What is the Swick Team Drinking?
Joe
Winemaker/Proprietor
What wine are you excited about right now?
The 2020 Mourvedre!
Year after year, the wines we produce from Conley Vineyard are consistently some of my favorites. Since 2016, our Mourvedre wine has always been 100% from Conley Vineyard. At 1700 feet elevation west of Yakima, Washington, Conley benefits from chilly nights while staying windy and sunny during the day. This keeps sugars low and retains fresh acidity. Our Mourvedre is always the last fruit to come in. Normally not getting above 12.5% alcohol.
The 2020 Mourvèdre is one of my favorite wines because it is a nice balance of everything that I love in a red wine. Eathier, stonier aromas with medium palate weight with fresh, firm acidity and tannin. It is true to cariety, but it shows more of a cold climate expression of the grape. I think that this wine is just now starting to open up and will continue to do so over the next five years.
I was first introduced to Mourvèdre through the wines of Domaine Tempier in Bandol, France in about 2001. One of my epiphany wine moments was tasting a 1989 "La Tourtune" at Michael Mino SF in 2006. A few years later I tasted the first vintage of a new California winery called "Dirty and Rowdy" that was making 11.5% whole-cluster Mourvèdre in California!?! My mind was blown and this was when I knew I wanted to make Mourvèdre.
MaureenAssistant Winemaker
What is your favorite thing about working with Swick or — more generally — in the Pacific Northwest?
It is a true joy is being able to work with so many grape varietals. I have worked in various regions around the world that have specific wines that they are known for and for wineries that produce a predominant style, including Pinot houses in my native Willamette Valley. Being able to focus on learning about a specific grape and style is valuable, but at this point in my career being able to work with 20+ varietals each year is absolutely invaluable. My curious mind is constantly satiated!
What wine are you excited about right now?
The 2020 Counoise Pet Nat!
I love our current array of young, fresh, and ready wines but the Counoise Pet Nat really stands out from our previous vintage. It has rounded out into a fruity, brioche-y, bubbly treat that makes me long for the oh-so-soon days of spring sunshine.
Associate Winemaker
What is your favorite thing about working with Swick or — more generally — in the Pacific Northwest?
I’m fairly new to working in the wine industry. I’m grateful to be able to come to work in such a beautiful place as the Willamette Valley every day. I initially fell in love with the physicality of working in a cellar. It’s demanding work, but at the end of the day my body feels stronger. Working at Swick we have such a small team in the winery that I get to do a bit of everything so it has been extremely rewarding to see these 2021 wines start to go out to the world knowing I had a hand in getting them there.
What wine are you excited about right now?
The 2021 Aligoté is sitting on the shore of the Adriatic and being fed a pear out of the hands of your lover who just spent all day in the sea.
It has beautiful masculine energy. It’s Russell Westbrook’s perfectly tailored red wool slacks. It’s sending a 🔥 to your DMs and following through with an actual conversation. It’s the comforting smell of the cab of a work truck.
