Illahe Pinot Gris 2022

The 2022 vintage of Illahe Vineyards’ ‘Pinot Gris’ was a challenging one due to an unusual frost at budbreak and one of the rainiest springs in the Willamette Valley, which slowed growth significantly. However, things turned more positive as spring turned to summer, and the wine benefitted from perfect weather during bloom and great fruit set on the shoots that survived the frost. Despite having one of the latest harvests in a decade due to the cold and rainy spring, the fruit developed nicely and was picked when it was ready.

The winemaking process for this pinot gris involves pressing the grapes immediately after picking and fermenting 35% of the juice in a 1600-gallon French oak cask and 65% in stainless steel. The wine stays on the lees throughout fermentation, and the large oak cask gives the wine more texture and nods to a more Alsatian style.

When it comes to the taste, the aromatics of the gris are striking, with notes of sweet grass, honey crisp apple, animal cracker, lemon, ginger, honey, dried apricot, and a hint of salinity. The wooden foudre used in fermentation helps give this gris a lovely texture, centered acidity, and rich, juicy mouthfeel.

The Illahe Vineyards’ ‘Pinot Gris’ is a low-alcohol wine, with 12.0% ABV, and has 25ppm of FSO2, pH of 3.17, and titratable acidity of 6.74g/L. It has a residual sugar content of 3.85g/L. The wine is produced in 1740 cases and is made from 48% Illahe Vineyards and 52% Goshie grapes. The average brix at harvest was 22.1, and the harvest took place from October 7-13, 2022. 35% of the wine was neutral oak fermented, while the remaining 65% was fermented in stainless steel. The wine is from the Willamette Valley AVA.