It's been awhile since we've put out an update, things have been busy! We hope everyone is beating the heat right now! Although oppressive, this warm weather is treating the grapes just right. The vines over at Jesse Estate Vineyards recently showed the first signs of veraison - which is when the clusters turn color and the vine pumps them full of sugar. Veraison is the last major step before harvest, based on averages harvest comes 30-45 days after veraison hits. That said, it looks like the 2018 harvest will come in at the end of September! We're looking forward to working with more great fruit from Jesse Estate!
With that, we're happy to share that we are crushing this year at Laurel Ridge winery. We are fortunate that they had space open up at the last second for us to move in to. Interested in participating in a crush? We may need help processing fruit, so if you'd like to get your hands dirty then let us know! Reply back to this email with your contact info and we'll stay in touch!
However - we are not pouring out of their tasting room, instead we are working with Urban Decanter in Forest Grove to pour our wines on Sunday and by appointment. The details have to be finalized with the OLCC, but we should be cleared hot come October.
In keeping with our slogan "wine with a mission" we are donating 15% of our sales from the Memorial Day weekend to the Returning Veterans Project!
The Returning Veterans Project is a non-profit based out of Portland, OR with a mission to provide free, confidential mental and physical health services to post-9/11 war zone veterans, service members, and their families in Oregon and Southwest Washington. RVP also hosts regular events for Veterans as well as clinics and other services. They are a fantastic organization that deserve recognition for their efforts. We are proud to support them and their mission!
The popular and oh so delicious Riveter Rosé is back! We're aiming to have it bottled by the end of March and ready for a club release mid-April! We doubled our production this year to match the club demand and have a little left for the tasting room. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind with crush, bottling, and a club release all falling in to the same time frame. Thank you for a successful 2017, we are excited to take the momentum into 2018! We could not have done it without the help of our friends and family, our Founder's Club, Jesse Estate Vineyards, Flume Family Vineyards, and many others. Let's look at what the new year has in store –
We have yet to bottle the 2016 No Man's Land and Howitzer, these two labels have been our backbone and we're excited for their next iteration. Both offer unique palates that are sure to delight any wine drinker. We will bottle 100 cases of No Man's Land, and 400 cases of Howitzer. Pricing is to be determined, but we anticipate the No Man's Land will be $35, while the Howitzer will become our entry level pinot noir at $20. We anticipate a spring release for both.
This has been an incredible year and we have all of you to thank! Between getting settled at the ADEA Wine Studio, to our first club release and the overwhelming encouragement from our first rosé, the team at Dauntless
has been humbled and thrilled by the support we have received!
Our wines have been recognized by the Drink Pink International Rose competition, Northwest Wine Summit, and the Oregon Wine Experience! Between the three events our wines received a combination of Gold, Silver, and Bronze! The 2016 Riveter rosé netted Gold and Bronze; while the 2015 Howitzer and No Man's Land landed Silver. We are still waiting on the results from the Sunset International competition and Wine Spectator - but are hopeful for more positive feedback!
In competitions, wines are judged by their aroma/bouquet, clarity, and mouthfeel. They are given points based on their balance; medals are then awarded on a scale – Bronze is 86-89 points, Silver 90-94, and Gold 95-100. We are proud to be able to serve you 90+ point wines, and will continue to strive for excellence in every way!
Summer is here, and things are moving along for Dauntless! We have nailed down the final blends for 2016 and are excited to share them with you. They are ready for the bottle, and are acting like they have something to prove! Bottling dates are still TBD, but the 2016 No Man's Land should be ready for the next Founder's Club pickup in Fall. 
Friends!
The 2016 vintage is aging beautifully, and we are excited to release our first Rosé of Pinot Noir this spring!
We are naming our 2016 Rosé "Riveter" after the World War II icon - Rosie the Riveter. Due to limited production our 2016 Riveter will be available to our Founders Club only - and we're aiming for a Memorial Day (5/29) release!
We are still accepting applications for our Founders Club! Our first 100 members will enjoy a lifetime 30% discount on all wines! After that club membership discounts will be tiered. So be sure to sign up for our Founders Club so you can reserve your bottle of Riveter today!
Many of you have had the opportunity to taste our 2016 Rosé - and it's already become a hit! Aromas of peach, strawberry, and bubblegum compliment smooth acids, and a soft grape tannin.
The skins were cold-soaked for four days to achieve a clear strawberry-pink hue with fruity esters. We then bled off 300L of juice for the fermentation, which lasted for a month and maintained cool temperatures throughout. The yeast, specialized for Rosé, also converted much of the malic acid to provide a round mouth feel.
It’s always weird winning awards, especially this early in the game (a single vintage in the bottle to our name). It feels like awards are supposed to be some grand culmination of a lifetime of work and toil. In fact, in the wine industry, it usually takes many vintages to be recognized at all.
This is why being named Oregon Wine Press’s 2016 Persons of the Year is such a surreal experience for all of us involved. In fact, when the editor for Oregon Wine Press, Hilary Berg emailed Ben, she told him she read about us and wanted to recognize Dauntless for our mission and work to come, I spent the next few weeks pretty sure I read about it in a particularly lucid dream.
Since leaving the Marine Corps a decade ago, I have been continually humbled by the care others, particularly in the NW, take toward taking care of veterans. I have always felt that we have never been pitied or held on some pedestal irrationally high above anyone else, but are taken for what we are, people who want to help the world.
