Iruai 'Bloom Phase' Red, Applegate Valley 2023 (750 ml)
Iruai 'Bloom Phase' Red, Applegate Valley 2023 (750 ml)
50% Grenache / 30% Gamay / 20% Pinot Gris
OREGON AVA (Applegate Valley)
12.5% ALC / 600 cases produced
Sourced from two organic vineyards on the banks of the Applegate River in Southern Oregon, our 2023 Bloom Phase Red was fermented 100% whole cluster - given a week of carbonic maceration, followed by a week of daily gentle foot treading to infuse the juice with the skins rather than extract the tannins. The Gamay was pressed off after two weeks to maintain freshness, and the Grenache and Syrah underwent a submerged cap extended maceration for an additional 75 days to enhance texture and aromatics.
Aged on the lees for six months in a combination of nuetral oak barrels and cuve tanks. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with a single dose of 25 ppm S02 one month prior to bottling for stability from 02 pressures on the bottling line.
This is the "choose your own adventure" of "red wines." A California riff on the lighter, high toned Southern Rhone reds we drank in Provence over the Summer, long ago. Bloom Phase is comprised primarily of whole cluster fermented Grenach with Gamay and skin contact Pinot Gris. Fresh and zesty, with a tropical and peppery nose, crunchy blue fruits, and that smooth finish you've been looking for your whole life!
BLOOD ORANGE . HEAD SHOP . DEEP RASPBERRY . ROSE PETALS
FOOD adobo pork steak / peach, mozz, and mint salad
Iruai Winery (“ear-oo-eye" … the artist formerly known as Methode Sauvage) was started in 2013 by Chad and Michelle Westbrook Hinds in Berkeley, CA as a gypsy natural wine project, before laying down roots in Michelle’s beautiful hometown of Etna, CA in the mythical Shasta-Cascade mountains of Siskiyou County in 2019.
Trading in the urban winery hustle for the vigneron life, we are exploring avant garde vineyard planting and rehabilitation techniques using the permaculture methods laid out by Masanobu Fukuoka, while formulating our own “chaos organics” method of re-enchanting the land. Truly unlike anywhere else in California, Scott Valley in Western Siskiyou County (not to be confused with Scotts Valley) feels like a cross between Switzerland and Montana, cut with a rain shadow from Mount Shasta that divides it starkly between high mountain prairie and dense alpine forests.
Finding ourselves in largely untested grape growing territory, with high elevations and a continental climate, we have turned Iruai into an exploration and celebration of esoteric varieties that flourish in the Alps of Europe. While we work to grow our Scott Valley estate vineyard projects, we purchase fruit and lease vineyards throughout the Shasta-Cascade, from the Trinity Alps of California to the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon.
We seek to make wine with a sense of place by employing no additives, and removing no character. Our goal in the vineyard is to let the vines thrive like they would in the wild, and in the cellar, to shepherd each ferment through its own natural development and evolution.