Wayne Bailey, Winegrower of Youngberg Hill, discusses five of the wines that he produces at Youngberg Hill in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Youngberg Hill is a 50-acre estate with 20 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards in Willamette Valley. Proprietor Wayne Bailey and his family are the modern-day stewards of a property that has been cherished as a family farm since the 1850s. Wayne’s holistic and biodynamic viticulture, coupled with non-interventionist winemaking, produce a diverse array of wines with personalities as unique as their namesakes.

This is Episode #69 of Understanding Wine with Austin Beeman.

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Special Thanks to Carl Giavanti https://carlgiavanticonsulting.com

Transcript:

Hi, I'm Wayne Bailey, the winegrower at Youngberg Hill. We are located in the McMinnville AVA of the Willamette Valley, Oregon. We sit on 50 acres, 23 acres planted in vines organically, biodynamically and dry farmed. This is coming from the Aspen block, which is named after my youngest daughter. The Aspen block is down at the bottom of the Hill at 500 feet and on marine sediment soil.

The Aspen Pinot Gris is fermented in stainless steel and at a very cool, slow temperature so that we can stop it at just the right amount of residual sugar to pair up and balance nicely with the higher acidity in the wine.

The Chardonnay is a fermented in the traditional French fashion, which means that it's fermented in barrel, but no new Oak. Fifty percent once-used barrels, 50% neutral Oak. It is also gone to malolactic fermentation and then left in barrel for about eight months on the leaves. Chardonnay.

The Cuvee is a blend of Pinot Noir fruit from three different vineyard blocks, all young vine, 7-8 years old and all on Dijon 777 clone. This makes for an easy drinking wine. I call it my quaffing wine. You don't have to overthink it. You don't have to pair with food. Whenever just reaching for a glass of Pinot Noir to enjoy on the patio, this is what I reach for. Bright fruit characteristics, red strawberry, cranberry and rhubarb. Cheers.

Today we're tasting the Natasha Pinot Noir from Youngberg Hill. The Natasha is named after my oldest daughter and that fruit is coming from the Natasha block, which is at 600 feet and on marine sediment soil. It is fermented in barrel and it's got nice bright fruit characteristics and really accentuates the Pommard characteristic in terms of that clone. It's 60% Pommard and 40% Wadenswil clones and got nice structure because those vines are 30 years old. Enjoy.

Jordan is the name of my middle daughter and that is where the fruit is coming from. This block sits at 800 feet and is on volcanic rock soil. It is made up of 30 year old Wadenswil and Pommard clones that give this wine a lot more structure, a lot more depth and complexity, and also more of an earthy and mineral quality because of the volcanic rock soil. Enjoy.