Orr Wines Royal Slope Red
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Royal Slope Red is a blend created at Stillwater Creek Vineyards.
- It was stored in neutral oak barrels and aged for 18 months. Unfined and Unfiltered.
- Stillwater Creek Cabernet Sauvignon was added for “topping”.
- This wine was created as a tribute to Vineyard workers in Washington state. Proceeds of the sale benefit Columbia Valley vineyard workers via donations to Columbia Basin Health Association Othello Clinic. This collaboration included:
- Crafted with donated grapes from Stillwater Creek Vineyard in the Royal Slope.
- Erica Orr developed the wine.
- The label was created by Christie Tirado, a printmaker in Yakima, WA, using linoleum block print based on a photo taken by Erica Orr of vineyard workers picking her fruit.
- A team of medical clinicians and dental hygienists provided free health screenings and maintenance. 35 vineyard workers from Stillwater Creak received healthcare through this collaboration.
Varietal: 92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon
Elaboration: Hand-picked and destemmed into open top bins. The fermentation lasted 10 days with twice daily punchdowns. Pressed and settled in tank and barreled down. American made glass and TCA free DIAM corks.
Tasting Notes: “This 2022 ‘Royal Slope Red’ has 8% Cabernet Sauvignon blended in. Also stored in all neutral oak before bottling this opens with anise and black currants alongside tar and tobacco leaf. The palate is very elegant and refined with good structure and underlying finesse. A beautiful wine to savor now, enjoy over the next eight years to come. Drink 2024-2032” -Owen Bargreen
PRESS
2021 – 93 Owen Bargreen
2022 – 92 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.