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Grochau Cellars 2022 Melon de Bourgogne
Founder Focus: Mr. John Grochau
GC Wines Founder and Head Winemaker, John Grochau made his way to wine organically, starting first in fine dining restaurants in Portland, namely the legendary Higgins, and learning to make wine under the guidance of Willamette Valley greats.
In 2002, he founded Grochau Cellars, his eponymous wine label, where he could explore the production of food-friendly wines reminiscent of place. More than twenty years later, John has become well known in the Oregon wine industry as a friend, compatriot and community builder.
He has lent his expertise to countless winemaking endeavors and prioritized strong relationships with growers across the state. After reflecting on more than two decades in the business, he shortened the name to GC Wines to reflect the brand’s evolution from one person’s dream to a dream realized and a much bigger family.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Grochau Cellars, Amity, Oregon
2022 Melon de Bourgogne
Inspired by Muscadet, our Melon de Bourgogne is a great wine to pair with seafood: bright, mineral, earthy and not too fruity. Bright and lean, full of lime and green papaya fruit.
Vineyard Notes: Our Melon de Bourgogne comes from Stavig Vineyard located about 15 miles away from Portland in Happy Valley, Oregon. The vineyard is an old riverbed with fairly rocky soils and volcanic overlays. The rocky composition harkens to Muscadet’s gravely soils in the western Loire Valley.
Production Notes: This wine is lithe, but with a good amount of body due to 8 months of sur lie aging. 20% of the wine was fermented in concrete eggs, and 80% was fermented in Acacia wood barrels.
Case Production: 350
Vintage Notes: The 2022 started with bud break in early April, with a record breaking frost on April 15th. The spring and early summer were very cold and wet, and it was the rainiest spring in 80 years. Summer truly began in mid-July. We had the hottest August and October on record for the region. Once we arrived at the lag phase, (the halfway point of grape ripening), we found we had a very large crop on our hands. We had to drop close to 50% in some vineyards to ensure ripeness at harvest. Due to the cool weather at the beginning of the year, we started harvesting a full 20 days later than in 2021, on September 26th. This was our biggest harvest ever, much bigger than we expected, and we didn’t finish picking until October 23rd
A Cellar 503 selection in February 2024, Founder Focus Willamette Valley | Melon de Bourgogne
