notes
Mondays
unfiltered & unfined - the disgorging process
mar 2021
updated jan 2024
When people ask me if they should be scared if wine looks cloudy, my answer is always “are you scared if your orange juice looks cloudy? To be honest I am scared if my orange juice looks clear.”
Fining and filtration are processes used to remove “unwanted” material from the wine before it goes into the bottle. Fining can be done pre or post fermentation. There are a variety of organic and inorganic materials that can be added to the must or finished wine to trap particulates and proteins and settle them out for easy removal. Sounds simple enough but it gets more complicated when you look at the reasoning behind it. Most of the time this is done for the purpose of stabilizing the wine, but it is also an aesthetic choice. People often equate clarity with quality. It is more than possible to make stable wines without fining and filtration. In fact you might find that wines that contain a little extra sediment end up being more dynamic and flavorful.
For our sparkling wines we use two methods to help minimize sediment without forcefully removing it with fining agents or filtration processes. First, we hand-disgorge bottles. Disgorging is the process of removing lees and sediment after bottle fermentation is complete. It is an incredibly labor intensive process, but each and every Pet Project has been carefully bottled by a member of our staff.
We cold stabilize the wines using temperature controlled tanks or by working with the season and placing them in a covered area over a few cold weeks of winter. From here the sediments, lees, and tartrates collect in the neck of the bottle, effectively creating a natural pressure seal. The wine continues to ferment under pressure as it clarifies and after a minimum of 2-3 months, we uncap the bottles (read: explode) to clear out the sediment and release some of the pressure. It’s messy beyond belief. It’s freezing cold. And it’s so much fun. The wine is then topped with reserve still wine of the same varietal to reduce the truly eye-watering level of bubbles and resealed. Select Pét Project wines receive S02 at bottling to minimize the effects of oxygen during disgorgement, with not wine receiving over 25 ppm (far below the organic standards)
The second method we like to call, the natural tank method. This is a single fermentation process in which the wine is added to a tank prior to completing fermentation. The pressurized tank is then locked down in the same way that a pet-nat wine would complete fermentation in bottle and become carbonated. This process skips over the disgorging step as the lees are allowed to settle in tank. The wine is bottled off the sediment, under pressure, using a counter pressure bottler. It’s less messy, but equally as delicious.
cellar
Mondays
a place for chenin blanc
dec 2023
I love Chenin Blanc, and it has a special place in my heart because my late father, Mark Anderson, used to regularly order Chenin with mussels at Brasserie Four, his favorite French restaurant in our hometown of Walla Walla. The first vintage of this wine was made in his honor and I see every subsequent vintage as another small way to remember his impact and encouragement.
The 2022 vintage of Chenin Blanc is a wonderful expression of its fruit and its site. We've taken what we've learned about the ripening habits of this grape from the previous two vintages and honed in on an optimal range of acidity and ripeness. The result is a beautifully tart but fruit inclusive expression of Chenin, and one of my all time favorite pét nats that I’ve produced.
Arete Vineyard straddles the top of Radar Hill, just outside of Othello, Washington. The 250 acres of vines were planted in 1983, and are managed organically and certified by the USDA. The Chenin Blanc is grown and sourced from the North Slope of the
vineyard and managed entirely by hand.
2022 was a year of extremes in the Columbia Valley. A late spring blizzard occurred right at bud break, and was followed by cool temperatures through most of June. This
put bloom two to three weeks behind recent years. Summer seemed to finally arrive in July and August with multiple 100-plus degree days. Then, a miraculous and unseasonably warm Fall came to the rescue. Temperatures were above average for the entire month, creating even ripening at lower brix. With larger yields and a shorter window for harvest, we were challenged for capacity, using every vessel that we had to process the fruit, but managed to get all of our fruit in by the end of October. Overall, it’s a stunning vintage with great structure, flavor, and color.
Chenin has usually been on the earlier side of harvest, and 2022 was no exception. Upon its arrival in the cellar, this fruit went into the press whole cluster. From pressing, it was cold settled for 7 days, then racked into stainless steel for its primary fermentation. Bottled at 1.25bx in December 2022, it aged in bottle for 5 months before hand disgorgement in May.
wines
Mondays
estate rosé evolution
nov 2023
The only pét-nat made from our estate fruit, the rosé holds a special place in our hearts. We are excited to see the evolution of this wine, as the Cab Franc and Malbec vines continue to mature, we are so excited to see the evolution of these grapes.
In 2022, after tasting the results of our first rosé pét-nat from our estate, we decided we had to make this wine again. Since the Cab Franc and Malbec at Stonemarker are still very young (planted in 2017), we are excited to turn the fruit into a rosé to create a vibrant and refreshing wine. The second vintage producing this wine proved to be very successful, especially in terms of yields, as the Malbec and Cab Franc vines continue to mature. The wine did not see any time in oak barrels this year, a departure from last year’s approach.
Compared to 2021, the fruit was harvested much later and arrived in the cellar in late September. Pressed together, we cold settled this wine for 7 days before racking into a stainless steel tank to co-ferment cold in our barrel room. This rosé was fermented in stainless steel and spent roughly 9 months on lees prior to disgorgement. Racked once for clarity prior to bottling, it was bottled on December 8th and hand-disgorged over two days in August of 2023. Unfiltered, unfined, less than 10 ppm of SO2 added at disgorgement.
Cabernet Franc instantly entices you with its smooth tannins and dark fruit flavors. Malbec brings spicy and earthy undertones to balance the red fruit and light effervescence. Aromas of white florals, green strawberries and watermelon, and soil. On the palate, notes of rhubarb, strawberry leaf, kumquat marmalade, and candied rose with well integrated acid and minerality. It is rustic and rich, but intensely bright and refreshing - an deliciously complex and intriguing sparkling rosé. For pairings think french picnic: country style patés, cornichons, and fresh cheeses, or combine with everyone's favorite app, crab rangoon.
wines
Mondays
harvest 2023
oct 2023
With ferments just settling down, wines going into barrel, and the winery finally back in order from the chaos of harvest, we have been reflecting on what made this harvest- and the upcoming releases- different.
Compared to 2022, harvest started much earlier this year and has moved quickly, with all of our fruit arriving in the cellar by the second week of October. It was a breath of fresh air (literally, less fires!) to have a more “typical” Washington state growing season after the more extreme conditions the last few years. The weather wasn’t too hot or cold, and there wasn’t copious amounts of rain either. The crop is significantly smaller this year than in 2022 with high concentration, intense flavors, and even ripening. By the time that the last of the grapes were picked, we had already bottled several pet-nats, including some new experiments and some secret projects. It is shaping up to be an amazing vintage, with many exciting new projects, partnerships, and collaborations underway.
As always we are extremely grateful for our harvest crew who braved a whirlwind harvest, all with a stellar sense of humor and amazing work ethic.
If we had to assign a word to this vintage, it would be healthy. The impacts of growing and sourcing organic grapes continues to amaze us in the cellar. Every bin of grapes we brought in, whether from our estate vineyard, or from our partner growers across Washington state, were exceptionally robust and healthy. A greater marker for this health is YAN (yeast assimilable nitrogen) - a measure of how much nitrogen is available for yeast to consume during fermentation, essentially indicating how strong the fermentation will be. Nitrogen is a critical grape which affects the rate and completion of fermentation, fermentation bouquet and style of wine. Despite sounding less than exciting, our YAN was incredible this year, with all our fruit coming in at the ideal YAN levels. Our ferments were fast and powerful, with absolutely no supplements of any kind needed.
One of the main pillars in our approach to natural winemaking is a commitment to natural ferments, no matter the environmental circumstances. Each year we have enjoyed the terroir reflected in the subtle flavors released from the natural fermentations, however this year, we cannot wait to taste the hardiness of such healthy vineyards reflected in the wines.
The runner up for the harvest theme this year is patience. While the pét-nats we make are fruit forward, light, and easy drinking, we have typically not aged them for extended periods of time. The past couple of harvest we have been holding a few pét-nats back to experiment with the impact of time and extended aging.
Several wines, harvested in 2020, 2021, and 2022, have benefited from time in bottle, and are tasting better than ever. Joining the 2022 vintage releases next year, will be the reserve pét-nats that we have been holding on to. While they are delicious, it has definitely been an exercise in patience for us over in the cellar. We have been anticipating sharing these wines for what feels like years, and we are so excited to finally open these bottles with you.
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pétproject is available for purchase at both of Foundry Vineyards' tasting rooms.
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