Tuesday, Apr. 14, 2009

Pacific Rim expands offerings with Italian-inspired red blend

By Andy Perdue, Wine Press Northwest

Pacific Rim Winemakers, the Randall Grahm-owned winery in the shadow of Washington's Red Mountain, has plans to be more than just a Riesling producer.

Nicolas Quille, Pacific Rim's winemaker and general manager, revealed that the winery will release an Italian-inspired red wine this summer. This will be a first for the winery, which relocated from Santa Cruz, Calif., to Washington's Columbia Valley in 2007 (the year it bumped its production to 135,000 cases - mostly Riesling).

The new wine will be called "Autumnus" and will consist primarily of Sangiovese, Barbera and Primitivo from the Wahluke Slope, along with about 15% Syrah and Pinot Noir for the 2007 vintage.

"A year ago, we started to think about how to add a red to the portfolio," Quille said. "Something that would fall into the same spirit as the Riesling: fresh, high acid and food friendly."

Quille played around with some ideas, perhaps a modified Bordeaux blend, maybe Pinot Noir or even something that included Lemberger. He stumbled upon some Sangiovese and Barbera from the Wahluke Slope and said, "Wow! That's it. That's exactly the profile we're looking for."

The wine will be low in tannins, low in alcohol (12.5%) and low to no oak. Quille said he didn't necessarily start out looking for an Italian-style wine, but he was able to secure the grapes for multiple years so he could work on and perfect the blend over time, rather than have it change from year to year.

The wine will be bottled later this month and will be released in late June for about $15. About 6,500 cases will be made.

Quille and his crew also will release a companion white from the 2008 vintage, with a more traditional blend (by Pacific Rim standards) of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Chenin Blanc, three grapes he already works with. The price on that will be around $10, and the winery is making about 5,000 cases.

The artist for this label is Giuseppe Archimboldo, a 16th century Italian painter best known for using fruits and vegetables to create his portrait images.

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