Our family has been in agricultural production for generations. Over the past century, the Volcanic Vent and 40 acres surrounding, lay unused. It was too difficult to farm with the wind-blown sand and volcanic SCORIA rock soil.
The potential for this property to become vineyard ground was evident and so was the demand for locally grown Idaho vitis vinifera. We planted our vineyard first and the SCORIA brand emerged as soon as we saw the incredible quality of fruit that our vines produced.
Massive boulders lay underneath wind-blown sand on this vineyard block, naturally creating low-yielding, small berries. The legendary inky purple color of our 6.5 acre Malbec block is owed to these large boulders.
A pioneer in the Idaho wine industry borrowed some of our equipment to plant a field of mint. In exchange, he gave us multiple bottles of unlabeled Petit Verdot. Immediately struck by changes of intense flavors as we drank this wine over a decade, we decided to finish the block with 2.5 acres of Petit Verdot.
Our vineyard ranks among the warmest sites in the Pacific Northwest. It is one of the few vineyard sites in the world able to properly ripen this long hanging grape variety. Petit Verdot clusters hang the longest and are the last pick to make it to the crush pad every year, we age this wine longer than most wineries Reserves, in order to bring out all of its nuances.
Our Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot block sit perched upon a 40 foot cliff that drops directly into our Family’s extinct Volcanic Vent.
With rows almost a half mile in length, the wines from this block are a journey amongst the diverse volcanic soil in which our vines take root. The southern edge of these rows sit in deep blow sand that has settled against our hill, adding rich aromatics to these wines. In the middle of the block, large basalt channels stress the vines to the very edge of what they can survive, adding intense color. The silt soils on the northern edge of our vineyard help to smooth the wines and balance the acidity.
Planted in 2021, our first harvest from this vineyard block will be in 2023. We will produce a single-variety wine of each Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache along with a GSM blend.