2007 Artisanal, Pinot Noir “Adams Vineyard” Reserve/ Chehalem Mountains
175 cases (7 barrels) produced!

Many of my customers have been inquiring as to when we were going to do the 2007 Artisanal, Pinot Noir “Adams Vineyard” Reserve offering. This single wine has, over the years, caused quite a stir with our customers. It’s a great Oregon Pinot from an historic vineyard, for sure. But, I must say, it has to be the single greatest value EVER in top notch Oregon Pinot Noir! $32 a bottle by the case in this offering….geez, it’s hard to believe. Most Pinots of this quality retail for $50 and up.There are many reasons I speak of the value and probably the most important is the wine itself. It’s simply the type of wine that has made Oregon famous for growing this fickle grape. Those of you who have in the past purchased the 05 and 06 will, no doubt, agree. It’s got it all, a heavy nod towards Burgundy in its spicy, soil driven aromatics and flavors, yet maybe a bit more full and lush and able to be enjoyed and understood a bit sooner than some young Burgs. But the price is also astounding when you consider the source of the grapes. These are high ticket grapes here from a 35+ year old vineyard in the premium AVA of Chehalem Mountains! The Adams Vineyard was planted in the first wave of Oregon’s Pinot Noir history. Back in the 70’s when pioneers like David Lett of Eyrie, Dick Ponzi and Dick Erath had the foresight to plant this great and noble grape in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Peter and Carol Adams had the insight to join in. When I first moved to Oregon in 1994 I heard all about the great Pinots from the Adams Vineyard but by then Peter and Carol had decided to just grow the grapes and sell the total production. Unfortunately, Rex Hill got it all and blended it into the mediocrity that became Rex Hills hallmark. The idiots didn’t even bottle it separately! When the contract expired with the 2005 vintage the line formed quickly and Tom Feller of Artisanal Winery came out the winner. And so here you have it. The better 07’s are some of my favorite of the recent 10 year period. And this is one of the best! It’s got the best of both worlds. A total pleasure now but will improve for 10+ years in a cool cellar.

There is a piece of Oregon winemaking history in every bottle.

The offer;
2007 Artisanal, Pinot Noir, “Adams Vineyard” Reserve / Chehalem Mtns.- Willamette Valley, Oregon

12 bottle case- $384 ($32 per bottle)
6 pack- $207 (34.50 per bottle)

The shelf price will be $39.

My comments about the wine;

Very pretty medium to dark ruby color. The nose is up and alive with spicy Pinot aromas of dark cherries with a gamey, dried leaves-forest floor earthiness.. On the palate the wine is ripe, lush and very well structured. I would call the flavors lip smacking delicious. It finishes like it begins… beautifully. You can drink it now but I’d say it should improve in the bottle for 7-10 years. I drink and collect quite a bit of Burgundy and this wine could easily be mistaken for a Chambolle Musigny or a big Volnay. This is my kind of Pinot Noir!

Please respond quickly either by phone or a return to this e-mail. I’m getting under 100 cases.

Sandy

Sandy Thompson, Proprietor

Mt. Tabor Fine Wines
4316 SE Hawthorne Bl
Portland, Or. 97215
(503)235-4444

If you are interested in ordering Ken Wright Futures from us, call the shop at 503-235-4444. You can also see this page for more details about how to order through any of our pinot offerings:
http://mttaborfinewines.com/pinot-offerings-how-to-order/

Before I get into the offer you need to know about this historic vintage!

VINTAGE 2010 FOR OREGON PINOT NOIR

THE BEST WILL BE AMONG THE SINGLE GREATEST WINES EVER MADE IN OREGON

However, it “will not” be an across the board vintage. The best will be other wordly and the worst………….well, terrible!

And here’s why;

It’s all about the hang time!
This will go down as one of the most unusual wine growing years in our history. We had a very warm and wet early spring with a below average grape set. Summer basically didn’t exist with very little heat. As fall approached the grapes were way behind the ripening cycle and in order to get the grapes ripe at all, the “smart” growers began dropping bunches on the ground in order to put what energy was left in the vines to push smaller amounts of fruit towards ripening. September, a very important month for the ripening cycle, was horrible! Lots of rain and very cool weather. I can remember one grower at cooler higher elevation saying that he may not pick at all. Then……….the miracle. October. Wow, what a month! Warm and sunny the whole month with really warm, ideal days and cooling evenings. Perfect Pinot ripening weather.

The best harvests and the greatest years are the ones where the grapes struggle to ripen. It’s this drama that tends to make the best wines. When it’s a warm year and no struggle we get very nice wines with lush textures and very little complexity. It’s the struggle to ripen that gives great wines their complex aromas and flavors. The years where winemakers are talking about the potential of a troubling harvest and then some late weather saves the day and the grapes come in perfect just before mother nature slams the door for the year. By the narrowest margins the grapes come in perfectly ripe and then the flood gates open. And along with this struggle comes extended hang time, the length of time the grapes actually hang on the vine. The 2010 harvest was one of, if not THE latest harvest in history of Oregon Pinot Noir. While the norm is to harvest in late September to early October, in 2010 most of the “great” wines came in at the end of October, a full month later than usual!

Long hang time + extreme struggle= ONE GREAT YEAR FOR OREGON PINOT!

I mentioned before that it’s not an across the board great vintage. In challenging years like this the cream rises to the top and the mediocre fall hard to the bottom. You had to be a great farmer to be successful in 2010. Leaf pulling and special trellising for exposure to the sun. Dropping lots of crop on the ground. These were essential in 2010 and for those that didn’t the wines will be acidic, heavily sugared (back up the C&H truck) and just lacking in everything positive.

Luckily, the guys that we deal with are smart and did the right things. Ken Wright, Thomas, Cameron, Artisanal, Arterberry Maresh……..these guys will make some of the best wines of their lifetimes! The wines will be highly flavored with lower than usual alcohols. The perfect combo and the kind of vintage all of us in the industry have been waiting for. A dream we all thought had vanished with global warming. 2008, a great year, across the board. An idiot could have made good Pinot that year. But believe me, the 08’s will never achieve the utter complexity and ageability of the best 2010’s. This is a year that has no comparison’s.

How will you know what to buy. Stick with us, we haven’t steered you wrong yet and never will.

And your first opportunity will be now, the 2010 Ken Wright single Vineyard Pinots. Most 2010’s are around two years away from the market
You can get in early now and as the “great” wines are released we will be bringing them to you.

What you need to know;
The quantities are some of the smallest ever!!!!! Because of all of the dropped crop and poor spring set it’s small enough as is. But because of the lateness of the vintage there were birds around that usually aren’t around earlier. And in some cases the birds ate 30% OF AN ENTIRE VINEYARD! No kidding. It was massive! Ken Wright is down almost 40% over 2009! There isn’t much wine and you’ll need to be astute and diligent to get what you want. I can tell you this, I have a much smaller allocation this year and the wines will go fast

2010 KEN WRIGHT PINOT NOIR FUTURES OFFERING

PRICES
Case-$500/ $41.67 per bottle 12-750’s OR 24-375’s
½ case- $270/$45 per bottle 6-750’s OR 12-375’s
Magnums- $90

Minimum order, 6 bottles (or 12 375’s)
Minimum per vineyard- 3 bottles from a particular vineyard

To be clear on the way you can order….
The possibilities on a case of 750’s would be;
3+3+3+3 four different vineyards
4+4+4 three different vineyards
6+6 2 different vineyards
12 bottles of the same vineyard

For 375’s (half bottles) it would be a minimum of 6 half bottles per vineyard

On magnums and larger you may order singles

This year we’ll be offering 375’s, 750’s and 1.5’s (mags); If you’re interested in larger formats let me know. We can go as large as a 9 Lt bottle (a case of wine in 1 bottle!- Can you say P-A-R-T-Y? Speak to Dave S. about renting a U-Haul to pick it up)

The 5 vineyards- Carter Abbott Claim McCrone
Savoya Guadalupe
As always, below is a description of each vineyard by Ken Wright himself.

Payment & delivery
Payment due upon placement of order.
Delivery/ early December, 2011.

We like to offer you all the opportunity to buy a variety of the single vineyards that Ken makes. Each vineyard has its own style. You can buy the “big ones” for that beef dish and the more Burgundian ones for that special Salmon dinner. I’m a firm believer in that old saying “variety is the spice of life”.

Warmest regards,
Sandy

Vineyards of the Eola Hills;

The main development of the Eola Hills area took place from the mid 1970’s through the early 1980’s. The most common soil type of the area is described as Nekia. These volcanic soils are shallower, generally 1 to 3 feet in depth, and have less clay than the Dundee Hills. As a result, these soils will dry sooner, encouraging earlier ripening of the fruit. The wines of this area typically possess aromas of black fruits, black cherry, plum and cassis, with acidity levels that are naturally higher than in other growing areas, contributing to a sense of structure in the mouth.

Carter Vineyard
Located just 1 mile from Canary Hill in the Eola Hills, Carter Vineyard is lower on the hillside yet has a leaner and less fertile soil. It is mainly Nekia soil, which is formed from weathered basic rock. It lies at an elevation of 325′ and was planted in 1983. This bottling is comprised of the Wadenswil, Dijon 777, Dijon 667, Dijon 115, and Pommard clones. The wine is firmer than Canary Hill in its youth but evolves beautifully after a few years in bottle to show black fruits and fresh, healthy earth scents. Approximately 650 cases are produced. The vineyard is owned by Jack and Kathleen Carter, and managed by Mark Gould

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Vineyards of the Yamhill-Carlton District:

The vineyards of the Yamhill-Carlton District were planted mostly in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The primary soil of this area is called Willakenzie, named after the Willamette and McKenzie rivers. It is a sedimentary soil with a sandstone base rock. The sand content is quite high and the soil therefore very well drained. The sites are generally on the lower slopes of a volcanic ridge. Wines of the area possess aromas of red and black fruits, with added elements of cocoa, leather and fresh-turned earth. Acidity levels are generally lower than other regions, prompting these wines to be lush and agreeable in their youth.

Abbott Claim Vineyard
Our newest arrival to the stable. This site is a portion of the original John F. Abbott Donation Land Claim and lies in the middle of a sedimentary ridge east of Carlton. This is a consistent broad face of land with soil depths of 30 inches to mother rock. Elevation ranges from 400′ to 475′ and the inclination is S-SE. Soils are mostly Wellsdale with some areas of Willakenzie and Peavine. All of them lie atop mother rock of fractured sandstone and siltstone. 

The planted acreage totals 17 acres. Vines are roughly an equal mix of Pommard clone on Riparia Gloire rootstock, 777 on 101-14 and 115 on both 101-14 and 3309. As would be expected from a vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton District the wine is very darkly colored, dense and lush. Fruits tend to be darker such as plum, cassis and black cherry.

Guadalupe Vineyard
The vineyard was planted in 1989 and represents the definable change of the Jory soils of the Dundee Hills to the sedimentary soil of the Yamhill-Carlton District. It is spaced 7’ by 5’ and is planted to the Wadenswil clone. The soil, known as Willakenzie, is a well-drained shallow soil over siltstone. It lies at an elevation of 350′. The vineyard consistently produces small berries and clusters that are intensely colored. The wine possesses the character of black fruits, cocoa, leather and earth. Approximately 400 cases are produced. Jim Stonebridge and Kathleen Boeve own the vineyard. It is managed by Joel Myers.

McCrone Vineyard
Located in the Yamhill-Carlton District, this is a densely planted vineyard (1 meter x 2 meters). The sedimentary soil, know as Wellsdale, is extremely well drained and promotes early ripening. Elevation is 400′ with a south-southwest inclination. Slopes are 5 to 15 degrees. Half of the vineyard was planted in 1992 to the Dijon 115 clone grafted on 3309. The second half was originally planted to Dijon Chardonnay clones but was grafted in 2000 to the Dijon 777 clone of Pinot noir. The wine from this site is powerful, dense and deeply colored focusing mainly on black fruits. Approximately 700 cases are produced. Don and Carole McCrone are the vineyard owners. Mark Gould is the vineyard manager.

Savoya Vineyard
This is the first vineyard directly owned and developed by Ken Wright Cellars. The vineyard is located in the Yamhill-Carlton District northeast of Carlton. First planted with 4.5 acres of clones 777 and 115 on phylloxera resistant rootstock.. Total planted acreage as of spring 2002 is approximately 17 acres. Vine spacing is 6.5’ x 4’ and the elevations averages 450’. The soil is comprised of marine sediments known as Wellsdale and Willakenzie. These are sandy soils which drain quickly and hasten the ripening process. Our first commercial crop, 2002, has produced a muscular wine that has aromas of dense black fruit, seared meat, cedar and anise. Approximately 240 cases are produced. Ken and Karen Wright are owners. The vineyard is managed by Mark Gould.

Sandy Thompson, Proprietor

Mt. Tabor Fine Wines
4316 SE Hawthorne Bl
Portland, Or. 97215
(503)235-4444