Skin Fermented Pinot Gris is Back!

 

Our take on an orange wine – Pinot Gris grapes treated like red grapes in the cellar.

We took the same Pinot Gris grapes we harvested for our regular Pinot Gris wine but instead of gently pressing the grapes, we crushed them and let them ferment on their skins, pulp and seeds for 18 days. This process extracts many compounds from the skins, deepening the colour of the wine and giving it a tannic structure like a red wine. It was aged in older American oak barrels for 20 months which softened the finish and imparted a creamy texture.

Skin fermented whites have more body and tannin, resulting in richer, more robust flavours than conventionally-made whites. They have the acidity of a white wine and the body of a red wine which makes them ideal food pairing partners.

Winemaking Notes:
Fermented for 18 days on the skins
Barrel aged for 20 months
Dry with a rich mouthfeel, soft tannins, medium acidity and a long finish.
Think dried apricot, grapefruit rind, salted butterscotch, tobacco, toasty oak, lightly-steeped black tea and vanilla

Best served with a slight chill: refrigerate for only 20-30 minutes prior to serving.

Pinot Gris grapes have a deep copper-gray hue - its this colour that is extracted during the 18 day fermentation on the skins.

 
Janine Zuppiger