Born of Fire and Ice Pepper
Born of Fire and Ice Pepper Washington State s AVA s produce 18 premium wine varietals tons split about equally between 9 red and 9 white types. Overall Growth has averaged 10% per Year since 1997. Red have grown 13% per year. Seattle is what most visitors think of when they think of Washington State + Cool, Grey days for most of the year. + 36 average Rainfall + Many wineries but only 80 acres of grapes The Cascade Mountains with peaks up to 14,000 peaks extend from Canada to California and create a huge rain shadow that extends to the state of Idaho in the east Main Oregon AVA is the Willamette Valley. The cool, moist climate west of the Cascades is favorable for the Pinot Noir grapes for which this region is known. The Columbia Valley 30,000 acres of wine grapes + Semi Desert [15 average rainfall ] + Long warm summer days and cool nights + Vines on their own roots =Add up to intense complex flavors
Columbia Valley Pepper 29,000 acres Yakima Valley 1983 Walla Walla Valley 1984 Red Mountain 2001 Horse Heaven Hills 2005 Wahluke Slope TBD Columbia Basin TBD Temperature Low winter temperatures Hot Summer with long days. Cold Nights in Fall Rain Fall 6-20 inches per year Controlled irrigation in most areas. Soils Glacial Flood Deposits Volcanic Eruptions Overlay Vines on own roots
Wine Regions [Appellations or AVA] Pepper
Walla Walla Valley (1983) 1,200 Acres Seven Hills Pepper Spring Valley Leonetti Cailloux Woodward Canyon Temperature 3000 degrees Heat Units avg. Rainfall 7-20 per year Soils Glacial Benches, Stream beds, Blue Mountains Foothills. Wind Blown Loess.
Cutting Edge Winemaking and Wine growing. 100 + wineries, 2200 vineyard acres Top 3 Varietals Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah
Pepper Pepper 170 Acres Elevation 850ft. Predominate taste is Black Cherry. Seven Hills Les Collines Seven Hills 139 Acres. Elevation 1180ft. Predominate Taste -- Cassis. Les Collines 166 Acres. Elevation 1300ft. First crop 2003 Most vines are trained on a split trellis system [Smart-Dyson or Scott Henry] which maximizes exposure of fruit to sun Water Control --Footsteps in the vineyard supplemented by High tech moisture monitoring Grapes are hand-picked to minimize bruising Minimal Input farming to sustain yields for future generations. www.vineatrust.com
New Frontiers in wine growing and wine making Range of Varietals from a range of vineyards World Class Cabernet & Merlot are the focus for Pepper Syrah main focus for Amavi Cellars along with a Cabernet blend for high end glass pours.
Pepper Winemaker, Jean-François Pellet tasting grapes from each individual block for flavor maturity
Cabernet Sauvignon clusters on split trellis system which maximizes exposure to sun
Harvest crew hand picking Cabernet Sauvignon from Pepper Vineyard.
Cluster of Merlot Grapes from Seven Hills Vineyard
Receiving and weighing grapes from individual blocks at Pepper
Overview of gravity flow winery located in Pepper Vineyard.
Full view of dumping grapes to the sorting table.
Dumping ½ ton bins to the sorting table for hand sorting and inspection.
Hand sorting grapes for quality control.
Grapes flowing from the crusher/ destemmer to stainless steel fermentation tanks.
Tanks where pneumatic "punch down" tool breaks the cap. Objective is to avoid tearing the skins and crushing the seeds
Close up view of "punch down" tool. Fermentation tanks will be punched down 3 times daily.
Cabernet Sauvignon fermenting.
"Free Run" juice flowing from the fermentation tanks to settling tanks.
Shoveling the "must" (fermenting skins) into ½ ton bins. The must will be pressed to extract remaining wine.
Jean-François supervising the dumping of "must" in to the press. Wine will be sampled throughout the press cycle to insure quality control.
Wine racked by gravity from stainless steel tanks to barrels 20' below.
Barrels being filled in the caves.
Filled barrels stored in the climate controlled caves at Pepper. Amavi Cellars Barrel room
Pepper Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Goal: Express the Vineyards of Walla Walla in a classic, elegant Bordeaux
Amavi Brand Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon Goal:to capture the best of amor, vita and vinum love, life and wine in the Walla Walla Valley estate-vineyard wines of Amavi Cellars
Not the end but the beginning of Discovering Exciting Wines from Washington State Pepper