Tasting Notes Lots of dark red fruit, spice and floral notes with hints of smoke on the nose. Similar broad layers of flavor across the palate. Nice concentration and weight that continues into the finish with dried floral notes. A Note About The 2020 Vintage From Mark Vlossak, Winemaker At the beginning of September 2020, the vintage looked to be an almost perfect growing season with very small open clusters and a lot of excitement about the quality of the upcoming harvest. Then, the fires began in the Santiam Canyon west of Salem. Located 20- 35 miles from our vineyard sites, the actual fires were not close to vineyards. However, a significant amount of smoke blew east from the Santiam Canyon into the Willamette Valley, especially for the first 4-5 days. At that time, there was little research about how to test for smoke taint, and only general advice on treatment if you knew you had a smoke problem in the wine. The problem was: did we? As we did not detect smoke in the grapes or the fermenters, I picked the grapes, made the wines, and observed for signs of smoke taint. We found none, even after a year in barrel, so after 17 months of aging, we decided to bottle the wines as vineyard designates. Now, this wine is available for sale at a significantly reduced price. Why? Recent research suggests that some smoke compounds can be present in a non-aromatic state – “glycosylated”- or hooked to a glucose molecule. Over some time, even years, those compounds can shed their glucose and become smoky, even if they are lovely now. So, they may not be age-worthy. You trust the wines I sell to be top quality, whether you drink them now or in a decade. So, every bottle will be marked with a fire/smoke graphic and have a QR code link to a full explanation.