Columbia Crest Experiments with Wild Fermentation in the Vineyard

PATERSON, WA

Each harvest brings Columbia Crest a new opportunity to bring the expressive terroir of Washington State to wine drinkers around the world. Harvest also provides a once-a-year platform for creativity and ingenuity in the vineyard. Currently nestled between the Wautoma Springs vines is a half-ton concrete fermenter holding Clone 8 Cabernet Sauvignon grown from the very vines that surround it. For the first time, Columbia Crest will be fermenting the Wautoma Springs Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon not only from yeast indigenous to the vineyard, but also physically in the vineyard.

Columbia Crest’s head winemaker, Juan Muñoz-Oca, explains, “Wautoma Springs is an iconic vineyard in the Cold Creek area that consistently yields concentrated complex berries. For our Reserve Tier wines, we have been experimenting for years with native fermentations. Using this methodology has brought captivating characteristics and an alluring rawness to the wine that is dramatically different from the characteristics of fermentations with commercial yeast. I wanted to explore what nuances would emerge from wild fermentation in the vineyard, and create a wine that is truly an expression of Wautoma Springs.”

Fermentation will continue for approximately 21 days with gentle hand punch downs occurring twice daily. Since the fermentation will not be temperature controlled, as it would be in the winery, nature will truly take its course. The wine will rely on the temperature swings from day to night and the concrete fermenter’s ability to maintain a consistent temperature.

Muñoz-Oca states, “2015 will be the seventh vintage of our Wautoma Springs Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The final wine resulting from the indigenous fermentation will be drastically different from its sister vintage that is currently fermenting in a 100% stainless steel tank in the winery. I expect that the wild fermentation will emphasize rustic characteristics and will be sophisticated yet raw. It will be an exceptional opportunity to taste the two sister wines side by side.”

About Columbia Crest
Founded in 1983, Columbia Crest has grown from a small winery in a relatively unknown wine region to one of the most significant wineries in the U.S. and a major force behind Washington State’s emergence as a world class wine region. In 2009, Wine Spectator magazine named the Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon the No. 1 Wine in the World on its Top 100 list, the first time a wine from Washington State has received the ranking. More information about the winery can be found at ColumbiaCrest.com.

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For further information:
Amanda Arrigotti
425-415-3715
amanda.arrigotti@smwe.com