The Rattlesnake Hills AVA contains the ideal growing environment for thick skinned, late ripening reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvedre. The AVA lies within the larger Yakima Valley AVA which itself lies inside the much larger Columbia Valley AVA. The Rattlesnake Hills averages 2700 degree days a year which is 500 degree days more than the rest of theYakima Valley to the west and 100 degree days less than Red Mountain to the East ( Bordeaux gets roughly 2500 degree days and Napa gets 2900 degree days). Night time temps drop 40+ degrees during the growing season to preserve acidity and freshness. Rain is a seldom occurrence here with the area receiving just 7-10 inches of rain per year.
The Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvedre vines are planted in the Harwood-Burke-Wiehl series silt loams that distinguish the Rattlesnake Hills AVA. These soils are a combination of wind deposited ancient or sedimentary alluvials and decomposed basalt over a lime-silica hard pan. This combination provides both exceptional drainage and ideal soil alkalinity for growing Vinifera.
Each pail includes five gallons of grape must. Product will arrive partially frozen.
**This product is de-stemmed white grapes that include juice, skins, seeds and pulp and is intended for producing orange wine.
Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Washington State
Brix: 23.6, pH: 3.75, TA: .75
Harvested September 24th, 2019
“The big surprise is Roussanne, such purity, almost a crystaline nature to the Roussanne grown here.” Bob Betz, Master of Wine
“Orange Wine” is simply a white wine that is fermented on the skins. The time the juice spends on the skins can be as little as a few days to as much as a year-long extended maceration. This time on the skins extracts color and has some oxidizing effects giving the wine an orangish hue. But more importantly it extracts phenololics and flavors from the skins and seeds, giving the resulting wine much more structure and intensity than a traditional white wine. The wines are often made in a non-interventionist manner and aged underground in clay vessels. But there are a lot of ways to make orange wine and you should never let the natural wine hipsters tell you that you’re doing it wrong.
Roussanne is most famously known for its role in the Rhone Valley white wines of Chateauneuf du Pape, Hermitage, and St. Joseph. Here the wines are noted for their intense aromatics and distinct herbal/tea leaf flavors. New world examples of Roussanne are better characterized by a “fruit salad” bouquet that displays a wide range of fruits ranging from tropical to orchard to citrus.