The 2022 Amber Wine is a cofermented blend of Rhone white grapes from Les Collines Vineyard.  Aromatic with varietally typical floral and spice notes and peachy fruit that often comes with extended skin contact, this wine falls in between the previous two Amber Wine releases.  It is more structured and tannic than the 2019 Rockgarden Vineyard Marsanne and softer and more aromatic than the 2020 Les Collines Vineyard Semillon.  Like previous releases the 2022 Amber Wine macerated on skins until near the end of fermentation and then aged on lees in neutral barrels until bottling.  The tannin and acid help the wine stand up to moderately rich foods, and the wine’s aromatic complexity helps it to hold interest even along side foods with lots of herbs and spices.

This is a special tasting set that bundles together four (predominantly) white grape wines, one new release and three library wines.  The set includes one bottle of each:

2022 Amber Wine (Rhone blend, Les Collines Vineyard, 11.2% ABV)
2020 Amber Wine (Semillon, Les Colines Vineyard, 12.4% ABV)
2020 Light Red Wine (78.4% Pinot Gris, 21.6% Pinot Noir, Breezy Slope Vineyard, 12.9% ABV)
2019 Amber Wine (Marsanne, Rockgarden Vineyard, 9.6% ABV)

The Light Red Wine is close to equal parts Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir from Breezy Slope Vineyard on the eastern rim of the Walla Walla AVA in the foothills of the Blue Mountains.  The grapes were lightly foot-trod and cofermented (rather than belended later in the process).  The flavors from the stems and the skins of the Pinot Gris steer this wine toward fresh herbal and citrusy aromas (Linden blossom, crisp apple), which round out the red fruit core from the Pinot Noir (Montmerency cherry).  Cooperage was all neutral French Oak barrels.  This light red wine pairs well with a huge range of foods.  Unlike many red wines, it can work with tart or spicy foods because it has higher acid and very low tannin.  It has enough acid to refresh the palate and cut through richness in heavier meals.  It's probably not my go-to wine for steaks and rich meat stews, but pretty much everything else is worth a try---this is my attempt to craft a close-to-universal food wine... and though I hope you'll enjoy it all year, I should also note that the Light Red Wine does especially well weaving together the wide range of flavors associated with the Fall and Winter holidays.
 

The 2022 Red Wine is a cousin of the earlier vintages of Marginalia Red Wine.  It is still a cofermentation based on Les Collines Vineyard Block 10 Zinfandel.  But this time that accounts for 90% of the blend.  Unlike previous vintages that included whole cluster Pinot Noir, this vintage includes just a small portion of whole cluster Les Collines Block 53 Syrah (10%).  This is stylistically a very similar wine to previous vintages, and the winemaking approach hasn’t changed, but the flavors and aromas have shifted a bit darker.  This wine fermented for about a week before pressing to barrel to limit extraction.  Fermentation finished in neutral American oak barrels.  After a couple months on lees, the wine aged off lees in the same neutral barrels until bottling.  The aromas are more northwest berry fruits than previous vintages (blackberry and salmon berry), and the subtle oak character from used American oak barrels complements the naturally spicy accents of early-picked Zinfandel and Syrah.  Short skin contact leads to low tannin, and early picking gives us plenty of acidity, making this an easy drinking, juicy, light-bodied red wine.  Only 11.5% alcohol by volume, with no residual sugar, and very low sulfite levels.