Maloof Wines, Pinot Gris 2020, Temperance Hill Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, OR

This tropical Pinot Gris has tropical notes like a piña colada and green apple-like acidity with a bready round finish.

COUNTRY: USA

STATE: OR

APPELLATION (AVA): Eola-Amity Hills

REGION: Willamette Valley

VINEYARD: Temperance Hill Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2020

GRAPES: Pinot Gris

SOIL: Ritner, Nekia

PRACTICE: Organic, sustainable, biodynamic, LIVE-certified, dry farmed

VINIFICATION: Direct pressed and fermented in neutral oak barrels. Aged on the lees for 10 to 12 months with no bâtonnage until bottling. Unfinded/unfiltered.

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Pale lemon

BODY: Light to Medium (3-4)

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: Pineapple, coconut, caramel, white pepper

FLAVOR: Crisp granny smith acidity, round yeasty texture, smooth finish

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

SERVICE AND SUGGESTION: Pair with seafood dishes that have a bit of heat, such as jambalaya, paella, Portuguese seafood stew, pizza with caramelized onion and chili pepper, or yellow curry

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: 
Maloof Wines is a husband-and-wife winery team based in Forest Grove, OR. A true yin and yang team. One materials engineer grounded in hard science, and one restaurant professional with a sensory aligned M.O. Two nerds with a penchant for good hospitality and properly fermented pizza dough.

Bee Maloof represents the hard science behind the project.  Prior to playing with grapes, she worked for close to a decade as a materials science engineer within the aerospace industry. As a long-time lover of food and wine, Bee turned her scientific eye from rotorcraft to winemaking during the 2016 harvest.

Ross Maloof broke into the production side of the wine industry initially by traveling to Oregon to visit some friends, and ended up interning during harvest in the Willamette Valley. Prior to getting his first taste for winemaking, he worked for just over a decade in the Philadelphia dining scene, with a huge focus on beverage.

They are dedicated to making wines full of energy, with the number one goal of truly capturing a place and time in each bottle. They work closely with our farmers to achieve this goal, and consider them to be the true inspiration of their work. They are focused on producing single vineyard wines of often overlooked or misunderstood white varieties, in addition to making some fun and funky Cuvées of all colors.

Maloof Wines has been making juice since 2015, and are proudly produced aside our best pals from Fossil & Fawn at their estate vineyard, No Clos Radio, just outside of Forest Grove, OR.

ABOUT THE VINEYARDS: 
Dai Crisp went to school at OSU for theatre and photo-journalism, and then earned a MFA at UC Irvine.  After returning to Oregon from his studies, he went on to “do what you do when you leave acting school” and began working vineyards in the southern end of the Willamette Valley.  He planted his family’s farm, Wren Vineyard, in 1985 and never looked back.  Always farming organically, he moved into vineyard management for a number of well-regarded wineries in the area.  He has been at the helm of Temperance Hill for the past 20 years and is considered to be one of the best wine growers in the state.  He and his wife PK started their own wine label, Lumos Wines, in 2000.

Temperance Hill is a cooler site, consisting of varying slopes and exposures.  The vineyard looks straight out over the Van Duzer corridor, the large break in the Oregon coast line, receiving the full effects of the famed afternoon winds that pull in cooler air from the Pacific ocean, allowing great ripening capabilities in the area. This is why we choose to split the Gris from this special site into two picks, separated by almost a full two weeks. The added airflow from the coastal winds allows us to hang the fruit for quite some time, making a richer, fuller showing of gris. The earlier pick allows us to capture more acidity and balance in the final wine.