Orr Wines Royal Slope Grenache
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Washington state’s Royal Slope AVA is defined by a ridge of hills running east to west. The soils are decomposed basalt, rocky and volcanic.
- The grapes were sourced from two vineyards – Stillwater Creek, a sustainable grower, was planted in 2004 and Lawrence Corfu Crossing Vineyard, where the grapes were planted in 2008.
Varietal: 100% Chenin Blanc
Elaboration: Handpicked. Both lots were destemmed and fermented in open top bins. After 11 days on skins we drained and pressed each lot separately to neutral French oak barrels where the wines aged for 9 months. The two vineyard lots were blended together in tank. Bottled without fining or filtration under TCA free corks.
Tasting Notes: The color is translucent ruby and the nose is full of cranberry, raspberry and pomegranate. There’s a hint of black tea and fennel.
PRESS
2019 – 91 Vinous
2021 – 92 Owen Bargreen
2022 – 94 Owen Bargreen
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
At a bar in San Francisco in 1998, Erica Orr met winemaker Aaron Pott who convinced her that winemaking was the coolest job in the world. She took a vacation from her lab tech job at UCSF to work harvest with Cathy Corison while applying to the master’s program at Davis. She was hooked and there was no turning back.
Erica honed her craft working at some of the best wineries in the world: Rudd Estate, Cain Vineyard, Domaine Dujac and Yering Station. In 2005, she moved to Washington state and started an independent winemaking consulting and enology business in Woodinville, where she helped wineries like Baer, Mark Ryan, Guardian, Sparkman and others rack up 90+ point scores and now two Spectator Top 100 wines. In 2013, Erica decided the time had come to create a wine all her own. The inaugural and limited release of Orr Wines − 116 cases of old vine Chenin Blanc − came into being with the generous help and goodwill of the Woodinville winemaking community.