Hiyu Wine Farm Tzum Lorelei ‘Spring Ephemeral’ (2022)
This is our first bottling from a young parcel of Gamay on the upper slopes of Underwood Mountain. The parcel is surrounded by pines and faces pure south looking straight down on the Columbia. This is white wine country. It is the coldest part of the Gorge and planting a mid-ripening red grape like Gamay here puts it right on the edge of possibility. This is exactly where we want to be. It makes us more vulnerable to the caprices of the weather, but makes wines of sublime delicacy possible. When the grapes ripen in the cold instead of torrid heat every last detail is preserved. In this first vintage it is created a wine with the flavors typical of a Cru Beaujolais, but with a texture and presence closer to the most delicate Cote Rotie. Our approach to whole cluster fermentations and elevage amplifies this resemblance. We employ carbonic elements for texture but use traditional processing by foot to hide overt flavors beneath more serious notes of spice and leather.
