Day is proud to have crafted something so delicious out of pinot noir grapes affected by 2020′s wildfires. The bottle, emblazoned with “Let’s all just make the best of this” on its side label, captures the mood of the moment. But the winemaker hopes it does more than that. “I put ‘Chehalem Mountains’ on the label almost as an act of defiance,” she says. By showcasing grapes from that American Viticultural Area — especially hard-hit by last year’s conflagrations — she wants to spark conversation.
Day is intent on shining a light on small, independent growers, many of whom struggled to sell their fruit impacted by wildfire smoke. Two vineyard owners in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, both women, were on the winemaker’s mind. One grower is a former intensive care unit nurse who now farms. Another is a single mom who lives on site with her daughter. Day, who is herself the mother of a 3-year-old, knows how challenging the road can be for women in the industry. Determined to honor her contracts, she went ahead and purchased grapes from both growers, making plans to mitigate any effects of smoke.
Advertisement
The 42-year-old winemaker is accustomed to tackling challenges head-on. Early in her career, to pay for costs of an upcoming vintage, she worked four jobs: two full-time restaurant gigs, a part-time job in a wine cellar, and a day a week at a retail wine shop. After securing an investor, Day established a production space that she now shares with budding winemakers. Nowadays, at any one time, she could be working on 15 or more wines — like a fizzy pét-nat, a skin-contact white blend, and multiple expressions of pinot noir — all made with grapes sourced from a dozen-plus growers throughout Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon. She currently produces 8,000 cases annually.
Advertisement
But even this pedal-to-the-metal professional took a deep breath before starting to work with the Chehalem fruit. “Everything was different about this year,” she says, referring to 2020. “I don’t normally stand next to the press for every press cycle and taste continuously, but I did that during harvest.” She did so to assess the juice, tasting for compounds that could result in unpleasant flavors in the finished product. She found that applying less than half of the usual pressure when pressing grapes resulted in cleaner-tasting juice. Furthermore, she worked in smaller batches to isolate any problems, as well as settled and racked the wine multiple times. She also filtered the wine — a technique she rarely employs, and then only in specific instances.
She released “Lemonade” to market in November, and all 1,200 cases sold in no time. On the heels of that success, Day is already hunting for additional growers off the beaten path from whom to source fruit.
When people ask if she plans to make “Lemonade” again — whether or not there are fires this year — Day’s response is emphatic.
Advertisement
“I have to,” she says. “I’m a silver linings person. That’s my life.”
Day Wines “Lemonade” 2020 Brilliant salmon in hue, this peppy rosé expresses scents of nectarine, strawberry, and wet river stones. Bright, tart, and dry, the palate offers pink grapefruit and crunchy peach, plus enough substance to take you from aperitif hour into Sunday dinner. 12 percent alcohol by volume. Around $22. Distributed by Charles River Wine Company. At The Spirited Gourmet, Belmont, 617-489-9463; The Wine Press, Fenway, 857-233-4872.
Ellen Bhang can be reached at bytheglass@globe.com
Ellen Bhang can be reached at bytheglass@globe.com
The Link LonkApril 06, 2021 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/3wz97fK
Oregon winemaker turns wildfire-affected grapes into delicious rosé - The Boston Globe
https://ift.tt/3eO3jWb
Grape
No comments:
Post a Comment