Tremendous: Ethan Joseph's Iapetus Tectonic 2017 (VT)

Ethan Joseph has made a name for himself becoming the winemaker at Shelburne Vineyards. He grew up on Mt. Lake, a small area in northern NJ. He grew to love water and the great outdoors. This eventually led him to the shores of Lake Champlain and the University of Vermont, where he pursued a degree in water resources, and subsequently discovered a passion for winegrowing.

He started at Shelburne early in 2008, and became obsessed with the science, art, and mystery of wine. In almost 11 full years of self-education and first-hand experience he has grown immensely. He was also fortunate enough to have the full backing and support of Shelburne's owners Ken and Gail Albert. With this kind of backing, and passion, Ethan has made huge strides, and can now be counted among New England's best wine makers. 

Ethan's newest and most daring and unique project to date has been Iapetus Tectonic. Tectonic is a unique white wine made by allowing white grapes to ferment on their skins. It is named after the awesome forces they lay miles below our feet.

Iapetus Tectonic 2017 is a white wine made from 100% La Crescent, grown at McCabe’s Brook Vineyard in Shelburne and Mt Philo Vineyard in Charlotte, both in Vermont. The grapes were destemmed and a gentle crushing, and the resulting wine went into a stainless steel tank to ferment in the skins. This wine also went through malo-lactic fermentation,which was induced by addition of a commercial malo-lactic bacteria culture. Pressing was performed after a fifty-day maceration on skins. Three-quarters of the wine was sent to neutral oak to age sur lie with weekly battonage for three and a half months and the other quarter was aged in stainless steel. After seven months, the lots were blended and allowed to come together prior to bottling. A total production of 132 cases was made.

This is the first time I've heard of anyone doing this kind of extended maceration with Frontenac Gris. Also, it continues a big trend of wineries pushing the limits of white grapes to extract immense and giant flavors which I am a huge fan of.

Unfiltered and unfined, Iapetus Tectonic 2017 is a big, chewy, beautiful white wine. The nose has hints of tangerine, orange marmalade, apricot, melon, raisin, white and white pepper, with floral hints and rose hips. The wine has hints of peaches, apricots, ripe pear and ripe red apple. Tropical fruits abound. Lots of acidity keeps the wine honest and tantalizing. Tremendous.

You must try this wine!