The wine press—myself included—enjoys preaching about the essential balance of art and science in winemaking. However, at the end of the day, someone or something has to sell the product, oftentimes regardless of quality and in the favor of good packaging. Although it can be boggling (even startling) what plonk can sell with just a little makeup, the true balancing is mastering the weight of art, science and good marketing sense in a wine.
Portland-based winemaker Leah Jorgensen understands this quandary and remedies it with style and grace in her young eponymous winery, Leah Jørgensen Cellars. Her artistic side takes her to Southern Oregon, handcrafting relationships with growers who work specifically with varieties of France’s Loire Valley—Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc and even Gamay Noir. Her winemaking science allows her to wrap her brain around a region that regularly sees summer days hit well into the triple digits, and how to highlight that in the growing season. Having worked for wineries and vineyards on both coasts of the United States, her cultured palate helped her to conclude that Oregon didn’t necessarily need another Pinot Noir producer but that well-made Loire-style wines were slim pickings. Her marketing awareness drew her to the alluring aesthetics that don her labels and to christen the wines with sharp-witted names like the “Loiregon” Sauvignon Blanc, “Oregon Tour Rain” blend of Cab Franc and Gamay and the “Clos Rogue Valley” Reserve Cab Franc. Doesn’t hurt that she prices the majority of her small-lot wines under a $30 price tag either.
The 2013 Blanc de Cabernet Franc pulls from Mae’s Vineyard, an organically farmed site in Applegate Valley. Art meets science in this red grape variety that is pressed and stripped of its skins to avoid potential coloring contact. It is then barrel-fermented, switched to stainless steel and stirred on the lees. The wine itself deceives the eye, advertising aromas of a much darker glass with smoke and succulent herbs. Fragrant but gentle with scents of floral perfume reminiscent of Gewürztraminer, lemon curd, white tea, sweet spice and saline. Crisp, delicate and herbal, the saline and smoke pull off a south-of-the-border nostalgia, channeling mezcal and prickly pear juice zipped up with creamy lemon for a truly unique and balanced wine.
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