40 Under 40 Tastemaker 2018 Jim Fischer, 36, and Jenny Mosbacher, 33, Portland, OR

Co-winemakers, Fossil & Fawn Natty wines to fawn overAs self-described “Deputy Chief of Stuff” and “Vice President of Wine Things,”Mosbacher and Fischer (respectively) create tremendous wines at their tiny Oregon estate. The duo, partners in business and in life, represents a movement of younger winemakers that let nature take the lead. They utilize low intervention methods, reject additives and possess the unique ability tore imagine what a grape should be, like their punchy Pinot Noir and bright red Pinot Gris. The two display a mastery of modern marketing and how best to convey their compelling story.

Fossil & Fawn started out as a completely reasonable idea in the late summer of 2011, and quickly spiraled into a much more complex, frustrating, terrifying, and unbelievably rewarding venture. We began with the notion of making a small amount of wine from our family vineyard as a single-site bottling, simply because no one else had done so before. The plan was to have a nice example to show to potential buyers of the Pinot noir and Pinot gris grown there. Somewhere along the line we figured that for all the effort, we might as well make it an official wine label. After a series off its and starts (mostly fits), Fossil & Fawn was born proper as a wine label, nearly two years after we had that very reasonable idea.We aren't too interested in bold manifestos or style declarations - our goal is to make wines that we like. We've found that the kind of wines we like, and thus the wines wemake, are executed with a natural approach that allows the vineyard to do the talking.The minimalist, natural approach is a nice way of saying we do things the hard way,by-hand. The upside is that we end up with wines that we like. Wines that have acidity, structure, and balance that will brilliantly compliment dinner tonight, or be a worthy reward for patience after a few years in the cellar.