- Local and non-overpowering!
What is happening around here? Who the fuck let all of these little badasses into the Northwest winemaking scene? A cadre of producers is changing the face of wine in the US and representing a new facet to the rest of the winemaking world, making choices that say: Fuck the higher alcohol levels, fuck the cultured yeasts, fuck the added sulfites, fuck all that new wood—I’m putting out something that is more authentic, truer to the land where it is grown, and actually tastes like wine! Memaloose Wines, Teutonic Wine Company, Minimus Wines, Kelley Fox Wines, Division Winemaking Company, Bow & Arrow Wines: These are a handful of producers taking a new (which is actually old) approach to their winemaking. They may be picking earlier, using less to no sulphur; they may be planting in cooler sites like the Columbia Gorge, or at higher elevations closer to the coast like the Coastal Range in Oregon. There has been a dawning realization, a different way of thinking, here in the Northwest that maybe you don’t have to manipulate the fuck out of the must (or fermenting grape juice)—you can keep the acids higher…
