celebrating the perpetual cuvée
dec 2022
Departing from our single ferment ancestral method style pét-nats, this sparkling wine is an ode to solera-style aging - balancing old with new, complexity with freshness. Three vintages of our field blend pét-nat come together to create a truly special wine, just in time to celebrate the new years. Trust us - a 1.5L bottle is still not quite enough (but don't worry, there are 750ml bottles releasing this Spring!)
Inspired by the aging traditions of French Champagne and Spanish sherry producers, the Perpetual Cuvée combines multiple vintages to produce a wine that favors consistency and clarity in style and taste. Beginning in 2019 and again in 2020, we held back a portion of our ancestral method Field Blend– a combination of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay sourced from Pear Ridge Vineyard in the Columbia Gorge– to begin the process of perpetually blending a wine from year to year with each new harvest.
Continuing with this process will allow us to focus on the uniformity of flavors that Pear Ridge exhibits as a growing site. This style also helps us achieve a dynamic flavor profile closer to wines made in the traditional method that see extended periods of aging. By blending older with newer vintages of the same wine from the same place, we are able to create something that is consistently beautiful and focuses on natural winemaking methods, versus producing a wine that is homogenous by means of alteration.
This first release of the Perpetual Cuvée is a blend of Pear Ridge Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from three vintages: 2019, 2020, and 2021. The base wine from 2019 was blended with actively fermenting wine from the 2020 harvest, spent nearly two years in bottle, and was then disgorged and topped with the 2021 vintage.
While the wine will always be fermented and aged in neutral oak, it spends most of its life in bottle. Each new harvest is blended with the aging base wine in barrel from prior vintages, and each year we reserve a small amount for blending into future harvests. With this method, we are able to continually release the wine, disgorging and labeling as needed, achieving consistency and clarity.
As is typical of wines with extended lees aging, notes of fresh pastry, almond croissants, and sourdough are prominent on the nose, with richer aromas of honeycomb lending depth. On the palate, Anjou pears and crisp green apple skins, with hints of bright Meyer lemon that are balanced by warm toasted almonds and a faint crushed sea shell finish. Because this is such a special wine, we bottles in 1.5L magnums- just in time for your holiday feasts. 750ml bottles to be released April 2023.
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