From the winemaker : Two acres of Cortese are farmed at Fox Hill Vineyard. That's roughly 1/6th of all Cortese planted in the United States. Cortese will always be a rarity here, but Cortese with 6(+) months of skin contact doubles down on the uncommonness of it all. Chilion is a chance for all to see just how incredibly complex this variety is...due mainly to the extended maceration on skins which provide amplified spice, herbs, and phenolics than we're all accustomed to with this particular grape.
We love it with:
Type: Skin Contact
Vintage: 2020
Size: 750 mL
Grape: Cortese
Region: Mendocino, California
Vinification: From Distributor Zev Rovine : After working at Binner in Alsace for several years, Evan Lewandowski moved back to Utah to start making his own wine. Using fruit grown at Fox Hill Vineyards and Testa Vineyards in Mendocino county, Evan begins fermentation in California then transports his fermenting juice in a refrigerated U-Haul to his home in Salt Lake City where he completes the fermentation, aging, and bottling process. When asked to express his viewpoint on organic winemaking, Evan responds: “A winegrower working incessantly in his/her vines, with a mind focused both on the sky above and the soil below, not just the fruit zone, will naturally come to deeply know their vines and their specific place and inevitably seek to eradicate those things that destroy in favor of choosing to support and encourage life. It must start with these connections in the vineyard. Wine made by these people, the ones earnestly and honestly seeking to know their farms, in the end will be organic wine to me.”