by Chris Russell, Contributor
Nearly a year after harvest, our 2018 vintage wines are each on their own paths to greatness. Several are still aging, some will be ready to enjoy soon, and others are ready to be savored now. Let’s peek in on the status of these wines and explore why we’re especially excited about our 2018 vintage.
Grenache Rosé
Released in May, our 2018 Grenache Rosé is a beautifully colored, aromatic, hedonistic rosé. The crisp and dry palate with ripe fruit and bright acidity is accompanied by aromas of strawberries, plums, tangerines, and dried sage. This wine is ready to be enjoyed now, at home, or in our tasting room.
Sauvignon Blanc
Also released in May 2019, our 2018 Sauvignon Blanc offers phenomenal aromas and flavors, owing to our vines and the exceptional-quality fruit they provided. Aromas of mango, passion fruit, and grapefruit zest are followed on the palate by flavors of key lime, orange Creamsicle, and a flinty minerality. With a seamless, creamy texture and a lengthy finish, this wine is ready to be savored now.
Viognier
Slated to debut as part of our November 2019 wine club release, our 2018 Viognier is a tribute to how well our Rogue Valley vineyard’s climate suits Viognier, allowing us to harvest perfectly ripened fruit. With balanced acidity and noticeable tension on the palate, this wine captures complex aromas of crushed pineapple, peach, apricot, and orange blossom. Almost ready to be enjoyed, the 2018 Viognier also has short-term cellaring potential.
Grenache
Our 2018 Grenache is developing nicely but is still not completely recovered from bottling. This exhilarating wine is an intense brick red with vibrant aromas of berry and hints of lavender and blood orange. On the palate, ripe strawberry and black raspberry flavors mingle with whispers of oregano, tea leaf, red plum, and pink peppercorn. The texture is lithe, with a savory quality on the finish. This remarkable wine will be ready to be enjoyed upon release.
Pinot Noir
Our 2018 Pinot Noir is bottled but not quite ready for release. A mild ripening season and careful vineyard management resulted in a delicate, expressive wine with complex raspberry, cherry, cola, lavender, and pine-needle aromas. The palate is juicy, with black cherry, strawberry jam, and pomegranate flavors followed by a forward-yet-refined finish. Ready to be savored soon, this wine can also be cellared through 2025.
Malbec
We have three Malbecs still aging in barrels—the classic, Darow Series, and Padigan Series. Still a ways out, these wines are shaping up to be full-bodied, elegant reds with wonderful balance and pure fruit expression.
Tempranillo
As with our Malbecs, we have three Tempranillo wines still maturing. The classic, Darow Series, and Padigan Series Tempranillos need more time, but these wines give the impression that they’ll be massive on the palate with intense, ripe fruit character. Despite the ripeness in aroma and flavor, alcohol levels are more subdued than in previous years.
Darow Series Chardonnay
This wine needs more time to reach its peak, but it is going to be truly fantastic. Lush, rich, ripe, and concentrated, this Chardonnay is not to be missed!
Darow Series Viognier
Still aging in barrels, our 2018 Darow Series Viognier elegantly combines perfumed aromatics and fruit in a wine that achieves perfect balance and density like we’ve not previously seen.
Learn More
We hope you’re as enthusiastic as we are about 2Hawk’s 2018 vintage. We’ve released some excellent 2018 vintage wines already, but there’s still much more to come! To ensure you never miss a single wine release, sign up for our wine club and enjoy guaranteed access to new releases of our best, most exclusive wines. Do you have any questions about our vineyard, our wines, or the winemaking process? If so, please comment below or reach out to us directly via our Contact page. We’d love to hear from you!
Meanwhile, if you’d like to know more about Rogue Valley wines, here are a few ways:
- Wine must be aged properly to reach its full potential. Learn how that happens in last month’s post, How Is Wine Aged?
- Visit the tasting room to sample our current wines.
- Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the latest happenings.