Today’s Story: Hiyu Wine Farm
I previously wrote about Hiyu Wine Farm when I reviewed the 2015 Ramato, which was such a unique and fun wine I had to try another bottling from them today.
Hiyu Wine Farm, established by Nate Ready and China Tresemer, is a 30 acre working farm in the Hood River Valley of Oregon. The property consists of 14 acres of vines, 4 acres of fields and pastures, 4 acres of forest and a pond, and 0.5 acres of market garden with the balance devoted to food forests. Guided by the practices of biodynamics and permaculture, Hiyu tends very little to their vines and they do not hedge or green harvest. Rather, all mowing or tilling is accomplished by pigs, cows, chicken, ducks, and geese that live in the vineyards in cycles throughout the year. Hiyu does not use any sulfur in the vineyards and claims to spray 85% less material than a standard organic or biodynamic vineyard, with the majority being cinnamon oil or herbal teas. Interesting to note, the vineyards are divided into 0.5 acre blocks each planted to a field blend of varieties. There are 80 different varieties and even more clones planted on the farm! In the cellar, Nate practices minimal intervention winemaking and prefers long aging in oak before the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal SO2 (5ppm max).
Today’s Wine: 2016 Falcon Box White Blend
Field Blend (Chardonnay, Aligoté, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris, and Melon de Bourgogne); 13% ABV
The 2016 Falcon Box is a transparent but very rich, deep gold in color with hues of amber. As this develops in the glass, the nose emits aromas of peach, tangerine, melon, Dutch apple pie, honeysuckle, white wildflowers, brioche, and stony mineral. Once in the mouth, this light and airy Alpine wine showcases notes of golden apple, baked pineapple, peach, tropical citrus, light herbs, toffee, almond, and limestone. Well-rounded with medium body, medium (+) acidity, and a long but refreshing finish. 117 cases produced.
Price: $100 (I paid $80). I find it very difficult to call this a good value wine, simply because $100 for a white wine immediately makes me think of the immense quality you can get with a white Burgundy or a lower-priced California or Oregon white blend. However, this is nonetheless a very fun wine and something unlike wines I’ve tasted before, so I would approach it with that in mind.
JB's Wine Talk 