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1999 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris

(updated 11/10/00)

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The Wine

Chehalem (Chuh-hay-lum), a local native American word meaning "valley of flowers" and naming one of the three volcanic grapegrowing hillsides in the Willamette Valley, makes wines that reflect a sense of place. Our Pinot gris is harvested ripe to give full, viscous wines with light spice flavors and long finishes. Although carrying good acidity, there is a soft, broad feel on the palate and good length; in an increasingly popular style, this stainless steel fermented pinot gris combines Corral Creek, and Ridgecrest Vineyards fruit to a ripe base of Stoller Vineyards fruit and well represents the lushness of 1999.

The 1999, despite ripeness, has extraordinarily bright food acids balanced with slight residual sugar, underlain with minerality and flavors of lemon, ginger and a mouthfilling gooseberry. Strikes the balance between bright and rich (you rarely get both in either wines or people).

NOTES: PINOT GRIS IS ONE OF THE WINES WE ARE BEST KNOWN FOR. WE MAKE IT IN AS CLOSE TO ALSATIAN STYLE AS POSSIBLE, ATTEMPTING TO GET WEIGHT ON THE PALATE, WHILE RETAINING FRUIT FLAVORS. WE DO THIS BY HARVESTING AT FULL RIPENESS AND FERMENTING TO DRYNESS (WE USUALLY LEAVE ~.25-.5% RESIDUAL SUGAR FOR ROUNDNESS). WE CONSIDER PINOT GRIS THE PERFECT, UNIVERSAL FOOD WINE, ESPECIALLY FOR FISH, SHELLFISH, SAUSAGE, HOT FOODS (E.G., THAI, MEXICAN, VIETNAMESE, PACIFIC RIM), OR PORK. THE 1999 IS DRY.

Stats

Harvested 10/5, 8 & 19 at 23.1-24.8 brix, 3.15-3.28 pH and 7.6 TA; fermented in tank with CY3079 yeast; no ML; cold stabilized, fined and filtered; Bottled 3/17/00 @ 0.45% residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol, 7.4 g/L acid, 3.24 pH. 1400 cases made.

Quotes

Oregon Wine Report, Cole Danehower, September 2000: Chehalem has built an enviable reputation for fine Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, and Riesling .paying attention to the details has paid off for Chehalem and their customers, with a range of Pinot gris wines unmatched by perhaps any other producer in America.
1999 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris: .A distinctive Pinot gris with a pleasing minerality and spiciness that distinguishes it from the overly fruity wines typical of this varietal.

The Sunday Oregonian, July 16, 2000 "Simply Wine:" 1999 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris... the all purpose red for almost any meal is pinot noir, and the default white is pinot gris, a wine that continues to astonish me with its food friendliness. If you're not yet convinced, this bottling from one of Oregon's most consistently stylish producers should do the trick. Neat lemon and pear flavors, a touch of flintiness underneath, and a lovely smoothness on your tongue.

San Francisco Examiner, Bob Thompson, May 18, 2000: "Oregon's excellent Pinot Gris"
1999 Chehalem Willamette Valley Pinot Gris. Beyond doubt, the most distinctive flavors in the field, and the most intense, maybe because the winery pushes ripeness a day or two farther than most. It is also full-bodied for an Oregonian, and firm-feeling. This is one of two wines in the tasting that made me hunger instantly for a platter of fresh-caught salmon. The same winery, not incidentally, showed a Reserve Pinot Gris 1997, which tasted decidedly of oak and just as decidedly of Pinot Gris. It was intriguing, but would be even more so if the flavors came closer together.

Beverage Testing Institute, July, 2000. Brilliant straw hue. Forceful, unusual, earthy nose. A racy entry leads to a tart, moderately light-bodied palate with spicy, honeyed flavors. Zesty finish. Drink now.