Ovum "Big Salt" 2023

Big Salt is a dry, white blend that dreams of capturing the essence of Oregon in a bottle of wine. Fresh, bright aromas of sea spray typify this texturally rich proprietary blend. If you could bottle a day at the beach, this might be it: zesty, aromatic, and refreshing, lively layers of spicy white flowers, fresh peach, savory briny undertones, and a squeeze of citrus will keep you coming back for sip after sip!

Founded by husband-and-wife duo John House and Ksenija Kostic in 2011, Ovum is a celebration of the diverse expressions of Oregon terroir using the Riesling grape as their medium. They source grapes from a range of sites across the state, but the unifying factor is their winemaking. All of their wines are made with native yeast fermentations in neutral oak and acacia barrels and Nomblot concrete eggs, with extended lees contact and no additions or subtractions apart from a small amount of sulfur. Bottling takes place without fining or filtration. 

‘Big Salt’ is a blend of 50% riesling, 30% gewurztraminer, 14% early muscat, 3% sauvignon blanc, and 3% miscellaneous other grapes, sourced from up to 10 organically farmed vineyards in the Columbia Gorge, Willamette Valley, Elkton, Dundee Hills, and Rogue AVAs. The muscat and gewürztraminer see 3-24 hours of skin contact, while the riesling gets a mere three hours of partial skin contact, all of it co-fermented rather than blended after fermentation. The blend for Big Salt enters an aging process, cycling through concrete eggs, neutral oak and stainless steel, five times. Sustainably grown, vegan.