2021 Red Wine
Tasting notes
This is the second vintage where the Marginalia Red Wine has been a 1:1 cofermented blend of Les Collines Vineyard Zinfandel and Breezy Slope Vineyard Pinot Noir. Whole cluster Pinot Noir provides a structural foundation for the wine, though the specific fruit characteristics tip toward those of early harvested Zinfandel. There are still some youthful candy-like esters in the initial aroma. Light oak influence, mostly from native Oregon oak (Quercus Garryana), complements the spicy edge from the Pinot stems and darkens the fruit profile, steering toward aromas of black cherry and sun-baked strawberry. Juicy acidity and more red fruit dominate on the palate, with vary little tannin. Restrained toasted oak flavors emerge as the finish tapers off. Cool fermentation and early pressing kept most of the seed and stem tannin out of the wine and helped to capture the lively fruit flavors of early season zinfandel without any underripe texture. Drink it young, maybe chilled, and with almost any food; though the core flavors are different, this wine has the same vast pairing range as a lighter, younger Cru Beaujolais.
The 2020 Red Wine is cofermented from Les Collines Vineyard Zinfandel (Block 10, clone unknown) and Breezy Slope Vineyard Pinot Noir (Rows 8-9, clones 114 and 115 and some clone 115 fruit from younger vines higher on the slope). These vineyards are only about two miles apart on the eastern foothills of Walla Walla, but are separated by over 400 feet of elevation. This key difference puts the cool climate-friendly Pinot into roughly the same stage of ripeness as the heat-loving Zinfandel at the time of harvest, allowing me to pick both lots the same day and ferment them together. The destemmed Zinfandel provides acid and abundant red fruit at this level of ripeness, and the whole cluster Pinot gives the wine additional freshness and structure. Cooperage was all near neutral, and mostly American, though I added a short chain of staves made from Oregon-grown white oak (Quercus Garryana) to one of the barrels for background oak impact and added complexity.
The wine fermented on skins (and, in the case of the Pinot, stems) for about one week, peaking at around 70 degrees F, resulting in fairly light extraction. I pressed sweet to end extraction before alcohol levels rose high enough to pick up bitter flavors from the stems. Fermentation finished in barrels. I racked off lees before the new year to begin preparing the wine for bottling in early May. The wine was not fined or filtered, and the total sulfur dioxide addition was around 40ppm. Total time from harvest to bottle was about 8 months.
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Varietal Composition | 51.7% Zinfandel from Les Collines Vineyard
48.3% Pinot Noir from Breezy Slope Vineyard |
| Appellation | Walla Walla AVA |
| Alcohol | 13.40% |
| Wine Style | Red Wine |
| Volume | 750 ml |
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2022
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