2014 'Ode to Chuck' Semillon
When I was first given the opportunity to purchase the Sémillon at the David Hill Vineyard, my mind went wild with fantasies of what type of wine could be made off of these old vines. In my "wildest" fantasy, I envisioned this release, aptly named "Ode to Chuck". I don't think I can honor his vision any better than with this wine.
When I was first given the opportunity to purchase the Sémillon at the David Hill Vineyard, my mind went wild with fantasies of what type of wine could be made off of these old vines. In my "wildest" fantasy, I envisioned this release, aptly named "Ode to Chuck". I don't think I can honor his vision any better than with this wine.
When I was first given the opportunity to purchase the Sémillon at the David Hill Vineyard, my mind went wild with fantasies of what type of wine could be made off of these old vines. In my "wildest" fantasy, I envisioned this release, aptly named "Ode to Chuck". I don't think I can honor his vision any better than with this wine.
FOR CHUCK 💪🏻
I never intended to make a 'Reserve' wine. That designation has really lost all meaning on a wine bottle. Instead, I gave this a more serious name. I named this wine 'Ode to Chuck' after the man who planted this great vineyard back in 1966, but whom never ended up making a varietal wine from these same grapes. I want to believe that he envisioned that a wine like this "could" be made from these three humble vine rows, although, he probably wouldn’t have liked my use of oak.
While we were conducting our blending trials this wine revealed itself. Since we were only working with 5 barrels, the notion of making two wines from 5 barrels seemed ludicrous. However, once this blend was put together, it was obvious that this wine was special. After that first whiff in the glass, all we could do was smile and laugh. It was that good and our decision was really not that difficult. To not make this wine, would be a disservice. 'Chuck' has been waiting to share this for 48 years.
WINE INFO
WINE TYPE: White
APPELLATION: Willamette Valley (North)
VINTAGE: 2014
GRAPE: 100% Sémillon
ESTATE GROWN: No, purchased grapes
VINEYARD SOURCE: David Hill Vineyard
VINEYARD AGE: 48 years old
DRY FARMED: Yes
OWN ROOTED: Yes
SOIL TYPE: Laurelwood (Loess)
ELEVATION: 490 feet (149m)
HARVEST DATE: October 6th, 2014
HARVEST METHOD: Hand Harvested
BRIX AT HARVEST: 20.1
SKIN CONTACT: 50 hrs
CHAPTALIZATION: No
FERMENTATION: Ambient Yeast
MATURATION VESSEL: 228L Gauthier, 228L DAMY & 140L Mercurey CLL
ALCOHOL (by volume): 12.53%
SULFUR DIOXIDE (SO₂): 40m/L
ACIDITY SCALE (pH): 3.48
TOTAL ACIDITY: 5.4 g/L
FINING AGENT: Unfined (Vegan)
BOTTLE SIZE: 750ml & 1.5L
CLOSURE TYPE: Natural Cork
FILTRATION: Unfiltered
HAND BOTTLED: Yes
PRODUCTION: 45 cases
BOTTLING DATE: July 6th, 2015
FIRST RELEASE: May 1st, 2017
SECOND RELEASE: December 1, 2018
This wine was bottled in 🇺🇸 made glass, with a cork from 🇮🇹 and a label that was designed and printed in the 🇺🇸 .
Please ♻︎ this bottle when you are finished enjoying it.
