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I've always been fascinated by the various geographical, and therefore climatic, extremes of any wine-growing region.

Not only is it a talking point for terroir, grape varieties and cuisine but the vines will inevitably be exposed to polarizing conditions and thus will exhibit unique characteristics

Think...
Bourgogne: Chablis-to-Beaujolais;
Napa Valley: Calistoga-to-Coombsville;
Willamette Valley: Tualatin Hills-to-Eugene. 

You may be asking yourself- where the hell are the Tualatin Hills?

 
THE PLACE

Located on the Northernmost-edge of the Willamette Valley and parallel to the tension point where the powerful Columbia Gorge forces its way north lies Washington County, Oregon and the Willamette's newest American Viticultural Area (AVA) - the Tualatin Hills.

Though the AVA was only just approved by the TTB in June 2020 the area has a storied history of pioneers like David Hill Winery, Ponzi Vineyards and Dion Vineyard championing this wine-growing region but the real excitement is coming from a new generation of wine-growers and makers which recognizes its unique, cool-climate terroir of largely loess and Laurelwood soils; the extreme winds ripping through the Columbia Gorge; and its long growing season where, at its best, can produce high-acid, lively and long-lived wines.

Two of these wine-growers' are husband and wife Jarad and Giulia Hadi

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PEOPLE & PROJECT


Giulia and Jarad Hadi live on their five-acre farm in the Tualatin Hills NW of Portland where they manage Alpaca for fertilizer, a plethora of plants, scrubs and numerous international grape varieties from Savoie's Monduese, Bourgogne's Chardonnay to Jura's Trousseau among others (they are even trying to grow from seed- a conversation to be had with Jarad).

Giulia was born in Italy surrounded by art where she was classically trained in painting, sculpting, illustration and graphics.  Following Art School, she trained in Art Therapy to connect Psychology and Art in Bologna, Italy.  In 2018 she established Giulia Schiavon Art & Design studio in Oregon. Her grandfather is a winemaker and saw from an early age the artistic synergy between an artist and a winemaker.

Her sculptures and canvas' are often inspired through tasting of Jarad's wine, allowing her to communicate the wine through her work.

In other examples Jarad is inspired by one of Giulia's pieces to create a new wine or divergent style that expresses the piece.  


Jarad was born and raise in the Willamette Valley surrounded by poetryadventure and grapes. He "casually" made his first wine at the age of 21 from grapes in his neighbor's back yard and from there he would dive into the craft by tasting wines from around the world but his life as a winemaker was partially launched by his poetry.

A small publisher in Buenos Aires, Argentina was publishing his work.
 At the time Jarad was finishing his studies and lacked the funds to make the journey south. So, he convinced a small winery named Bodega Calle to provide him with employment. Here he was able to learn the craft first hand and even convinced them to make his own wine on the side. This experience only solidified his instincts.

From Argentina he would then travel and learn to make wine in France, California and ultimately back home to Oregon

Jarad was encouraged to attend the University of Bordeaux by the support and mentorship of Michael Silacci of Opus One and Victoria Coleman of Lobo Wines. Here he earned his Masters Degree in enology and viticulture and humbly worked alongside the eyes and tastebuds of Chateau Pichon Comtesse, consultants of Margaux, Lafite, Mouton, Latour and Chevel Blanc.

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Today Jarad organically farms his five-acre farm, two adjacent vineyards in the Tualatin Hills 
and produces 500 cases annually under the label Grape Ink- where Jarad and Giulia marry their love for wine and art.

'Grape Ink was founded to embody our passion of the artistic nature of wine, utilizing the north-most vineyards of the Willamette Valley.

Our devotion is to highlight the subtleties that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary, creating honest wines rich in personality, complexity, and tension. 

Through finding these specific tones and frequencies that create some of the greatest wines in the world, we challenge the current model of premium wines by offering only limited releases of what is undoubtedly special.

... we are only focused on releasing the highest quality expressions...’

- Giulia and Jarad 
Hadi

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THE WINES

Pinot Noir 'En Plein Air' (2019)
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir (own rooted 17-23 year old vines)
Vineyard: (Organic) Mason Ridge Farms, Tualatin Hills, WV plated on wind blown Loess, double Guyot.
Vinification: Hand harvest, separated into four fermenters to coax out the four faces of pinot noir- white, rosé, red and a small lot left in the vineyard to undergo carbonic maceration before blending them during natural fermentation. The wine is then aged in a mix of neutral barrels and glass Damigianas, unfined, unfiltered, zero additions capturing the purity of its origin.
(4 cases available)


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Chardonnay Linda's Vineyard (2018)

Varietal: 100% Chardonnay (9 year old vines)
Vineyard: (Organic) Linda's Vineyard, Tualatin Hills northernmost, high elevation Chardonnay planted on wind-blown mineral over volcanic soils.
Vinification: Native in neutral oak sur lie for 20 months, unfined, unfiltered, zero additions capturing the purity of its origin, bottle aged for an additional year before release.
(31 cases available)

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Chardonnay 1er Cuvée (2018)
Varietal: 100% (9 year old vines)
Vineyard: (Organic) Linda's Vineyard, Tualatin Hills planted on wind-blown mineral over volcanic soils.
Vinification: Native in neutral oak sur lie for 20 months, single barrel selection, unfined, unfiltered, zero additions capturing the purity of its origin, bottle aged for an additional year before release.
(11 cases available)

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2018 Pinot Noir 1er Cuvée
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir (30 year old vines)
Vineyard: (Organic) Merten Vineyards, Tualitin Hills planted on wind-blown mineral on volcanic soils.
Vinification: Native, traditional maceration, elevage 20 months in neutral barrels, unfined, unfiltered, zero additions capturing the purity of its origin, bottle aged for an additional year before release.
(10 cases available)

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Pinot Noir 'Days Until Harvest' (2019)
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir (15-30 year old vines)
Vineyard: (Organic) Mason Ridge, Merten, High Grove, Tualatin Hills, planted on volcanic, sedimentary and wind-blown soils. 
Vinification: Native, traditional maceration, elevate in neutral barrels for 18 months, unfined, unfiltered,  zero additions capturing the purity of its origin.
(51 cases available)

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Mountainous Field Blend 'Nebbioso' (2019)
Varietal: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (30 year old vines)
Vineyard: (Organic) Merten Vineyards, Tualatin Hills planted on wind-blown mineral on volcanic soils.
Vinification: Full cluster carbonic with extended maceration, elevage in stainless and glass for 6 months, zero additions capturing the purity of its origin.
(18 cases available)

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Rosé 'Canvas of the Valley' (2020)
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir (20 year old vines)
Vineyards: (Organic) Mason Ridge Farms, Tualatin Hills planted on wind-blown mineral soils SSE facing.
Vinification: whole-cluster pressed with zero sulfur into stainless steel barrels to retain a long, slow fermentation over 3 months via native yeast, elevage 6 months, unfined and zero additions.
(24 cases available)

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This, one of Giulia's canvas', was the inspiration for Jarad's Mountainous Field Blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris named Nebbioso.

...a little backstory...

I honestly don't recall how Grape Ink came across my proverbial radar. Somehow I found their email and sent a note back in mid-December to learn about the winery as we were looking for new Oregon producers at the time.

Not much can be found on the interwebs and even less on their Instagram. All of these things were a positive for me as I loath Instagram-famous wines- and really- most famous wines in general. They are often a let-down, over priced, hyped-up and I'd rather support the people that need it. (Ok I'll step down from my soap box...)


Jarad was kind enough to reply three days later- a record from my experience for winemakers- let alone small producer like this whom have a lot on their plates' already. Shortly thereafter we jumped on a call to discuss our businesses'.  We covered some good ground but after a few hours I felt that I needed see the project first-hand. I asked Jarad if he'd be comfortable with me driving down to spend some time- naturally socially distanced- in the vineyards and three days later I drove to Tualatin to meet him at his farm. 

We spent another five or so hours walking the three adjacent vineyards. A large portion of the conversation naturally became about the land they farm; increasing the wages for their manual labor; soil types, education, experience; various varietals to experiment with and ultimately philosophy for business and family.

Eventually we sat down to taste the wines over a beautiful Italian spread that Giulia had prepared. Jarad mentioned that I was the first distributor he had spoken with that had not asked about allocation, pricing, scores, etc. Instinctually I knew there was something special here and pricing, production, allocations did not matter. We eventually had to wrap up as I had other meetings in the Valley that I had been postponing all day. 

In my humble opinion, these are some of the most inspiring wines I've ever tasted.

I got back to my hotel around 11:30pm after my two other meetings. I checked my email and had a note from Jarad thanking me for coming out to the farm. He noted that after a recent
article in Forbes Magazine he had sold out all of his wine. Wine consumers across the U.S. were ordering in droves and he was now offering en premier for future releases. 

Simultaneously he had every distributor from Jenny and Francois, Amy Atwood Selections to Indie Wines calling and emailing. Not having distribution experience he noted that he was not familiar with any of them. All, he mention, made promises to 'blow-up' his 'brand' and 'take' whatever wine available.

After our meeting Jarad had called his friend Gabriel, the best man at his wedding, for advise. Gabriel is a long time wine professional now working in New York who's father is a wine-grower in California and has a lot of experience in wine distribution

Turns out Gabriel is a mutual friend of ours. Several calls later Jarad and I agreed to a longterm partnership in Washington.

I'm so stoked to share these wines with you our loyal customers.
- Eric Swikard, Vin2U

 
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