COLUMBIA GORGE, OREGON. [made in the Willamette Valley by Ovum Wines]
(note: if you haven't been to Bar Nina, owner John House's STELLAR wine bar off of NE Alberta, DO SO SOON! It is just awesome!!!) - Neil
 
‘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 3 hours of partial skin contact, all of it co-fermented rather than blended after fermentation. 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!
 
2025 PNK SALT:
The 2025 Ovum "Pink Salt" Oregon Rosé is a highly aromatic, low-intervention wine, featuring a base of direct-press Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Gorge, blended with a dash of white wine (Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer). It offers a vibrant, tart profile with notes of alpine strawberry, zesty lemon, and a distinct, lingering salinity. The Perfect picnic, seafood, salad, party wine.
 
Ovum was founded in 2011 by married couple Ksenija Kostic and John House; inspired by their time spent working together at Chehalem, they set out to showcase the diverse terroirs of Oregon 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.