2018 Fumé Cuvée Pinot Noir
As wildfires raged in late summer of 2018, many southern Oregon growers found themselves under threat. A large vintner had pulled their contract for their Rogue Valley Pinot Noir just before harvest, claiming the grapes had smoke taint. The growers were suddenly facing bankruptcy, as entire vineyards’ worth of crops were set to hang on the vine with no buyer. We received a call to see if we could save any of the grapes, and while we hadn’t intended to make a southern Oregon Pinot noir, we wanted to help. At the time, we couldn’t afford to take on more grapes and higher production costs, but we told the growers we would take as much of the fruit as we could, it may just take us a while to pay. While we weren’t the only Willamette Valley winery to take these grapes on, the producers that did made the decision from a place of solidarity. We felt compelled to help our southern Oregon neighbors and wine community, which is the true spirit of the Oregon wine industry.
The resulting wine is characterful and juicy- not smoke tainted. Its name Fumé Cuvée was given as an homage to the circumstances under which we acquired the grapes and as a reference to the extended barrel aging of the wine. We have found this bottle to be a treat to get to know with its delightful strawberry and woodsy notes being distinct from our Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs.
Since the production of this wine, many southern Oregon towns were devastated in the wildfire season. As we did in 2018, we feel called to action to help these communities. A portion of the sale of every bottle of 2018 Fumé Cuvée is being donated to the Oregon Community Foundation to restore communities throughout Oregon that have been devastated by wildfire. We hope you will join us in this effort by continuing to purchase and enjoy this delicious bottle as the year goes on.
