (cork, being a natural product is highly variable and is rarely “neutral”), it is guaranteed for 20 years (same length than cork) and of course is guaranteed 100% free of cork taint. The question I have for most wineries, is why are you using an inferior technology? the real answer is probably “that is the way we have done it for many years…”.

In our constant search for new ways to drink our wines we stumbled on a sort of cosmopolitan recipe that uses Framboise. Framboise as always been a great cocktail item (think a Framboise Kir Royal, a Framboise Mojito, Framboise Margarita…) but we had never try it in a Martini type cocktail - We did and what a fun drink that was. A must try - May be we need a cocktail page on the web site?

2 parts Vodka

1 part Framboise

1 part Cranberry juice

Shake, pour and decorate with red fruits

Tom, our fearless southeast regional manager, has just sent me a beautiful picture of our Sparkling Riesling stacked at the Whole Foods in downtown Austin. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE those pictures. They are the living proof that we are so right to seriously believe that Riesling will take over the w0rld of wine. Tom, thank you for the pic. Of course big thank you to the whole food buyer at that store (Jen Powell). Jefory Banta (of whole foods as well) is on the picture in total admiration in front of the stunning display.

Thank you guys!

I know that some of you folks have been curious about our new Autumnus labels for our white blend (Riesling, Chenin Gewurztraminer) and our red blend (Sangiovese, barbera, Primitivo). The art came from real pieces of art from Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593) who was an Italian painter known for creating  portrait made entirely of fruit, vegetables and other edible fare (he even did a portrait made out of books). His most famous painting (above) is made of fruit and vegetable and is part of a serie of four self portraits representing the four seasons. The painting, representing Fall, is called “Vertumnus” whom is the god of harvest and bounty in Latin (Fall being also Autumn in english, we gave the name “Autumnus” for our red and white blends).  We love the connection to food, which is exactly why we have crafted those high acid wines for. Here you have it. Arcimboldo was really an iconoclast and very ahead of his time in an era where other artits where mainly painting religious scenes. We like his innovative energy and he is an inspiration to us. Below is a self portrait (without the fruits!) of Arcimboldo:.

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!

 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 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!

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….

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

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.

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!