Maloof 2025 "L'Eau Epicée"

Riesling, Gewürztraminer

Willamette Valley, Oregon

~

A light and playful aromatic sparkler made from Riesling and Gewurztraminer. The rustic style is akin to Col Fondo Prosecco, where a small amount of sediment remains in the bottle. Store upright and chill before serving.

Approach: Not quite sure what to call this method of achieving bubble. Ancestral? Taking suggestions for portmanteaus of Ancestral + Champenoise + Pet Nat. Maybe, Ancestropetnoise?

We essentially start by making three lots of still wine. Riesling from an unnamed home vineyard we refer to as Ony’s Roadside Attraction, is pressed and fermented in stainless steel. The Gewürztraminer from the same site is split into two treatments. Some of it is direct-pressed and fermented in stainless steel, while the remainder is destemmed and fermented on the skins until dry, and then pressed off and moved into neutral french oak barrels and stainless steel. Over the winter, once all three lots go dry, we assemble into a single tank, and add in some freshly thawed Riesling must that was held back and frozen from crush. We stir the whole thing up, and bottle. After a couple months of resting in tirage, et voila! Bubbs.