2009 Auxerrois
Ribbon Ridge AVA
Ribbon Springs Vineyard

“This wine has aromas of tarragon and fennel
bulb, plus green pear, mineral, and citrus
blossom. In the mouth, these flavors reoccur
and you’ll find a lively, refreshing texture.
With its balance of acid, alcohol and
fruitiness, the wine has body and length on
the palate, yet remains fresh. Auxerrois is
wonderful on its own as an apéritif, or with
many courses at the beginning of a meal. It
would pair well with crab salad or cured
salmon with tarragon dressing.”
Dave Paige, Winemaker

WINE BACKGROUND:
When two clones of Auxerrois (oak-sair-wah) were brought into Oregon from Alsace in 1977, we knew next to nothing about the variety. Still, after tasting some test wines made at Oregon State University, our interest was piqued.
DNA testing has shown that Auxerrois, like Chardonnay, Aligoté, Gamay and 10 other varieties, is a cross dating from medieval times between Pinot noir and an ignoble variety called Gouais blanc.
Auxerrois is also the name of a duchy surrounding the town of Auxerre near Chablis, but the variety has disappeared from that area and all other parts of Burgundy. There are probably less than 500 acres of it planted in the world.
Its early ripening has allowed it to flourish in Luxembourg (even achieving Premier Cru status), but in Alsace, the variety is now treated as a second-class citizen, consigned to blends often with Pinot blanc. In the U.S., we know of only two other producers.

VINEYARDS:
We planted Auxerrois soon after its release from Oregon State University back in the mid-eighties. Neither this original vineyard, nor a second planting, ever gave us reason to treat the wine as anything more than a blending tool.
The 1.65 acres we planted in 2002 on a north slope at our Ribbon Springs Vineyard proved so exciting that we since added another 2/3 acre.
There are two keys to growing Auxerrois so that it can become exciting wine. The first is planting on a cool site. The second is avoiding vineyard drought stress.
Our vineyard management at Ribbon Springs incorporates both, and the white wines from Ribbon Springs seem to gain in complexity each year.

WINEMAKING:
The whole clusters are gently pressed in our membrane press to yield juice as free of bitter tannins as possible, and the juice is allowed to settle for a day.
The majority of the wine underwent a cool, tank fermentation to retain fruit purity and aromatic freshness. A small portion of the wine (less than 10%) was fermented in neutral barrels for a short time to enhance textural richness.
Malolactic fermentation was prevented in order to retain as much of the gorgeous fresh fruit aroma as possible.
After the cool fermentation, the wine was sur lies aged in tank for added richness and complexity.
This Auxerrois was bottled on April 1, 2010

This wine is an Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine, for more information please visit www.ocsw.org.

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