Daisy Skin Contact (Orange)

Tasting Notes

The term ‘Orange wine’ is confusing and a little misleading, First of all it has nothing to do with oranges! The name refers to the color earned when white wine grapes are fermented with skins just as you would when making red wine. Like rosé, which can be dark pink or so pale that it’s hard to distinguish from white wine, there’s a big range of orange wine color. Amber is probably the better name and description for most orange wines and certainly the case with ours. Depending on the grapes used , the length of skin and stem contact and winemaking approach there will be a range of results. It should be noted that some winemakers of orange wine are ‘natural wine’ devotees and thus choose not to use sulfur dioxide at any point in the production. In our opinion that sounds fantastic but results in inconsistent bottles and experiences and a short life so we choose to use minimal amounts of sulfur as the very best orange winemakers do. In its best form orange wine can be absolutely captivating and like nothing you’ve ever tasted as there’s a depth of flavor and tannin structure that’s all it’s own.

Where to buy

The Wine

We make this orange wine almost exactly as we do our red wines. For us that process starts with world class sustainable farming and low winemaker intervention in the winery. 15% of the fruit is left whole cluster, 85% destemmed. Fermentations are left to start by native yeasts so can take a few days to get going. Fermentations concluded after 15 days but we kept the wine, skins and stems together for another 20 days (35 days total on the skins). After the wine was pressed off it’s skins half went to old barrels and half to tank. To maximize the wines character we only lightly fined and filtered it which may add a hazy hue to the wine in your glass. Don’t be concerned! This wine offers aromas of orange peel, dried apricot, white peach, floral, potpourri, roasted nuts, hints of ginger and wild strawberry. The palate is full and rich with silky tannins.. As we have a dollop of pinot grigio which naturally has a pink hue, our Daisy Hazy has a slightly pinkish quality to the amber color.

The Vintage

After a string of challenging vintages, 2023 in Washington State led to unexpected success. A wet spring followed by a brief but hot summer that continued until the end of October. There were several moments of precipitation during the harvest period that kept us on our toes, even pushing harvest back almost 3 weeks. Despite the unprecedented rainfall, the quality of fruit that came in was excellent. All of our fruit is grown above 1,100 feets, which may not sound that high, but in Washington only 10% of the total vineyards planted are above that level. The elevation ensures gentle ripening, which allows complex flavor development and natural acidity without much alcohol.

Terroir

Matching up the vineyards so that the fruit would ripen at the same moment was a puzzle that required a few different vineyards. The majority of fruit came from the Golden West Vineyards, located between the Wahluke Slope and Ancient Lakes AVAs in Norther Columbia Valley. This vineyard is unique because it offers a mix of limestone, volcanic and sandy soils. While the remaining fruit came from Sunset, Homestead, and Art de Hoed vineyards located in the Yakima Valley. The use of several AVAs worked to our advantage coming together to create a wine filled with exotic floral beauty, heirloom fruits, spice and briny umami.