Franchere Wine Company Split Infinitives Pet Nat

Franchere Wine Company is an exciting project helmed by Mike Hinds. An Oregon native, Mike got his start working in wine shops in Chicago. After catching the wine bug from a bottle of Vouvray, he returned to his home state where he started taking viticulture classes, working in the cellar at Illahe Vineyards, farming grapes, and finally producing his own wines. Launched with the 2013 vintage, Mike named his project Franchere after his great great grandfather, Gabriel Franchère, who arrived in Oregon in 1811.

The deliciously playful “Split Infinitives” contains multitudes: it’s an orange wine, it’s a lightly fizzy pét-nat, it’s a zero-sulfite crown-capped white blend! The wine began life in late 2022 as a cofermentation of Grüner veltliner and Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley that spent 17 days on the skins. An additional portion of not-quite-dry Grüner from the Columbia Gorge was added and bottled after fermentation resumed. The finished blend is 74% Grüner veltliner and 26% Chardonnay. Again, this is just lightly fizzy and not full-on bubbly, so think of this as a finely tuned orange wine – which of course it is. Think pears, some peach and apricot tones, hints of petrichor and butter biscuit, slightly bitter citrus peel, and of course some tannin from the skin contact. Drink with a light chill - not at fridge temp!