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Maloof Wines

L’Eau Epicée 2019

Price: $35.95
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Tasting notes

The Gewurztraminer skin contact (20 days) gives this sparkling wine real texture and weight that most pet-nats lack — you get honeysuckle and dried apricot on the nose, then blood orange and saline minerality on the palate, all carried by the piercing acidity of Willamette Valley Riesling. The 'ancestropetnoise' method, using thawed frozen Riesling must to trigger refermentation in bottle, is genuinely original and produces a fine, integrated bubble unlike typical col fondo or pet-nat examples.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Blood OrangeDried ApricotHoneysuckleSaline
  • Style: Sparkling white; hazy amber-gold; blood orange, dried apricot, honeysuckle, saline mineral; high acidity; fine persistent bubbles
  • Grapes & Terroir: Riesling and Gewurztraminer; BeckenRidge Vineyard, Willamette Valley; own-rooted, dry-farmed, planted 1976; Jory and loam soils, ~650ft elevation; LIVE certified, transitioning to organic
  • Winemaking: Three-lot ferment: Riesling in 500L neutral puncheons; Gewurztraminer split between direct-press stainless and 20-day skin contact in neutral French oak; blended dry, frozen Riesling must added, bottled for in-bottle refermentation ('ancestropetnoise'); unfined, unfiltered, no added sulfites
  • Serving: Serve well chilled (38-45F); store upright; gently invert before serving or decant to leave sediment behind
  • Pairing: Thai green curry, Vietnamese pho, fried chicken, fresh chevre, light rillettes
  • Similar To: For fans of col fondo Prosecco and skin-contact whites who want something with aromatic intensity and real texture

L'Eau Epicée (French for 'spicy water') is made from Riesling and Gewurztraminer sourced from BeckenRidge Vineyard, a 13-acre site owned by Ken and Becky Jacroux in the Willamette Valley. The vines are own-rooted and dry-farmed, planted in 1976, and sit at approximately 650 feet elevation on Jory and loam soils. At the time of this 2019 vintage, the vineyard was LIVE certified and transitioning to organic certification through Oregon Tilth.

The wine is made in three lots. Riesling is pressed and fermented in neutral 500-liter puncheons. The Gewurztraminer is split: a portion direct-pressed and fermented in stainless steel, the remainder destemmed, fermented on the skins for 20 days, then pressed off into neutral French oak barrels. Once all three lots reach dryness, they are blended into a single tank. Freshly thawed Riesling must — frozen at crush the previous fall — is stirred in, and the wine is immediately bottled. Refermentation in bottle over a couple of months produces the bubble. Maloof calls the method 'ancestropetnoise,' a hybrid of ancestral Champenoise and petillant naturel. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with no added sulfites.

The result is a hazy, amber-gold sparkling wine with fine, persistent bubbles and a small amount of natural sediment in the bottle — closer in style to a col fondo Prosecco than a conventional pet-nat. The Gewurztraminer skin contact adds texture and grip, while the Riesling anchors the wine with bracing acidity. Aromatics lean toward blood orange, dried apricot, honeysuckle, and saline mineral notes. Only 120 cases were produced.

Store upright. Serve well chilled. Gently invert before pouring to resuspend sediment, or decant to leave it behind.

The wine's aromatic intensity and acidity work well with spiced dishes — think Thai green curry, Vietnamese pho, or Sichuan cold noodles. It also pairs cleanly with fresh chevre or a light rillettes on toast. The skin-contact texture holds up to fried foods: tempura vegetables or fried chicken both work well.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Sparkling Wine
Wine Style:, Sparkling
Grapes:, Riesling, Gewurztraminer
Farming:, Sustainable
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 12%
Country:, United States
Region:, Willamette Valley
Appellation:, Willamette Valley AVA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Maloof Wines

Maloof Wines was founded in 2015 by Ross Maloof and Bee Maloof, based in Forest Grove, Oregon, west of Portland. Ross spent over a decade in the Philadelphia dining scene — including roles at Vedge Restaurant — before a harvest internship in the Willamette Valley redirected his career. Bee worked for nearly a decade as a materials science engineer in the aerospace industry before turning her focus to winemaking during the 2016 harvest. The project began entirely as a negociant operation, sourcing fruit from established Willamette Valley vineyards.

In late 2019, the Maloofs took over one of the oldest vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley — a site in Gales Creek originally planted in 1971-1972 by Harvey Shafer, founder of Shafer Vineyard Cellars. They renamed it No Clos Radio, where the winery and estate vineyard now operate, also co-producing wines with the team from Fossil & Fawn. Winemaking is also done alongside Perry Heistuman. The estate grows Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay.

Maloof focuses almost exclusively on white wine, with an emphasis on single-vineyard expressions of often-overlooked varieties. Across all wines, the approach is minimal intervention: native yeast fermentation, neutral oak or stainless steel vessels, no fining, no filtration, and no or very low added sulfites. The L'Eau Epicée cuvée is sourced from BeckenRidge Vineyard — own-rooted, dry-farmed vines on Jory and loam soils at 650 feet — and uses an unconventional refermentation method the Maloofs call 'ancestropetnoise,' involving frozen Riesling must added to a dry base wine before bottling.

Wine region

Willamette Valley, United States

The Willamette Valley stretches roughly 150 miles from Portland south to Eugene, bounded by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascades to the east. The valley's cool, maritime-influenced climate produces long, even growing seasons — summers are warm but rarely hot, evenings cool quickly, and rainfall is concentrated in winter and spring, leaving relatively dry harvest windows. These conditions preserve acidity and moderate alcohol, making the region well suited to aromatic white varieties such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer alongside its signature Pinot Noir.

The valley contains 11 nested AVAs, each defined by distinct soils and elevations. The northern portion — home to BeckenRidge Vineyard — sits within the broader Willamette Valley AVA near the Tualatin Hills, where Jory volcanic soils and loam predominate at elevations between 200 and 1,000 feet. Jory is red, iron-rich, and well-draining, and is Oregon's official state soil. While Pinot Noir dominates plantings across the valley, the northern hills also support Riesling and Gewurztraminer, both of which thrive in the cooler conditions and retain strong aromatics and acidity through the long growing season.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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