The Featured Club Helioterra Wines:
2024 Starthistle Cuveé
and
2020 Mourvédre
2024 Starthistle Cuvée, High Pass Vineyard
This wine has been cloaked in mystery since we first made it in 2014 under the Helioterra label. The Starthistle Cuvée has been a darling to us since day one — though its true origin traces back to 2004, when Anne first crafted it under a different brand and in a different style.
The Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is a prehistoric-looking, spiny, noxious little vineyard weed — and yet, somehow, its tiny blossoms produce one of the finest honeys in the world. Recognizing this unlikely magic, we decided to embrace our "inner Starthistle" and make this tenacious survivor the mascot of our most elusive wine.
Starthistle is a blend of Riesling and the rare and largely unknown variety Huxelrebe — a pre-war hybrid of Chasselas and Courtillier Musqué, two venerable Old World varieties. It is grown by our friend Dieter Boehm, who personally carried Huxelrebe cuttings from Germany and propagated them for our future enjoyment.
The two grapes were harvested two and a half weeks apart and fermented separately before being blended together. Fermentation was arrested early on the Riesling — blessed with brilliant Noble Rot, as seen in the photo — to preserve a touch of natural sweetness that balances the wine's bright acidity. Inspired by the great Auslesen of Germany, this playful interplay of sweet and bright is sure to enliven the senses. The wine is packed with apricot, tropical fruit, white florals, and a delicate minerality that complements the slight sweetness beautifully.
Enjoy as an aperitif, with cheese, or alongside your favorite summer salad or spicy dish.
2020 Heart of the Hill Vineyard Mourvédre
Choosing which red wine to feature for this club release took some real deliberation — but once I landed on it, I knew it was right.
One of my favorite parts of the wine club is getting to share the deeper stories behind the wines. And the story behind this one is a doozy.
2020 was one of the most challenging vintages I have ever made — arguably the hardest. We all remember what the world looked like that fall: deep into the COVID pandemic, with masks, social distancing, no vaccines, and a kind of collective exhaustion that's hard to put into words. I cringe just thinking back to it.
But here in Oregon, things were one step harder. On top of everything else, we were hit with massive wildfires. The smoke was so severe that Oregon registered the worst air quality in the world for two consecutive weeks. And because we were all living in our COVID pods, I couldn't bring in outside help. So it was just me — with occasional backup from my kids, then 11 and 14, who were simultaneously doing school from home — who made all 2,000 cases of the 2020 harvest. That was a lot of work. A lot of work.
Wildfire smoke did affect some of the wines we made that year. But Red Mountain AVA in Washington fared better than most. Its elevated, wind-swept topography dispersed smoke more effectively than valley-floor AVAs, and the long, warm season allowed growers to produce concentrated, aromatic reds. We are incredibly fortunate to work with the Williams family of Kiona Vineyard — the founding family of the Red Mountain AVA, and people who understand grape growing on that mountain better than anyone.
Red Mountain is one of Washington's hottest growing regions, and Mourvèdre is a heat-loving, late-ripening variety — making it a natural fit. The intense sun exposure, alkaline sandy-gravel soils, and dramatic swings between daytime heat and cool desert nights all leave a strong mark on the fruit. At Kiona's Heart of the Hill Vineyard, where the heat is most concentrated, the grapes develop powerful tannins and a deeply savory character unlike anything grown in cooler sites.
Our 2020 Mourvèdre is the product of all of that — the hardship, the terroir, and the resilience of a remarkable site. It's a deep ruby wine with a rich, velvety mouthfeel and intense, layered flavors: blueberry, blackberry, and plum at the core, with earthy, iron-tinged, meaty depth running beneath. White pepper and spice emerge on the finish. It's the kind of wine that rewards patience — and that, I think, tells its story honestly.