The purpose of our “Ascendant” wines (red, white, rosé and amber) are to be age-worthy representations of the unique terroir of Troon Vineyard. The three components for our 2025 Ascendant Amber – 47% viognier, 40% grenache blanc, and 13% grenache gris were grown and harvested with the intention to make this skin-fermented "orange" or
amber wine. 

Viognier adds complex aromatics and a wonderful spicy character to the blend. Grenache blanc adds lift and freshness, while grenache gris brings fruitiness, acidity, textural layers, and a touch of pink to the rich color of this orange wine. The process of making amber wines is very similar to that of making red wines, where entire berries and sometimes whole clusters are fermented. If you start with red grapes, this process makes a red wine, but if you start with white grapes, this process makes an amber wine. Because these grapes are being grown for amber wines, we performed extra leaf removal on these vines in the vineyard to allow for more sun penetration into the fruiting zone, further developing the skin tannins of the grapes. We then harvested these
grapes at slightly higher sugar levels, with significantly enhanced phenolic development compared with the same grapes harvested for a white wine.
Due to their varying ripening times, each variety was harvested and fermented separately
in open-top fermentors outdoors, typically with about 30% whole-cluster inclusion.
Fermentations proceed spontaneously with native yeasts, and generally reach dryness in 3-4 weeks. They are then pressed to neutral oak barrels, including a small number of acacia barrels, for aging and spontaneous malolactic fermentation. The wine stays in barrel until just before bottling, when it is racked to stainless steel tank and a small amount of SO2 is added.