Hiyu Wine Farm, Aesalon Columbia Gorge, 2022
Producer: Hiyu Wine Farm
Region: Columbia Gorge, Oregon Varietals: Field blend of Spanish and Portuguese white and pink varieties
Viticulture: Organic
Category: White Wine, Skin-Contact
Size: 750ml
Piglets frolic among the vines, cows graze on a neighboring pasture, the snow-covered summit of Mt. Hood floats in the distance; Hiyu Wine Farm surely delivers one of the most bucolic and Alpine sights to be found in the US. No wonder that Nate Ready, the estate’s co-founder, likens this area to the climate of European mountainous regions like Savoie, Valais or Val d’Aosta. Despite its rather low altitude, the proximity of the mountain can keep the vineyards covered in snow as late as May; on the other hand, this part of North Oregon also offers an unusual influence of the nearby deserts, causing the character of the vintages to swing from cool and acid-driven to warm and generous, depending on which natural forces prevail.
“When we began to look for a place to farm, more than 10 years ago, there wasn’t as much diversity in American wine terroirs as there is now; Oregon was kind of the place to be for the wine we wanted to do,” Nate recalls. “It wasn’t a very premeditated decision, though. It was actually rather spontaneous; we simply felt good here when visiting,” he describes how he and his business partner China Tresemer ended up buying the first 7 acres of vineyards, garden, and pasture of what’s now Hiyu Wine Farm.
Ready, a former somm for high-end California restaurants (including the French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s Napa Valley iconic restaurant) was drawn to winemaking and farming by his need to discover and live closer to the origins of food and wine. He completed multiple apprenticeships in various California, Oregon and Italian wineries, citing his stay with Maggie Harrison of Antica Terra winery as his seminal one. Back at Hiyu, they spent the first four vintages working without any mechanization, getting to know the estate little by little. China Tresemer – a former culinary tours manager who also happens to be a talented illustrator and makes all the estate’s graceful watercolor labels – gradually developed their hands-off farming system inspired by biodynamic / regenerative agriculture icons like Leroy, Humbrecht, Joly, Deiss or Fukuoka.
“We are very much on the ‘wild side of permaculture’,” Nate laughs, explaining that besides one winter pruning and some under-vine scythe work, their vines are pretty much left to their own devices. There’s no tilling and the vegetation is controlled only by the farm’s pigs, geese, chickens and other animals that live among them at various times of the year. Some of these practices wouldn’t be allowed if the farm was certified, which is one of the reasons why Hiyu pursues neither organic nor biodynamic certification; the reality is that their farming methods go way beyond the requirements, with 85% fewer sprays used than a typical organic or biodynamic vineyard. There’s also no sulfur used in the vineyards, and diseases are fought with natural compounds like cinnamon oil or mixed herbal teas.
From Winemaker Nate Ready on "Aesalon":
"From a field of Spanish and Portuguese white and pink varieties in the Southeast corner of the farm. Even after eight vintages this wine continues to evolve in form and confound our expectations. It began as something very exotic, wild and floral: a wine of hedonism in 2016 and 17. In the period from 2018 to 21, the wine took on more power and rusticity. It became more profound, less purely fruity but also rustic, a country wine of meditation resembling the white wines of Trevallon or Emidio Pepe. In 2021 it started to shift and with this wine from 2022 the next transformation is complete. This vintage and the next have more fruit and purity than the 19 or 21, while retaining the power and soulfulness that is so captivating in those bottlings. It is even more dense and crystalline and reminds me of Dagueneau Silex in its level of polish."