The balmy Summer of 2017 turned truly cruel in early September when a massive 50,000-acre forest fire devoured the Columbia River Gorge. It was a sad time for us as we worried about everyone, and everything, impacted by the disaster. Unfortunately, that impact extended to our beautiful Columbia Gorge Pinot Noir, which was compromised by smoke from the fire. Despite this blow in an already challenging harvest, we looked for a silver lining – and found one. A grape growing pal was sitting on some stunning Yakima Valley Grenache, prime for the pick. We combined it with Red Mountain Mourvedre and ended up with a simple stunner, a provençal pleaser, a rousing Rosé...you get the idea. Low alcohol, with a delicate nose of lemon and Summer strawberry, you’ll want to drink this Rosé much as you want to wear your flip-flops. “It was an emotional time for everyone but that Grenache put us back on track and we’re really excited by the result,” says Ali. “It’s good to have friends when Summer truly is cruel.”