2020 Division 'SEEOHTOO'

Light, fruity and simply quaffable.

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Viticulture

The 2020 vintage throughout Pacific Northwest was incredibly challenging in many ways, beyond the operating impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The growing season across Oregon and Washington was ideal until wildfires began to develop in Southern Oregon and then in early September, a strong hot and dry wind event that led to several wildfires kicking off near the Willamette Valley in the nearby Western Cascade foothills. Our sites in the Columbia Valley in Washington were the least impacted. Fortunately, we were spared the worst of the smoke, partially because these varieties were less ripe than other varieties, but also because most of our sites didn’t face the heavy thick low level “fresh” smoke that does the most damage. Picking was difficult in some areas, notably the Willamette Valley, but overall we harvested at optimal ripeness.

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Vinification

We utilise the whole cluster carbonic fermentation technique. For the 2020 vintage, we were concerned about the impact from the wildfires, so we did alter some of our typical winemaking protocols, as our analysis of the grapes and juice showed modest amounts of smoke related compounds. After reviewing the research of regions that more commonly experience wildfires, we altered our fermentation techniques. This included shortening the time on the skins and settling the pressed off wines for extended times to hard settle the lees. We also shortened the élevage time in a mix of neutral oak vessels to preserve fruit and purity.