Dundee Hills Vintage Report – December 2022

Across the Dundee Hills, the 2022 vintages are taking a cue from the weather and cozying up for a long winter. Tucked away into barrels to undergo their second fermentation, they’ll gather complexity and depth as the transformation from juice to wine continues. Our winemakers are simultaneously wearing hats of chemist and maestro as they taste and blend wines to determine their final selections that will make these wines truly sing – a process that is equal parts science and art.

 
“Everything went into barrels just before Thanksgiving,” says Thibaud Mandet, winemaker for the Dundee Wine Library. “We do a diversity of barrel aging with a wide variety of fermenting vessels in use – from traditional barrels to 500- and 600-liters to 30-gallon.”

 
We expect the 2022 vintage to be special. The grapes overcame a delayed ripening and a late frost, and ended their time on the vine by spending a few weeks basking in the late-fall Oregon sunshine. In a couple of months, we’ll begin bottling and then it’s a waiting game until the time comes to open a bottle and enjoy!