Vinous Obscura ‘Apini’
WHY WE LOVE IT
- The ‘Apini’ is a co-fermentation of 50% Fiano and 50% Semillon.
- The vine age is 10 years.
- Dry farmed. Low intervention farming. Grown on Volcanic, sedimentary soils at an elevation of 425 ft.
Varietal: 50% Fiano, 50% Semillon
Elaboration: Hand harvested. ‘Apini’ is a co-fermentation of 50% Fiano and 50% Semillon. Skins were left on during the completion of fermentation and then pressed off after 10 days. The juice was pressed off and rested in neutral acacia barrels. After malolactic fermentation was complete, the barrels were micro-dosed with one sulfur tablet and topped it until it was ready to be bottled. This wine spent a full year in barrel and was crossflow filtered but unfined (Vegan). Some natural sediment will be found as the wine was not cold or heat stabilized.
Tasting Notes: This orange wine tastes like honey, chamomile, and beeswax. Bursting with exotic aromatics.
PRESS
n/a
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
The Vinous Obscura brand from Golden Cluster is centered around grapes sourced from two experimental nurseries and vineyards. One is on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge and the other in Forest Grove in the Northern Willamette Valley.
There are over 200 different grape varietals between both vineyards. In some cases, these are the first ever plantings of these grapes in the USA, others are the first on the West Coast, some are rare clones. This grower has decades of grape growing and winemaking experience in New York state and belongs to a network of growers and academic organizations who work together to establish the viability of certain grapes in different soils, climates, and regions. Golden Cluster is making some of the first commercial wines from these rare grapes.
Golden Cluster, of Willamette Valley, Oregon is the vision of owner/winemaker Jeff Vejr. Established in 2013, all of Vejr’s wines are produced under the Golden Cluster umbrella, but Golden Cluster also represents some individual wineries throughout the area.
Today, Veijr produces his wines at the David Hill Winery, which was originally the Charles Coury Vineyard & Winery, one of the first vineyards planted in Willamette Valley after Prohibition. David Hill provides him with the “uncommon grapes” he sources and most of these were planted between 1966-72. The Golden Cluster name is a nod to the memory of Charles Coury and the Semillon grape variety.