Explore Oregon Wines: Wineries | Varietals | AVAs | Cellar 503 Selections
Troon Vineyard Biodynamic Vermentino
Supporting Pioneers
Troon Vineyard is Oregon’s only Demeter Biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified® winery and farm, and it is one of four farms in the world to be Regenerative Organic Gold Certified®. Life on our farm includes cider apples, a vegetable garden, hay fields, re-wilded honeybees, sheep, chickens, wildlife, dogs, humans and, of course, grapevines. We are dedicated to healing our planet while crafting complex, land-to-table wines that clearly speak of our place in Oregon’s Applegate Valley.
Intention guides the work on the farm and in the cellar. Their farming is inspired by the energies of our vineyard, creating wines that bring their personality into your glass. Nate Wall's winemaking is minimalist, and they use only native yeasts with no additives to ferment the wines and eschew the use of new oak barrels to reveal each nuance of wines grown in Oregon’s Applegate Valley. That intention follows through into our gardens and orchards as they aspire to produce food that not only nurtures, but is delicious. Focus and intention are fundamental in Biodynamics. Their vision intertwines environmental concerns with a passion to produce wines from the vineyards and food from the gardens that have both flavor and meaning.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Troon Vineyard, Grants Pass, Oregon
Biodynamic Vermentino
Nate Wall's Winemaker Notes
Vermentino continues to be my favorite white variety at Troon. Despite the obvious differences between the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon and the Italian island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, Vermentino wines from both locations share much in common. Throw that our vermentino hits the ripeness bullseye each year during harvest season, with the acidity, sugars, and flavors all ripening at exactly the right time - this lets me know that Vermentino loves growing at Troon Vineyard.
Our 2023 Vermentino was harvested on the morning of September 23, 2023. After making the short trip from the vineyard to the winery, 60% of the fruit was loaded directly into the press, while the remaining 40% was foot-treaded and allowed to soak on skins for a few hours before being loaded into the press. After pressing, the juice was settled for approximately twenty-four hours before being barreled down to neutral French oak barrels for fermentation.
As with all wines from Troon, no additives, acid or sugar adjustments, enzymes, or sulfur additions are used at crush. Primary fermentation occurs spontaneously with indigenous/native yeasts and bacteria. The barrel ferments in our cellar are cool and very slow, typically taking several months to complete their primary fermentation, finally finishing when the cellar starts
warming up in the spring. During this time, malolactic fermentation also occurs spontaneously. Usually, one hundred percent of the malic acid is converted to lactic acid, giving the wines a richer, rounder mouthfeel, which is also enhanced by the extended time spent on their primary lees. After roughly six months in barrel, this wine was racked to a tank for blending, where it received a small sulfur addition before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
A Cellar 503 selection in December 2024, Finishing Strong Applegate Valley | Vermentino
