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Swick Wines

Shill-Ah-Blay 2018

Price: $29.95
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Tasting notes

The Mourvedre-Marsanne co-ferment is an unusual pairing that actually works: the white grape adds a waxy, mineral texture that lifts the whole-bunch red fruit and keeps it from going dark or heavy. Bright citrus and red berry with a flinty, smoky edge and snappy acidity make this a wine you can pull straight from the fridge.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
RaspberryFlintBlood OrangeWhite Pepper
  • Style: Light-bodied red-white co-ferment; bright ruby; red fruit, citrus, and flinty mineral; 12.5% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: Mourvedre and Marsanne; certified organic; sandy loam soils; high-elevation Columbia Valley AVA, Washington
  • Winemaking: Hand-harvested whole bunches; semi-carbonic fermentation in 500L barrels; foot-stomped daily; ~3 weeks skin maceration; unfined, unfiltered; minimal SO2 at bottling
  • Serving: Serve at 53-57F; no decant needed; best within 1-2 years of vintage
  • Pairing: Charcuterie, grilled sardines, roasted chicken, burrata, mild washed-rind cheese
  • Similar To: For fans of Gamay and Loire reds who want something with Rhone grape structure and a white-grape twist

Shill-Ah-Blay is a red-white co-ferment from Joe Swick, blending Mourvedre and Marsanne sourced from certified organic, high-elevation vineyards on sandy loam soils in the Columbia Valley AVA, spanning Washington and Oregon. The name comes from a woman at a wine event who asked Swick for a "shill-ah-blay" wine; after some confusion, he realized she was mispronouncing the word "chillable." The name stuck, and so did the intention.

Grapes are hand-harvested and whole-bunch fermented semi-carbonically in 500-liter barrels with daily foot-stomping and approximately three weeks of skin maceration. No commercial yeasts are added at any stage. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with only a minimal sulfur addition for stability.

At 12.5% ABV, the wine sits low and bright, with the Marsanne adding floral weight and a stony, waxy texture to the Mourvedre's red-fruit spine. Vibrant acidity and a smoky, flinty quality make it genuinely more interesting than its easy-drinking character suggests. Serve it slightly chilled.

Works well with charcuterie, grilled sardines, or roasted chicken thighs with herbs. The wine's acidity and light tannic grip also make it a good match for dishes with a little fat, like burrata or a mild washed-rind cheese. Serve at around 55F for best results.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Mourvedre, Marsanne
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2018
Alcohol:, 12.5%
Country:, USA
Region:, Columbia Valley
Appellation:, Columbia 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

Swick Wines

Joe Swick is a fifth-generation Oregonian, born and raised in Portland. He began his wine career in 2003 as a cellar assistant at Owen Roe Winery in Oregon, then spent the following decade working more than 15 harvests across Oregon, California, New Zealand, Tasmania, Portugal, and Italy, including time with Simon Busser in Cahors and Julien Labet in the Jura. He returned to Oregon in 2013 and founded Swick Wines in the Willamette Valley.

Swick does not own vineyards. He sources fruit exclusively from certified organic or biodynamic growers in Oregon and Washington, focusing on higher-elevation, colder sites in the Willamette Valley, Columbia Gorge, and Columbia Valley near Yakima. These sites produce grapes with higher acidity and lower sugar accumulation than warmer valley-floor vineyards, which translates directly into Swick's preference for lower-alcohol, higher-acid wines.

In the cellar, Swick uses no commercial yeasts, no acid corrections, and no temperature control during fermentation. He works whole-cluster reds by foot one to two times per day and ages wines in older 500 to 600-liter oak barrels or concrete eggs. The only addition across the range is a small amount of sulfur on select wines at bottling. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Wine region

Columbia Valley, USA

The Columbia Valley AVA is the largest wine-growing region in the Pacific Northwest, covering over 11 million acres across central and southern Washington and a section of north-central Oregon. It sits entirely in the rain shadow east of the Cascade Range, producing a continental high-desert climate with just 6 to 8 inches of annual rainfall. Hot days drive even ripening while cool nights preserve natural acidity in the grapes. Irrigation drawn from the Columbia River system is standard practice throughout the AVA.

Soils across the Columbia Valley are a product of the Missoula Floods roughly 15,000 years ago, which deposited layers of silt, sand, and gravel over the region. Wind-blown loess and volcanic basalt bedrock underlie most vineyard sites. Within the Columbia Valley, the Naches Heights sub-AVA near Yakima sits at elevations of 1,200 to 2,000 feet, where sandy loam soils and cool nights produce grapes with high acidity and moderate sugar accumulation. The region's length of growing season and extreme diurnal temperature shifts make it well-suited to Rhone varieties including Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache, and Marsanne.

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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