Introducing the 2023 Winegrowers Series Cohort!

meet the team making wine with us in the 2023 vintage

Winegrowers Series Hub

This page is dedicated to documenting our Winegrowers Series! From here, you can access blog posts, photos, and educational content about the series as it unfolds.

Recap of Session One: Fostering Life in Our Estate Vineyards – A Biodynamic Field Activity

In the first session of this series, Analemma co-founders Steven Thompson and Kris Fade shared insight as to why we use biodynamic principles on the farm, while the cohort, as a group, prepared a compost spray designed to enliven soil health in the spring. After hand-applying barrel compost in the vineyard, we gathered under the cherry blossoms to reflect on the experience over a glass of wine and a picnic (a sneak peak at our new “Twenty Mile Sandwich,” available to the public starting in June!). We also checked in on the 2021 Godello, the inaugural single varietal bottling from our Mosier Hills estate, which will be released exclusively to the Coterie in the fall.

A few highlights from the day…

Recap of Session Two: Cohort Consensus on Winemaking Style — A Comparative Tasting of Godello with Our Winemakers

In this session, we checked in on our Godello vines’ shoot growth in the Home Block on our Mosier Hills Estate. Then, we tasted five inspirational expressions of Godello, plus our soon-to-be-released, member exclusive 2021 single varietal Godello bottling. We discussed decision points in the winemaking process to determine the style of wine that we, as a cohort, want to make this vintage. Important considerations that we contemplated included fruit ripeness, skin contact, choice of maturation vessel, and lees management. Steven and Paul shared how we make these choices at Analemma and offered perspectives as we came to consensus on how to bring the cohort’s very own Godello bottling to life! To cap it all off, Chef Mark DeResta from Riverside Restaurant joined us on site to cook a locally sourced lunch featuring the Columbia River’s first Chinook salmon of the season.

Snapshots from session 2

the group’s consensus on our winemaking approach for this vintage:

Recap of Session Three: Brix and Ripeness Monitoring – Pre-Harvest Sampling Activity

As our picking window approached, we gathered in the vineyard to assess ripeness based on chemical analysis and taste — where science begins to meet art in the winegrowing process. At this point in the season, it is truly incredible to observe the difference in ripening between varieties and see each’s unique character. Each varietal has a unique color — from iridescent green to bright pink — and we were able to taste the juice alongside breakfast. According to the numbers, our Godello was well on its way, so our winemaking team picked the earlier of our two possible harvest dates.