Brilliant, bright straw color, with a savory nose on entry showing herbs fresh from the garden, warm, spicy white pepper, and ginger tea. Fresh layers of yellow plum and honeydew melon hit you between the initial aroma and your first, actual taste. Accents of rich vanilla and nutmeg abound. The palate is full and rich, with a spine of great acidity to back it up. This Gruner will continue to evolve in its complexity as it ages.
For as long as Ridgecrest winemaker Wynne Peterson-Nedry can remember, her father Harry was a huge fan of Austrian and German wines and grapes. Harry planted some of the first Gruner vines in Oregon in Ridgecrest Vineyard; Wynne remembers her dad going to Tina’s restaurant in Dundee, where they’d have a “Harry’s wine list” of cool Rieslings and Gruners.
To make their first Gruner for the Ridgecrest label, Wynne called on her experience trying different techniques for white wines, ultimately deciding that neutral barrel fermentation yielded the rich texture they were after. The wine underwent only partial malolactic fermentation to preserve some of the fresh and racy acidity.