A Blooming Hill Vineyard
2008 Mingle

Mingle is a dry white blend, refreshing and crisp with complex fruit flavors of peach, melon and tangerines.

The three varieties of this white wine blend were grown side by side in our upper block. Pinot Gris made up 12 rows of the center of the block with the Chardonnay on the right and the Riesling on the left. They grew and ripened at different rates and each was harvested at its peak, and then treated as a separate wine through the fermenting process. The wines developed slowly, maximizing the extraction of the fruit flavors from each grape variety. The wines were left on the lees for a differing amount of time depending upon the settling process. When they were ultimately blended, it was in the same percentage in which they grew. Our southeast-facing slope in the last hills of the Chehalem Mountain range, with an unusual microclimate, lends itself to this unique blending. Each vine is nestled in a windblown Loess soil anchored to this basalt range with depths of six to twelve feet. This rich soil produces grapes lavish in the tastes of the earth and its surrounding microclimate. Each vine was coaxed by hand to produce full, compact clusters. In this unusual microclimate the 480 foot elevation is protected by higher hills on three sides from any coastal storms or harsh weather changes. The grapes dry in the morning sun and warm throughout the day producing the sugars and flavors into the peak of the afternoon. They are then cooled by the late afternoon and evening ocean breezes that fan down the Columbia River, skirting the coastal range and heading into this, the northern Willamette Valley. This daily cycle is repeated throughout the fall until the grapes are picked at their peak of ripeness. The vines, trained to a Henry trellis of four cordons, achieved a critical balance of vine growth to berry growth. The bunches ripened in their time – slowly – to achieve the utmost flavors this unusual microclimate can create.

Each variety was pressed in whole bunches and the juice transferred on the same day that the grapes were picked into separate stainless tanks. The fermentation process began immediately and through use of a slow yeast and in a cold fermenting room, the grapes fermented slowly to maximize the extraction of the fruit flavors. Each wine was left on the lees for a differing amount of time depending upon the settling process. Each wine was then racked, fined, filtered and cold stabilized three to four times prior to bottling in early summer.

This wine has a complex set of flavors, which reflect notes of each of the three separate wines resulting in an unusual blended taste that is Mingle. Mingle loves food. We invite you to enjoy Mingle and discover its tropical fruit flavors.

150 cases produced.