Cedar Waxwing Pinot Gris/Grigio

VINTAGE NOTES

2022 in Lake County was a good year for farming. Bud break was on the early side but avoided all potential frost damage with a warm spring. The summer was warm, but cooler than recent vintages with no extended heat waves that can cook the grapes. Generally, Lake County has a slightly shorter growing season compared to Napa and Sonoma, so the wines show brighter and crisper lemony-citrus notes.

VINEYARD NOTES

The grapes for the 2022 Cedar Waxwing are sourced from a small block of Shannon-Smith Vineyard in the Big Valley AVA. The Vineyard is on slightly uplifted valley floor on a gentle slope. Grapes were harvested early at 21 Brix.  The result is stone fruit flavors and a lifting, crisp acidity from the cool Northern California air – all combining to allow great food wines to emerge.

WINEMAKING PRACTICES

Winemaking decisions were made to let the vineyard - the place - speak through the wine. No heavy-handed oak or additives were used to mold this wine into something it is not. Instead, very little is done except to keep it clean and to allow the wine to become itself. The 2022 Cedar Waxwing Pinot Gris is 100% fermented in stainless steel tanks. Stainless steel and cooler fermentation temperatures were used to lock in aromatics and preserve crispness. This amplifies the aromatic, while no malolactic fermentation and a short stainless steel elevage were choices designed to produce a crisp, lively food wine. With no fining involved in the production, this wine is a pure distillation of the Big Valley AVA in Lake County, California.

WINEMAKER’S TASTING NOTES

The 2022 Cedar Waxwing Pinot Gris is more reminiscent of Alsatian versions than a riper, California Pinot Grigio. A tart stone fruit, like Nectarine or white peach is the dominant fruit, but there is a subtle roundness that softens and lengthens the otherwise linear focus. The Cedar Waxwing, like all Trinity River wines, is joyful, clean, fruit-driven wine. This vintage has subtly aromatics and flavors reminding me of stone fruit, sea spray and a very slight hazelnuttiness. It is a crisp, non-oaked wine with a cooler climate acidity that is typical for the more northern and mountainous Lake County. This white wine is ready now but has 2-3 years of staying power not typical in fat, over-ripe whites.

FOOD PAIRING NOTES

The 2022 Cedar Waxwing is a great choice for seafood but can be enjoyed on its own or with light nosh on a sunny picnic.

VARIETAL COMPOSITION:

100% Pinot Gris

APPELLATION: Big Valley, AVA, Lake County, CA

ALCOHOL: 12.7%

T.A. AT BOTTLING: 6.4 g/L

pH AT BOTTLING: 3.54

BRIX AT HARVEST: 21.0°

R.S.: less than 0.02%

COOPERAGE: Stainless steel fermentation and maturation.

MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION: none

Production: 239 cases