OP note: I still can’t believe how good the pricing is on these wines. this email offer simply offers a lineup of some of the best price to quality for what you get out there. Single vineyard pinots and chards for under $35?? cmon.
Hello, and Happy Spring!
I hope all of you are well. In Oregon, we’re awash in daffodils and crocuses . Fruit are trees blossoming, and bud break is just a few short weeks away. Daylight hours are longer, the sun has been out a bit, and I feel like there is a huge collective “Whew!” coming from everyone, with high hopes for the coming year.
We have just bottled all of the 2019 wines, which was hectic and exhilarating. Typically we bottle in two rounds, in March and either May or June but the 2019 Pinot Noirs are beautiful and elegant. We wanted them to be in puncheon and barrel just long enough to gain texture and silkiness from lees, but not to lose the vibrancy of the fruit. The 2019 Chardonnays are dynamite and we saw no reason to delay bottling them. So we buckled down, filled every tank we own, borrowed a few more, and finished the whole lot last week.
It has delayed this email just a bit, and we apologize for the wait, but we’re hoping to get orders packed and out within the spring shipping window wherever possible. That being said, the wines in this email are almost entirely from that bottling, and will need at least a month or two to start coming around (varietal and vineyard depending).
The 2019 growing season was a departure from the previous three years. Bud break came a week or so later than it had the year before, and temperatures were mild throughout the summer, with cool cloudy mornings, and afternoons where even the hottest part of the day was pleasant for humans and grapevines alike. Breezes held less force, and grape skins had the luxury of remaining fine. The wines are beautifully elegant, precise, and the quintessential “old Oregon”. Delicate in the mouth, with heady and perfumed aromatics, refreshing and juicy acidity, and low alcohols.
The vintage did also bring a few new things for you! 2019 marks the first year our block of Chardonnay at Temperance Hill produced fruit. We also brought in two acres of fruit from Oracle vineyard in the Dundee Hills, from the block I first worked with in 2003. Finally, we do have a small amount of a skin contact Pinot Gris from Lewman Vineyard. More on all of these below.
Most of all, we hope you are doing well, enjoying the wines, and thank you very much for your support!
Best Regards,
Marcus Goodfellow & Megan Joy
2019 Richard’s Cuvee, Whistling Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay
$55/ $44 release price
Oh boy…first gravel and smoke, opening to fresh pear, hazelnuts, straw and raw grain, then lime and yuzu blossom. Old world notes of river stones, and seashells. Palate is immediately bright, stony, mineral, lime, clean, lucid, direct, and steely. Acidity runs through the wine from the front palate to the long, long, long finish. Like Corton from the mid-90s… 11.8% abv, finished under Diam 30. 155 cases.
2019 Whistling Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay
$43/ $34.40 release price
Lemon curd, lime blossom, sea shells, quince, yellow flowers, grilled bread. Softer than the Richard’s, this has a silky prettiness in the mouth, Meyer lemon running over river rocks, with a tingly lemony finish. 11.8% abv, finished under Diam 30. 80 cases.
2019 Temperance Hill Vineyard Chardonnay
$43/ $34.40 release price
Still tightly coiled, this opens to non-fruit tones: salt water over stones, fennel and sage flowers, cedar, lavender, soil, and dust. Clean, lemon peel and clementine, hints of classic Temperance Hill savory herb, sage, cedar, and lemon/citrus pith. Great length and echo. 12.6% abv, finished under Diam 30. 145 cases.
2019 Durant Vineyard Chardonnay
$43/ $34.40 release price
Very alluring, homemade pear tarts, white flowers, oyster shells, salt, and hazelnuts. Direct and graceful in the palate, limpidly textural with floral, fennel, lemon, and stone. A great balance between tranquility and energy. One of our very best Durant bottlings, and very much in the key of Meursault. 12.5%, finished under Diam 10. 113 cases.
2019 Oracle Vineyard Pinot Noir
$43/ $34.40 release price
100% whole cluster, this is a beautiful balance of sweet fruit, and savory finish. Red strawberry and pomegranate fruit followed quickly by tobacco leaf, and amaro spices. The most textured of the 2019 Pinot Noirs, there is a beautiful harmony to the palate, a supple weightless luxury, with great finishing acidity and grip. 13.2% abv, finished with Diam 10. 100 cases.
2019 Durant Vineyard Pinot Noir
$43/ $34.40 release price
Supple with juicy red fruit, flowers, dark and sweet spice, loamy earth and amaro. More ethereal than the Durant typically is. The palate is boysenberry, dark cherry, and pomegranate, light bodied but structural, with a great savory finish. 13.0% abv, finished with Diam 10. 160 cases.
2019 Fir Crest Vineyard Pinot Noir
$43/ $34.40 release price
Probably my favorite rendition of this vineyard. Beautiful dark fruit and purple blossoms, shifting between black and red fruits, contrasted with dark earth and spice underneath. Clean, elegant, and very pure with great contrast between fruit and stem notes, excellent balance and drive, finishes long with juicy acidity. A somewhat unique take on Yamhill-Carlton fruit but true to the AVA. 13.0% abv, finished with Diam 10. 113 cases.
2019 Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir
$43/ $34.40 release price
Translucent, with pale red fruits, currants and pie cherry. Stony earth, wood spice, kitchen herb, and amaro. Edgy and tightly wound in the mouth currently, with pale red fruits and juicy acids. As is often the case with Whistling Ridge, this will want some time to evolve, integrate, and add heft. I see an early window in 6-12 months, and then reopening again after 5-7 years and drinking for another decade beyond that. 12.6% abv, finished with Diam 10. 245 cases.