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2003 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris

(updated 1/11/05)

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The Wine

Pinot gris is one of the wines for which we are best known. We make it in a style as close to Alsace as possible, working to get weight on the palate, while retaining fruit flavors and acidity, and harvested ripe to give full, viscous wines with light spice flavors and long finishes. We consider Pinot gris a universal food wine. In an increasingly popular style, this bright, stainless steel fermented Pinot gris combines Corral Creek, Ridgecrest, and Stoller Vineyards fruit.

The Vineyards

Fruit comes from our three Estate Vineyards: Ridgecrest, Stoller and Corral Creek, blended into a fully-complemented wine. The estate vineyards are planted on three different soil types, which provides complementary elements in resulting wines: Ridgecrest on Willakenzie, Stoller on Jory, and Corral Creek on Laurelwood. The interaction of clone and site add great complexity, consistency and fullness of character to blends of Pinot gris, especially in an excellent vintage.

The Vintage

This is an excellent vintage, albeit unusual in the fiery nature of the growing season. The same dry and warm growing and ripening seasons held for 2003 as with the past few vintages, only moreso, with Region II (not cool climate!) heat accumulations of 2500 units, average highs of 78F July-October and half the normal rainfall with 2.75 inches. Fruit was disease free, crop loads were easily honed to desired levels, and soil moisture was adequate due to good pre-season winter rains. Concerns of the vintage center on high sugars and resultant high alcohols, and low acids. Almost comparable past vintages like excellent 1992 may urge us not to worry yet.

Stats

Harvest Data:

Harvested 9/27-10/6-2003 from 40% Stoller, 37% Corral Creek and 23% Ridgecrest sites @ 23.6-26.7 brix, 3.3-3.5 pH, and 4.0-6.8 g/l TA, from 2.75 tons per acre cropload

Fermentation:

Tank fermented with SIHA7 and VL3 yeast

Cooperage/Aging:

No aging, 7% neutral oak

Clonal Selection:

Bottling:

Cold stabilized and filtered, bottled 4/1&2/2004

Bottling Analyses:

15.3 % alcohol, 5.8 g/l TA, 3.44 pH, 0.9 % residual sugar

Cases Produced:

3200

Suggested Retail:

$16

Release Date:

May 2004

Winemaker's Comments

Platinum blonde with floral, fruit blossom brightness and perfume, this wine is surprisingly alert and full just after bottling. There are lush, ripe fruit flavors of fleshy delicious apple, peach and just fallen pear, all with bright acid. It shows dry, despite slightly above threshold RS, has no bitterness which at times can be a problem with Pinot gris, especially with higher alcohols, which by-the-way I had to look for to find. A lovely balance and length. Possibly as good as the 2002.

Quotes

Oregon Wine Report, Issue 19, October 2004, Cole Danehower: A- (in Cole's top ten recent Oregon White Wines) Complex in the mouth with a variety of flavors competing for attention. The first impression is of sweet ripe pear... followed by a leaner nectarine or yellow peach note. Other flavors seem to include warm melon and spicy tangerine. Though big in style, there is ample structure to provide a needed sharpness to balance out the sweet and thick nature of the fruit... This is perhaps the most substantial Pinot gris in the tasting...

The Wine Advocate, October 2004, Pierre Rovani: 88. Armed with rich, lovely floral aromas...big, super-ripe, medium bodied wine. Jam-packed with yellow plums and apricot, it seduces the taster with its fleshy personality...excellent value...

Wine & Spirits, August 2004, Patrick Comiskey: 91. A little dull and hoppy at first, this wine gains its footing with air, transforming from blunt to detailed. Those ethereal elements of sea air that gris can sometimes provide become vividly present...something here feels pure and clear and transparent.

In Vino Veritas, Syndicated Wine column by Jonathon Alsop. ... this pinot gris is a super example of the best this region produces. The color is golden and sunny with a slight pink tint to it, and its texture is soft, rich, and smooth around the edges. Flavors and aromas of pear, white peach, melon and banana blend beautifully with flowers and perfume. Best of all, the texture and weight of the wine are perfect... If it were a loudspeaker, there'd be plenty of bass...