Hello from wintry Walla Walla and welcome to the release of the 2017 Devium French Creek Red and the 2018 Devium Solaksen White Pinot Noir. After opening up ordering to previous buyers of Devium, I have less than 5 cases of the White Pinot Noir left so please don't hesitate to order if you would like some! These two wines are a fantastic juxtaposition of two sides of the wine industry that I love. On one hand, we have the intellectual, savory, brooding and occasionally ill-tempered 2017 French Creek Red Wine, and on the other, we have the fun, frivolous, utterly delicious and always friendly 2018 Solaksen White Pinot Noir. Both of these wines have a place in my cellar and I hope they have one in yours too. Below, I have copied the notes that I wrote about these wines last month in my “save the date” email.

As always, the grapes for the 2017 vintage of the French Creek Red were picked together and co-fermented utilizing 100% whole cluster (foot crushed), spontaneous yeast, and no adjustments of any kind. Once primary and secondary fermentation were completed, I aged the wine in concrete for 3 months before moving it to neutral French oak, 300L & 500L barrels. Once in barrel, the wine was left to rest peacefully with no interruptions except for occasional topping. The finished wine is 81% Mourvèdre, 18% Syrah and 1% Grenache Blanc and comes in at 12.7% alcohol, with lovely fresh acidity and a really exciting energy. The aromatics are all animal and earth, but the palate shows a lovely turn of floral red fruit and a very enticing evergreen/herb component that lingers through the finish. I am thrilled with this wine and I believe you will be too. One additional note on this wine; if you insist on drinking it early, PLEASE GIVE IT A DECANT, thank you.

The 2018 Solaksen Vineyard White Pinot Noir is a wine that I made in partnership with Matías Kúsulas, who also makes wine here in Walla Walla and is the Viticulturist at Solaksen Vineyard. Solaksen Vineyard is located in the middle of nowhere in central Washington in the soon to be approved "Royal Slope" AVA. We picked the grapes extremely early, whole cluster pressed them, then allowed the wine to ferment spontaneously in neutral French oak. After primary fermentation, the wine was racked to one neutral 500L puncheon. We bottled this wine earlier this month and couldn't be happier with the results. I will skip the tasting note for this wine and just quote my friend, Chef Andrae Bopp, when he tasted this from barrel: "I just found my lawnmower wine for the summer". This wine is low alcohol, crazy fresh and crazy delicious. Unfortunately, it is also crazy limited with only 5 cases left.

As in the past, I am offering the 2017 French Creek Red Wine in 3, 6 & 12 packs with price breaks as you purchase larger quantities; also, I have magnums which can be ordered in any quantity you like! For the White Pinot, you will be able to order any quantity that you want up to 12 bottles, but there will be no quantity discounts. Unfortunately, due to the extremely small amount of White Pinot that I have available, I am requiring the purchase of at least a 3 pack of the French Creek Red in order to access the White Pinot. Thank you so much for your understanding. On this release, I am offering $25 flat rate shipping on ALL orders of 750ml bottles, and will charge an additional $10 shipping on the magnums, no matter the quantity. Please follow the link below to order and as a reminder, this link will take you to the Sleight of Hand Cellars web store.
ORDER HERE

Both wines will be available to pick up at Sleight of Hand Cellars in Walla Walla or at our Sodo (Seattle) location beginning the first week of April. Shipping orders will go out beginning April 8th.

I will be hosting my annual pick up & tasting events on these dates:

Walla Walla: April 6th, 4:00PM-7:00PMish
Seattle (Sodo): May 18th, 4:00PM-7:00PM

Also, with the increased production of the 2017 French Creek Red wine, I will be happy to host tasting appointments in Walla Walla, please just email me at keith@deviumwine.com to schedule a visit.

Thank you all so much for your continued interest and support!

Cheers,

Keith