Ovum Aligoté 2022

Ovum’s take on Aligoté shows restraint in terms of alcohol but not flavor. White grapefruit and wet granite aromas in no way prepare you for the wine’s savory green olive, white button mushroom and lemon butter flavors. Look for softer acidity, with a rich mouthfeel. Try this wine with a plate of freshly shucked Yaquina Bay oysters.

The 2022 Ovum Aligoté smells like clean ocean air. You can almost feel the cold waters of the Umpqua River flowing through the wine. This is a texture- and palate-riven wine, at once lighter than air and richer than grass-fed butter at the same time. Hints of blueberry and green fig are hidden in the salty depths if you smell close enough.

Less than 30 miles from the Pacific, the Umpqua bends into the town of Elkton. The coastal mountain influence is an ideal climate for white wines of exceptional acidity such as this. Clay-loam soils sit atop a thick slab of sandstone. This soil combined with the alpine river valley microclimate to yield an Aligote of measured ripeness.

Bunches were pressed whole cluster. After settling overnight the juice was racked off heavy lees into Austrian oak casks. This wine aged on lees for ten months, undergoing full malolcatic fermentation. Nothing added except sulfur dioxide.