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2005 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris

(released May 2006)

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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

2005 was an old-style Oregon vintage, warming the cockles of the hearts of industry old folks like me as much as the coffee we drank. Cooler and damper than the average modern vintage, mature winemakers and mature vineyards understood and adjusted to the weather, giving the grapes a chance to fully ripen and working magic to assure clean fruit. Experience should show with our three classic estate vineyards. Great extraction, great acid, lower alcohols (no Pinots above the 13%s!)-expect wines of finesse and ageability.

Stats

Harvest Data:

Harvested 10/5 to 10/20/2005 from 53% Stoller, 38% Corral Creek and 9% Ridgecrest sites @ 23.0-24.2 brix, 3.18-3.37 pH, and 6.2-7.6 g/l TA, from 0.99-3.4 tons per acre cropload

Fermentation:

Tank fermented with VL3 yeast

Cooperage/Aging:

None

Bottling:

stabilized and filtered, bottled 4/5-4/7/2006

Bottling Analyses:

14.4% alcohol, 6.7 g/l TA, 3.32 pH, 0.6% residual sugar

Cases Produced:

2186

Suggested Retail:

$18

Release Date:

May 2006

Winemaker's Comments

Brilliantly bright with pale chartreuse hue. Ginger, melon, white blossom, and talc aromatics, with suggestions of tart green apples and hard pears. Flavors extend from the aromas, with additional juicy apricot breadth and richness. Great balance with the best acid structure seen in many years and capable of aging for many years. As good as we've ever done, with perfect ripeness, cool vintage acidity, and a yield as little as 1.0 tons per acre. Ouch for us, kisses for you.

Quotes

Wine & Spirits, December 2006: 93. This pinot gris shows the heights gris can reach in Oregon. Rich without being the least bit fat, its honeyed pear and marzipan flavors have an Alsatian heft, but a fine, minerally cushion of acid holds all that rich fruit aloft. Serve with choucroute. (Reprinted in August 2007 as one of the Top 6 American Pinot Gris.)

eRobertParker.com, October 2007, Jay Miller: 90. Chehalem is unusual for Willamette Valley in that over 50% of its production is white wine from Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay. Readers who see Chehalem’s whites should try these uniformly excellent wines.

Wine Spectator, October 15, 2006, Harvey Steiman: 89. Light and tangy, with a tangerine note weaving through the fresh apple flavors. The finish sails on nicely.

Wine Press Northwest, Summer 2006, Pinot Gris: Oregon's king of whites rules in the Northwest, Eric Degerman: Excellent. Fruit from Stoller, Corral Creek and Ridgecrest vineyards come together to form a switch-hitting release, a wine that works equally well as a casual drink or as a dinner companion. Dried pineapple, pear, apple and citrus aromas lead into a lemon entry with baked apple flavors that are carried along by delicious acidity and a tartness in the finish for food.

Washington Post, November 15, 2006, "Young Wines Will See You Through the Holidays," Ben Giliberti. The big, bold flavors of the harvest feast call for wines with genuine personality.... Lively and inviting, with an attractive apple, peach and floral character, this energetic wine is a real standout.

San Jose Mercury News, June 28, 2006, "For Oregon white wines, gris is the word," Laurie Daniel: Peterson-Nedry's pinot gris is made in a fairly weighty — but not heavy — style. The weight on the palate is vitally important, he says. His 2005 displays that weight, along with spicy white peach fruit and lovely fragrance.

Wines Northwest, August 2006, "Northwest Pinot Gris for Summer Sipping," Chuck Hilll: This vintage is nearly perfect in every respect: aromas of pear, citrus and mineral with floral notes and hints of ginger; a palate almost hard with aciditiy yet offering flavors of white peach and apricot. While delicious now, this wine demands further bottle age. It has the structure to last a decade or more for those with patience.

Smart Money, May 2007, "Pinot Gris, Oregon-Style," Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher: …If you want to see what terroir is all about and see proof that it’s alive and well in American winemaking, it’s time to try an Oregon pinot gris…2005 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris: Friendly and fine, with more lemony acidity than most and not quite as much weight. Perfect with a warm day and summery foods.