Michael Savage has a philosophy: “Be open-minded. Come with a plan, then when it all goes to hell, make another plan.” This mantra has served him well as the owner, grower, and winemaker of Savage Grace, a 42-acre vineyard perched on Underwood Mountain on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.

“I want to make wines that aren’t repeats, wines that haven’t been done before,” he says. 

That starts with a two-acre parcel he calls “The Experimental Red Block,” planted to field blends of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, zweigelt, and Syrah. He sometimes creates blends he jokingly calls “Brian Eno wines” that are always a bit of a surprise. “For some reason, everything that comes out of that block turns out to be something that just tastes like it all should go together,” he says. “It’s what Underwood Mountain tastes like in a red wine.” 

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A die-hard Riesling fan, he was originally drawn to the region by its Riesling grapes, and swiftly expanded to organically planting varieties like Grüner Veltliner, furmint, cabernet franc, and zweigelt, as well as standards like chardonnay, pinot gris, and merlot. He is deep into developing a “secret” grape variety that he says is not yet planted in the Gorge, which he fervently attests will remain secret until it takes. 

The wines that eventually emerge are playful takes on classics. Take his malbec. “The last thing I want to do is call this wine malbec,” says Savage. “Malbec has a tendency to be too fruity, too big; this wine is more like cru Beaujolais.” He produces both sparkling and still versions, and ignores any attempt at a silky finish. “Silky wines leave you with nothing to think about,” says Savage. “I want each wine to leave a memory. Like beautiful flaws that are interesting and different because they aren’t perfect.” 

What to Sip and Nosh at Savage Grace

Savage Grace offers five-wine tastings ($30 per person) or five-wine tastings for groups (two-bottle minimum purchase per person). Savage is something of a cabernet franc savant, and you can’t go wrong sipping the six he produces, each strikingly different from the others. On any given visit, you’ll find three single vineyard versions, plus a more atypical sparkling cab franc, cab franc rosé, and even a white cab franc. 

And don’t miss the 2021 Skin Contact Gewürztraminer, born when Savage sought a unique process. He found he could make an orange wine with all the texture, depth, and structure of a white wine. Look for flavors of peach, honeycomb, and almonds, plus haunting aromas of jasmine. The fruit comes from nearby Oak Ridge Vineyard, and is whole-berry fermented for about a month, until dry. We also enjoyed the 2019 Côt Dineen, which is 100 percent malbec grapes (in name only). Savage’s côt is light bodied, with notes of black plum, raspberry, black tea, spicy peppercorn, black cherry, alfalfa, a little dust, and a thread of stony minerality. Fruit from Rattlesnake Hills AVA is 100 percent whole-cluster aged in neutral oak barrels, which he says adds texture without a whole lot of barrel flavor. 

Savage Grace Wines, 442 Kramer Rd, Underwood, Washington