2020 Ricochet Le Ressort Pet’Nat
2020 Ricochet Le Ressort Pet’Nat
Region: Willamette Valley < Oregon
Grapes: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; Pinot blanc was direct pressed
into a settling tank, then racked off the gross lees to a
stainless-steel fermentation tank. No sulfur was used at the crush
pad. Wild yeast inoculated and fermented. Pinot Noir was fully
destemmed (due to wildfires) and naturally fermented on skins for 21
days. During the fermentation of the pinot noir, a small proportion
was added to the Pinot Blanc to aid in primary fermentation and
provide phenolic structure. The blend was allowed to ferment to 16
g/L sugars, then chilled to "pause" the fermentation. The wine was
racked clean off fine lees prior to bottling. Hand-bottled on
December 16th, and allowed to complete fermentation in the bottle. No
dosage nor disgorging were necessary; 12% ABV; 100 cases
Winemaker: Erich Berg
Ricochet is the small Oregon proejct of Erich Berg, who started hiscareer in Chicago's fine dining scene but moved to Oregon in 2004 to
learn how to make wine. He spent 3 years at the big fancy Willamette
Valley estate, Serene, then had to have reconstructive hip surgery
which briefly ended his winemaking career. While convalescing, he got
his Master’s degree and became a high-school English teacher for 6
years. But winemaking kept calling; Erich missed it. Thankfully, his
good friend Brad owned Illahe Vineyards, and in a short time, Erich
became the Associate Winemaker, where he spent three years making
low-interventionist, terroir-driven wines. As his winemaking
experience deepened, Erich had the opportunity to work at Day Wines, a
leader in the Natural Wine movement in Oregon. Erich still holds down
a day job as Assistant Winemaker at Day, where he has worked since
2018
But he named his own project Ricochet, because to ricochet is to
bounce back, which is what he did after hip surgery and leaving wine
for 6+ years. He says his company was founded because to advance two
agendas: Make killer, authentic, sophisticated, and honest wine that
is accessible to a wide spectrum of folks. Wine is community, after
all. And, to give back to the community by donating 5% of sales to
local and regional non-profit organizations that specialize in areas
that help people bounce back from difficult situations. Again, wine
is community.
This is such a happy story, just like this cheerful wine, which glows
the prettiest shade of rosy peach. It's bright and perky with soft,
vibrant effervescence, aromatic apricot, pear, strawberry yogurt,
flint and racy acidity -- a clean, refreshing alt fizz that reads very
classic, something even your traditonal-bubbles-loving-mom would love.
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