2020 Light Red Wine
This wine is versatile at the table because it has low tannin levels and fairly high acidity. It stands up to spicy and sour foods better than more traditional red wines, but it has enough structure to pair well with meats and other proteins. The aromas that were evident through fermentation---blood orange, grapefruit, and juniper---carry through to the bottle, though the juniper has faded somewhat, as it often does, to a more recognizable pinot-type stem aroma. The fruit is slightly quieter than the previous vintage, and the feel on the palate is fuller, but this is still a very juicy, fresh-fruited wine. I like to serve it slightly cool, but not fully fridge cold as an aperetif and with lighter meals, pates, cheeses, vegetable salads, beans, lighter grilled or roasted meats, and pizzas/flatbreads.
Ripening came quickly in 2020, and the fruit was ready to pick by the end of the first week of September, which turned out to be fortuitous because significant wildfire smoke rolled in the next week. The sugar level of the must was higher than initial lab analysis suggested because the Pinot Gris portion of the wine (which had higher sugar levels) was left largely uncrushed before fermentation. The high proportion of Pinot Gris in the 2020 wine led to a lighter color than in the 2019 wine, but with an otherwise very similar flavor profile. The essence of this wine is fixed by the site and the varieties, but is not much affected by the specific proportion of Pinot Gris to Pinot Noir.
As with previous vintages, the 2020 Light Red Wine is structured primarily by acidity, but it has slightly more tannic extraction than previous vintages of this wine. The Marginalia Light Red Wine is made possible by the unique conditions at Breezy Slope Vineyard, nestled in the foothills of the blue mountains, right on the WA/OR border. The elevation, aspect, water holding capacity of the soils, and the rapid air exchange at this site allow cool-climate wine grapes to thrive in the otherwise quite hot climate of the Walla Walla valley.
The wine was made by gentle whole-cluster maceration (Pinots Gris and Noir all mixed together, stems and all, mostly un-crushed) for about a week, followed by pressing to finish in neutral barrels where it aged on lees with occasional stirring. Because of the antioxidant properties of the lees, I was able to keep the sulfite dosage extremely low (about 35ppm over the entire course of production). The wine is bottled unfiltered, with a small quantity of lees in each bottle.
