GC Wines 'Ensemble' 2023
GC Wines Founder John Grochau made his way to wine organically, starting first in fine dining restaurants in Portland, namely the legendary Higgins, and learning to make wine under the guidance of Willamette Valley greats.
In 2002, he founded Grochau Cellars, his eponymous wine label, where he could explore the production of food-friendly wines reminiscent of place. More than twenty years later, John has become well known in the Oregon wine industry as a friend, compatriot and community builder.
He has lent his expertise to countless winemaking endeavors and prioritized strong relationships with growers across the state. After reflecting on more than two decades in the business, he shortened the name to GC Wines to reflect the brand’s evolution from one person’s dream to a dream realized and a much bigger family.
All were fermented with native yeasts. The wine was filtered and the sulfite addition was 25 ppm.
The wine was mainly aged in stainless steel with around 20% aging in neutral French oak barrique. Grochau aged the wine for only 4.5 months and bottled 1,309 cases in February of 2024.
The wine bottle used is very light weight (400g), which is now required for sales in certain channels at the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), who this wine was originally destined for.
30% of the Pinot Gris was macerated on skins for only one day before being pressed off and fermented as juice. The remaining 70% were fermented on skins where they macerated anywhere from 6 to 12 days, depending on the phenolic extraction.
Grochau cofermented some of the Pinot Gris with Gamay and Pinot Noir, these lots spent more time on the skins as the phenolics in the red varietals were riper and less astringent.
The Trousseau and Auxerroi were fermented and aged separately, both wines were aged in neutral French oak barrels.
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Varietal Composition | 54.12% Pinot Noir, 7.37% Gamay Noir,
33.38% Pinot Gris, 4.02% Auxerrois,
0.93% Auxerrois |
| Appellation | Willamette Valley |
| Alcohol | 13.00% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Cases Produced | 1,000 |
| Country of Origin | UNITED STATES |
| State of Origin | Oregon |
| Artificially Carbonated | No |
| Sparkling Wine | No |
Cochran Vineyard in Washington County. This vineyard is over 30 years old and is located just outside of the town of Banks. It isn't a great site, but it produces a supple, fresh and pure style of Pinot Noir that has been a large part of our Commuter Cuvee blend since 2010. This vineyard is farmed LIVE, but is not certified.
Mason Ridge Vineyard in Washington County. This vineyard is 16 years old and is not far from Cochran, but in a cooler part of the valley, giving us great acidic structure and freshness. All of the Pinot Gris came from this site along with a small amount of Pinot Noir. The vineyard is farmed Organic, but not certified.
Pamar Vineyard, Van Duzer Corridor. This is a young site located in the cool and windy Van Duzer Corridor. The Trousseau is only in its 5 year and quite frankly, is still finding its feet. The vineyard is LIVE certified.
Havlin Vineyard, Van Duzer Corridor. This site is 14 years old now, we have been working with this site since 2014. The vineyard is LIVE certified.
Zenith Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills. We only used the Auxerrois from this site in this blend. While the vineyard is old and established, the Auxerrois vines are only 8 years old. This is a LIVE certified vineyard.
