Oest Wines is a project by Tahnee Shields and Brad Artziniega - two friends and sometime neighbors making wine together with the help of their families. The goal of Oest is to produce wines expressive of place while doing the work that gives back to the community and landscape. 2022 was their 4th vintage in the Sierra Foothills at the Clos Saron (cali natural wine holy grail) facility and sourcing fruit from around North Yuba county. What Tahnee and Brad are doing is something that's become somewhat rare in the landscape of CA natural wine: textured, varietally expressive wine that communicates terroir, wild and alive but still composed and elegant. Runner is a blend of Pinot Gris, foot tread and left on the skins for an afternoon, and direct-press Chardonnay. The structure achieved from that brief maceration is astounding, lifting flavors of orange oil, cantaloupe, green apple, bosc pear, and green almond on the palate.
