2020 From Mars

AVA: Yakima Valley
VARIETAL BREAKDOWN: 59% Roussanne, 25% Picpoul, 16% Marsanne
CASES PRODUCED: 100
ALCOHOL: 12.2%

VINEYARDS:
Yakima Valley AVA: Boushey Vineyards

STORY: Among the many loves of Morgan’s life, there resides eclectic extended maceration white wines, and music. This wine is the offspring of those two things. He began making “orange” wine in 2012 when OG first joined our family, and he always wanted an excuse to make another orange wine someday. In 2019, a friendship with John and Amy Richards of our local beloved independent radio station, KEXP, afforded that chance. John and Amy were set to open a new Capitol Hill bar/vegan restaurant/vinyl record shop called ‘Life On Mars’ as a nod to the great David Bowie. They asked if Morgan could make an orange wine just for them. So, he met with Dick and Luanne Boushey in the middle of the 2019 harvest and they let him select small amounts of Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and Picpoul for the project.

The fruit sat on the skins for 8 weeks in Spanish clay tinaja before pressing into barrel for 5 months. We released the wine to Life On Mars just in time for the pandemic to stop life as we knew it. But the restaurant made it through the storm, as did we. “From Mars” lives on in hipster glory at a Vegan restaurant/cocktail bar/record shop.

While readying the 2019 From Mars for pressing, Morgan looked down into the tinaja, and the clay and grape skins reminded him of a celestial image. So, he took a picture with his phone. That picture is the label today. From Mars indeed!