Devium -- French Creek Vineyard Red

Another one-time deal on high end local wine for Mineralista Wine Club! Truly great Washington wine is never cheap, which is why I rarely include it in the club. Thanks to good friends we can share things like this with you. Keith Johnson is Devium. Keith found wine, as so many of us do, by accident — the other pre-written path revealed itself to be other than desirable, and through restaurants he became captivated by the magic and possibility in wine (okay, maybe those are my words for my own story, but his is similar!). Today Keith is still the winemaker at Sleight of Hand Cellars, but in 2015 he started his own project, Devium. He believes good wines should not have his fingerprints on them, but rather those of the vineyard and the farmer, and that wines are meant to be enjoyed with food — which is why early picking is key to retaining acidity and freshness.

Grapes: Mourvedre 51%, Syrah 39%, Grenache Blanc 10%

Region: Yakima Valley, Washington

Good To Know: Organic, whole cluster, foot tread, ambient yeast, co-ferment, old oak, unfined/unfiltered, minimal SO2