100% Chenin Blanc

Food pairings: Roast chicken, turkey and stuffing, curries and other spicy dishes, pasta, and vegetable and vegetarian dishes.

Winemaking: L'Ecole has made this crisp, aromatic, Vouvray-style Chenin Blanc from old vines since 1987. The grapes were harvested in the cool morning hours, brought straight to the winery and gently pressed. The juice was settled and moved to stainless steel for a long, slow, cool fermentation, and malolactic fermentation was inhibited to keep the bright acidity. The wine was gently fined, cold-stabilized and filtered before bottling. 2024 opened with a deep January freeze, but the vines rebounded in a warm, dry spring; a hot summer was followed by cool September evenings and near-perfect harvest weather, giving long hang time, crisp acidity and vivid fruit.

Vineyards and terroir: The fruit comes from three old-vine vineyards in Washington's Yakima Valley, all planted in 1979: Willard Farms, Upland Vineyard on Snipes Mountain, and Phil Church.

Family and history: L'Ecole № 41 was founded in 1983 by Jean and Baker Ferguson, only the third winery in the Walla Walla Valley. It is housed in the historic 1915 Frenchtown schoolhouse in Lowden, pictured on the label, and its name, French for "the school", honors School District No. 41. The Fergusons' daughter Megan and her husband Marty Clubb built on that legacy and made L'Ecole a benchmark for Washington wine, and today the third generation, Riley and Rebecca Clubb, helps lead the family winery.

In the pictures: The schoolhouse bell at L'Ecole № 41; Director of Winemaking David Rosenthal in the vineyard; and processing grapes at the winery during harvest (photos courtesy of L'Ecole № 41).