RED/WHITE wine
WINE MAKER: Dan Rinke
VINTAGE: 2024 (85%+15% 2017)
LOCATION: Willamette, Willamette Valley
VINEYARDS: 85% 5 acres Morning Mist Vineyard West Yamhill, 15% Johan Vineyard 87 acres
ASPECT: gentle hills
ALTITUDE: Morning Mist 750’ above sea level, Johan 200’ above sea level
VINE AGE: Young
SOIL COMPOSITION: Morning Mist is mixed volcanic soils, Johan Missoula granitic marine sediment
PREVAILING CLIMATE & LOCAL CLIMACTIC: Mediterranean, cold winters
FARMING: Organic/biodynamic
GRAPE COMPOSITION: Pinot Noir, Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt, Monduse
HARVEST: by hand, beginning of September
MACERATION: Pinot Noir, Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt each destemmed, direct pressed. Monduse and a small percentage of Pinot Noir destemmed macerated for 3 weeks.
FERMENTATION: Pinot Noir, Grüner Veltliner fermentation separately in IBC totes, Zweigelt, Monduse and a small portion of Pinot Noir in used barrique.
FINING & FILTRATION: None
So2: 15 ppm
ALC: 11%
BOTTLED:  6/24/2024
BOTTLES PRODUCED: 2400

Oregonian Ryšák?

In a moment like now, why not? 

Ryšák is the Czech word for “redhead” and the most typical style of wine from South Moravia (not Oregon). The only production requirement is that it be a blend of red and white varieties, otherwise the winemaker is free to interpret. Ryšák are wildly inconsistent in composition and vinification; some are more white grapes, some more red, free run, whole cluster, macerated or not, some fresh, some aged, varietal bottlings, field blends, single vineyard, co-ferments,  nv cuvees, anything goes. What is shared among Ryšák is their common function. Ryšák should reddish, convivial; serviceable as an aperitif or the main course. Temperature flexible. To be drunk year round. Fruity, savory and modest in alcohol. If you are like us, the sort of wine you can never have too much of. 

Cultural exchange is the essence of Black Lamb, more than alcohol, culture is what we deal in. This makes the ‘laundromat shakedown’ style tariffs an especially hot pile of shit; and then there is how they spend our extorted monies. We can take some small relief in that history is on the side of wine. Nations are young, wine culture is old. Any border where there is viticultural history establishes that the culture of wine came before the border. The adaptive abilities of those who tend the vine are the source of wine’s persistence. So, we too can adapt. 

In November of 24’, we visited Dan Rinke and his partner Kim Hamblin at Art + Science to drink a little cider, and such, and to see the many foraged fruits collected in their cooler that would soon be crushed. Dan shared some wines that were not part of their production. He explained they were made from unsold fruit destined to be sold to a distillery to recoup some of the vineyard costs. We tasted Pinot Noir, Grüner Veltliner, and Zweigelt. Each wine was a feather, super light and gentle, as light wine is better for distillation. We liked the lot so much that we made plans to bottle a mixed barrel for our own drinking. During a subsequent visit we were playing around with the various components and Ryšák appeared. Combine this with our fear of unpredictable tariff costs and the 1 barrel became 8 barrels.Tomorrow we bottle and quickly it will be available. 

Born of angst, a fledgling love of North West wine, and a compulsion towards cultural play, meet THUNDER EGG! This is the first bottling from SPECIAL PROJECTS; a collaboration between Oregon’s finest fruit, Black Lamb, and Dan Rinke (Art + Science). A thunderegg (or thunder egg) is a nodule-like rock, similar to a filled geode, that is formed within rhyolitic volcanic ash layers. It is the state rock of Oregon, representative of the region’s volcanic geology and now the inaugural SPECIAL PROJECT. 

Thunder Egg is a juicy, 11% abv., dry, barely red blend, primarily composed of direct press 2024 Pinot Noir, Gruner Veltliner and Zweigelt from Morning Mist Vineyard. Direct press juice into IBC totes, the Zweigelt into used barrique. A bright base of the 3 wines was blended and then seasoned with barrel aged Monduse and Pinot Noir from Johan Vineyard. Morning Mist is mixed volcanic soils, Johan Missoula flood marine sediment, both vineyards are farmed organic/biodynamic.

In addition to sourcing grapes from them, A university trained viticulturalist and expert in conscientious farming, Dan works with both vineyards as an organic/biodynamic viticultural consultant. This puts him in contact with growers who may have fruit for us to utilize for future SPECIAL PROJECTS. 

We are grateful to be working with Dan and Kim on this project. We hope to continue as long as we can serve as an outlet to such high quality underutilized fruit. Perhaps in time the circumstances we are collectively suffering under will change and we will be a more diverse enterprise for it. We hope…