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Swick Wines

Pinot Grigio 2020

Price: $23.95
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Tasting notes

Twenty months in a single 228-liter barrel gives this Pinot Grigio real texture and weight without losing the grape's freshness. Black tea, quince, and pear on the nose shift to ginger and crisp apple on the palate. At only 19 cases, it is the kind of single-vineyard, low-production white that rarely makes it to a retail shelf.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
QuincePearBlack TeaGinger
  • Style: Medium-bodied white; direct-pressed; black tea, quince, pear, ginger; 20-month barrel aging; 19 cases made
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Pinot Grigio; Merten Vineyard, North Plains, OR; Washington County AVA; practicing organic
  • Winemaking: Direct press; native yeast fermentation; 20 months in one 228-liter neutral barrel; SO2 at aging and bottling; unfined, unfiltered
  • Serving: Serve at 50-55°F; no decanting needed
  • Pairing: Roasted chicken, salmon, halibut, pork loin, aged Gruyère, ginger-forward dishes
  • Similar To: For fans of textured, barrel-aged whites like white Burgundy or Alsatian Pinot Gris who want a Pacific Northwest expression

This is the 2020 Merten Pinot Grigio from Swick Wines, sourced from Merten Vineyard in North Plains, Oregon, which sits within the Washington County AVA at the northern end of the Willamette Valley. The vineyard is farmed using practicing organic methods. Only 19 cases were produced.

Winemaker Joe Swick direct-pressed the fruit and aged the wine for 20 months in a single 228-liter neutral barrel. Small additions of SO2 were made during aging and at bottling. The wine was not fined or filtered. This is a négociant-style project: Swick sources from growers and makes wine at his facility in Newberg, Oregon.

The wine is medium-bodied with aromas of black tea, quince, and pear. On the palate it shows texture from extended barrel aging alongside fresh notes of ginger and apple. The 20-month élevage in a small barrel gives it more structure and weight than a typical quick-release Pinot Grigio.

Joe Swick founded his label in 2013 after nearly a decade of working harvests in Oregon, California, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal, and France. He works exclusively with organically or biodynamically farmed vineyards across Oregon and Washington State, prioritizing cold-climate sites that produce wines with high acidity and lower alcohol.

The wine's texture and acidity work well with roasted chicken, pork loin, or fatty fish like salmon or halibut. It also holds up to dishes with ginger, fresh herbs, or light cream sauces. Aged hard cheeses such as Gruyère or aged Gouda complement the quince and apple notes.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, White Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Pinot Grigio
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2020
Alcohol:, N/A
Country:, USA
Region:, Oregon
Appellation:, Washington County 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

Swick Wines

Joe Swick is a fifth-generation Oregonian who got his start in wine in 2001 working in the wine department of a specialty food store in Portland. He worked his first harvest as a cellar hand at Owen Roe Winery in 2003, then spent nearly a decade working harvests in Oregon, California, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal, and France, including stints with Julien Labet in Jura. He founded Swick Wines in 2013 upon returning to Oregon.

Swick works exclusively with organically or biodynamically farmed vineyards in Oregon and Washington State, with no estate vineyards of his own. He focuses on cold-climate sites across three sourcing regions: the Willamette Valley, the Columbia Gorge, and the Columbia Valley around Yakima, Washington. Growers include certified organic and practicing organic operations depending on the vineyard.

In the cellar, Swick uses spontaneous fermentation only, adds no commercial yeasts or acid corrections, and applies no fining agents. Wines are bottled without filtration. He adds modest amounts of SO2 on select wines when he judges it necessary to protect the wine, keeping total additions at 10 to 20 ppm when used. He works out of a facility in Newberg, Oregon, and produces wines under a négociant model, sourcing fruit from a changing roster of growers each vintage.

Wine region

Oregon, USA

The Willamette Valley AVA stretches roughly 150 miles from the Portland area south toward Eugene, framed by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascade Mountains to the east. The valley sits at approximately the 45th parallel and has a cool, maritime-influenced climate with warm, dry summers and cool evenings that produce a long, gradual ripening season. Rainfall is concentrated in winter and spring, leaving relatively dry harvest windows. Temperatures above 90°F occur only 5 to 15 days per year on average.

The Willamette Valley contains eleven nested sub-AVAs, including Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, Eola-Amity Hills, Yamhill-Carlton, and Washington County, each defined by distinct soils, elevations, and mesoclimates. Soils range from volcanic Jory and Nekia on the hillsides to marine sedimentary deposits and windblown loess. Pinot Noir accounts for the majority of plantings, but Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Riesling are widely grown. Washington County AVA, where Merten Vineyard is located, sits at the northern end of the valley and includes some of the higher, cooler vineyard sites in the region.

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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