Maloof - 'Where Ya PJ's At?' - Pinot Gris, Riesling - Willamette Valley, OR - 2023

Satellite's Hot Take

FUN

Notes from the Winery/Importer

This one goes out to two of our dearest friends Paul & Stina. A fun and energetic dichotomy of soft herbs and hard cherry candy aromas from skin contact pinot gris met by lots of high toned acid from barrel fermented, dry riesling. Rose-ish springtime blend to bring to your next slumber party. Serve chilled or at cellar temp with white za pies or with a bowl of popcorn over your favorite John Lithgow movie. Ours is Ricochet. F**** yaself, cupcake. //// Approach: The gris is fermented on the skins until dry. Around 20% of the Gris is fermented via carbonic maceration in a separate bin. The two lots of gris are pressed off together and put into neutral oak. The Riesling is direct-pressed and fermented in neutral oak barrels. The wine is assembled into tank in spring, and bottled without fining or filtration.

The 2023 PJs is composed of skin contact Pinot Gris (75%), direct-pressed, barrel fermented Riesling (15%), and skin contact Gewurztraminer (10%). The fruit comes from three sites within the Willamette Valley; No Clos Radio in the Tualatin Hills AVA (Pinot Gris, Riesling), Johan Vineyard in the Van Duzer Corridor AVA (Riesling), and Ony Mora Vineyard outside of the Chehalem Mountains in the Willamette Valley AVA (Gewurztraminer).
NCR - organically farmed (in cert. process with CCOF), jory and loess soils, planted in late 1970's.
Johan - certified-Biodynamic by Demeter, marine sedimentary soils with granite deposits, planted in 2003.
Ony Mora - organically farmed (not-certified), jory soils, planted in late 1970's.
All of the Pinot Gris lots were fermented in open top fermenters on the skins with daily punch downs until dry (26 days on average) and moved into neutral french oak for aging. The Riesling was fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels, and the Gewurz was fermented in open top fermenters on the skins with daily punch downs until dry (14 days) and then aged in neutral oak.
The wine was blended in the early spring, and bottled unfined and unfiltered with 30 ppm total sulfur added.

Notes on the Producer

A true yin and yang team - one materials engineer grounded in hard science, and one restaurant professional with a sensory aligned M.O. Two nerds with a penchant for good hospitality and properly fermented pizza dough. Bee Maloof represents the hard science behind the project. Prior to playing with grapes, she worked for close to a decade as a materials science engineer within the aerospace industry. As a long-time lover of food and wine, Bee turned her scientific eye from rotorcraft to winemaking during the 2016 harvest. Ross Maloof broke into the production side of the wine industry initially by traveling to Oregon to visit some friends, and ended up working harvest in the Willamette Valley. Prior to getting his first taste for winemaking, he worked for just over a decade in the Philadelphia dining scene at such wine destinations as Vedge and A. Kitchen. Today, Maloof Wines are produced at their estate vineyard and winery location, No Clos Radio, just outside of Forest Grove, OR. The Maloofs are dedicated to making wines full of energy, with the number one goal of truly capturing a place and time in each bottle.