Ovum Big Salt Orange Rosé

In  typical Ovum style this wine sort of defies classification. Is it an orange wine?  Is it a rosé? Technically an orange but drinks a bit like a rose and has some pink tones due to the Pinot Gris skins. However you name it, it is shockingly delicious.

Big flavors of juicy tangerine, tart hibiscus, ginger, and banana that is cut beautifully with some herby salinity all come together to feel like a late summer beach bonfire.

 Organic.

Oregon: Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Early Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, and others in small amounts.

ABV: 12.9%, 750 mL

50% Pinot Gris that fermented on the skins for 14 days (ramato style, 'ramato' means copper in Italian) and 50% wine that would have gone into the famed Ovum 'Big Salt' but instead was let to sit on the skins for a couple days and then fermented and aged in neutral oak.

Established in 2011 by Ksenija and John House, Ovum was founded in hopes of producing Oregon white wines that are honest reflections of time and place.  Their low intervention production method is a commitment to letting the vintage and vineyard shine, not the vintner.  Fruit comes first - the top priority is finding farmers that share our beliefs, and then getting out of the way so their hard work can be tasted.

Native ferments, no subtractions or additions, except for SO2 - extended lees contact 8-9 months, for textural complexity. All of this is done in neutral barrels of acacia and oak, as well as cement egg and Austrian cask.  Ovum is solely committed to the production of white wines, mainly Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Muscat.

At Ovum, each wine is produced the same way - if the wine smells and tastes different, it has everything to do with terroir, and little to do with the winemaker.  The hope is that through attention to detail and honest technique, they can produce old fashioned wines in the modern world.