Happy summer 2018! Walla Walla is currently gripped in our first real heat of the year, so this was a great time to hide away in the cellar and write up a newsletter. There are a lot of exciting developments for Devium this year and I am excited to share them with you.

On Halloween day, I will be offering the first white wine produced under the Devium label. The wine is my 2016 Elevation Vineyard Marsanne. It is extremely limited in production and is a one off wine. The vines were hit particularly hard by the winter of 2017 and we made the decision to pull out all of the Marsanne and replace it with Syrah that is used for SofH. This is such a cool expression of the Marsanne grape, bursting with personality and carrying a tremendous amount of texture for a white wine that weighs in at 12% alcohol. I will provide a full rundown on the wine, complete with production and tasting notes when I send the offer, so for now just keep this on your radar!

Speaking of Devium releases, I still have a small amount of the 2016 Devium French Creek Red left for sale. By small amount, I mean tiny and hardly worth mentioning, but if I am going to sell it to anyone, I would prefer to sell it to my mailing list members. This wine has just continued to blossom in bottle and is starting to drink really well with a 2-3 hour decant. The aromatics and flavor profile are fully in the floral camp right now with a bit of prickly thorns for interest. Here is the link to order: http://sofhcellars.orderport.net/wines/Devium. Please note that if you order wine to be shipped, it will not go out until the weather allows this Fall. If you have any questions, drop me a note at keith@deviumwine.com.

This brings us to our three new developments:

First, the inaugural Devium sparkling wine, the 2017 Celilo Vineyard Blanc de Blanc, is happily undergoing secondary fermentation in bottle and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. This is certainly the most ambitious effort to date for Devium, and I smile a little every time I see the bottles neatly stacked in the tirage bin.

Second, I have a new vineyard source coming online for 2018. This is one of the most exciting new vineyard projects in Washington, and in the spirit of Devium and going our own way, we will be working with a small block of Graciano. Due to the nature of this vineyard and an upcoming press release (we can’t steal anyone’s thunder!) I have been asked to wait until September to announce the details, so you will have to content yourselves with this photo and an article explaining why Graciano was even planted in the first place. https://www.winemag.com/2018/07/16/graciano/.

Third (and finally), I am very excited to show off Devium’s first toy. I am happy to show off the first Clayver that will ever be used in Washington wine making. The Clayver is a sandstone based, ceramic vessel that is completely inert and only allows for a small amount of oxygen ingress. This 400L oval should be perfect for the Celilo sparkling wine program and I can’t wait for it to arrive in late August!

As always, thank you all so much for your support and interest in Devium. This project would not be possible without the early support and encouragement that you have provided.

Cheers,

Keith