This is Pinot Gris from two different parcels on a regenerative farm on Underwood Mountain. The site sits at 1200 ft, faces South, and looks out upon both the Columbia River and Mt Hood. The fruit was macerated on the skins for four days in conical wooden vats, before being pressed in a basket press directly to old barrels.
Its leaders Nate Ready, a former high-profile sommelier (think award-winning restaurants like Thomas Keller's French Laundry or Frasca in Boulder, CO) and China Tressemer, a talented artist and culinary guide, have gradually built a flourishing mixed farm and tavern where not just vine and crops, but all sorts of natural life cohabit in what Hiyu calls “the wild side of permaculture”.
Their approach to viticulture is similarly wild, in the best sense: the estate is divided into many small blocks, each planted to a field blend from a different place or moment in the genetic history of the grapevine, from Alpine grapes to Southern Italy or Central Europe. This “IRL grape variety atlas”, consisting of a whopping 100+ different varieties and clones in total, is being transformed into boutique quantities of truly singular wines that Nate describes and contextualises using his vast tasting memory and cultural experience. There's a lot of freedom, art and philosophy involved at Hiyu Wine Farm.
