2024
Vintage report forthcoming…
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/10/24
Witness Tree Vineyard - 9/16/24
X Novo Vineyard - 9/16/24
X Omni Vineyard Block 5 - 9/20/24
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/21/24
Shea Vineyard - 9/23/24
Temperance Hill Vineyard - 9/28/24
Koosah Vineyard Block 15 - 9/29/24
Lily Springs Vineyard - 9/30/24
Koosah Vineyard Block 7 - 10/1/24
Gregory Ranch Vineyard - 10/3/24
X Omni Vineyard Block 4 - 10/3/24
Blue Heron Vineyard - 10/10/24
Releasing Spring and Fall 2026
2023
The 2023 growing season began cool and wet, with late April bringing warmth and dry conditions. Bud break occurred in early to mid-May, followed by bloom in early to mid-June. Fruit set was typical and the vines thrived over a hot and dry July and August. Cooler days and chilly nights arrived in September, with scattered showers that refreshed the vines. Harvest began leisurely with four picks between 9/6 - 9/11. The pace quickened with eight picks between 9/15 - 9/22. Yields were average, and the overall chemistry was good to great. I crushed each lot into the press and extracted more the later the pick. I browned most of the must 6-24 hours before sulfur addition. Vineyard specific pied de cuve was used to initiate fermentation in steel before transferring the must to oak with full solids. In select lots, I added sulfur after fermentation started. Ambient yeasts were highly effective as most lots were bone dry within 10-25 days. More than half of the cellar completed ambient malolactic in November or December 2023. The remainder finished malolactic between April and July 2024 with much more reduction. The wines were blended in steel the last week of August 2024 for a second winter on lees in steel and racked clean in late January 2025. The 2023 vintage has exceptional pedigree and clear site expression. The wines have high acidity, alcohol ranging 12.4%-13.1%. They are beautifully aromatic, crystalline, coiled, full of dry extract, long and structured.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/6/23 and 9/11/23
Witness Tree Vineyard - 9/7/23
von Oehsen Vineyard - 9/11/23
X Omni Vineyard Block 5 - 9/15/23
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/16/23
Koosah Vineyard Block 7 - 9/18/23
The Eyrie Vineyards - 9/18/23
Koosah Vineyard Block 15 - 9/19/23
Blue Heron Vineyard - 9/20/23
Temperance Hill Vineyard - 9/21/23
X Omni Vineyard Block 4 - 9/22/23
Releasing Spring 2025
DRINKING WINDOWS, as of April 2025
Nine wines were bottled from the 2023 vintage: Willamette Valley, Eola Amity Hills, The Eyrie Vineyard, Temperance Hill Vineyard, X Omni Vineyard, Koosah Vineyard, Witness Tree Vineyard, Black Label and Memorie IV Pink Label. The 2023 portfolio is perhaps the most exciting I’ve offered to date. The vintage in general is endowed with high pedigree and each vineyard’s character is distinctive and defined. These wines will age very well if given time in the cellar. Willamette Valley is coiled and piercing with a chalky minerality; it will gain density and richness over the next 5-10 years in the cellar. The reductive power is extremely high in two sites, Eyrie and Temperance Hill, and these two wines will benefit from as much patience as possible. Decant if opening either before 2031, both will improve over the next 15-20 years. Eyrie is especially profound, regal and backward at this time - I encourage as much patience as can be mustered. In the same vein, the reduced character of Eola Amity Hills is driven by Temperance Hill. Powerful, intense and structured, decant if opening before 2028 or 2029; this will certainly improve and unfurl over the next 10-15 years. X Omni is again the most dramatic, dimensional, and rich wine with incredible acidity and fine structure. Decant if opening before 2030, this will improve over the next 20 years. Koosah Vineyard is back, the mineral structure and acidity hides an exceptional richness, which will reveal itself over the next 10-15 years. Open knit and and perhaps more welcoming, this doesn’t need decanting. Witness Tree is profoundly aromatic and has so much to offer already but I have a good feeling this will age gracefully for 10-15 years. Decant and enjoy. Black Label is austerely mineral and lean with subtle and savory reduction. Decanting is likely a good thing over the next couple of years, drink anytime over the next 5-15 years. Memorie IV is also Pink Label, and while I’ve recommended than prior bottlings of the solera need not be cellared, I encourage this wine to rest in the cellar for a few years. Hauntingly aromatic, deep and complex, this is the most exciting solera and Pink Label I’ve bottled thus far. Drink for a decade beginning in 2028.
2022
2022 in a word: miraculous. After a chilly start, the valley experienced a continuous drenching from an atmospheric river throughout the first half of the year. As buds broke in early April, an unseasonable frost between 4/11 and 4/15 caused damage to unfurling buds and tender shoots. Inclement weather persisted through into June, further challenging an already delayed flowering. However, a turn for the better occurred in July and August; the long, warm, dry days became cool nights in both September and October. Harvest commenced in Dundee Hills the morning of 9/23 and concluded in Eola-Amity on 10/15. Yields were better than expected and the quality is especially high from the coolest sites where the impact of the frost was minimal. The vintage has a crystalline, tensile character with wines showcasing distinctiveness of site. These youthful wines are vibrant and chiseled, densely structured with high acidity and extract.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/23/22
Witness Tree Vineyard - 9/26/22
von Oehsen Vineyard - 10/1/22
Seven Springs Vineyard Block B - 10/3/22
X Omni Vineyard Block 5 - 10/7/22
Seven Springs Vineyard Block E - 10/8/22
Temperance Hill Vineyard - 10/9/22
Blue Heron Vineyard - 10/11/22
Yamhill Vineyard - 10/13/22
X Omni Vineyard Block 4 - 10/15/22
Releasing Spring 2024
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Seven bottlings were created from the 2022 vintage, and I bottled a late release 2021 with the 2022’s: Pink Label, Willamette Valley, Witness Tree Vineyard, Temperance Hill Vineyard, X Omni Vineyard, Eola Amity Hills, Memorie III. I also bottled a late release Eola Amity Hills from 2021 after thirty months of elevage. The most challenging aspect in 2022 was not overreacting to the April frost. With hindsight the fear, uncertainty and doubt, while warranted, was not useful. Remarkably, yields were bountiful and the most beautiful September and October allowed even the most frost impacted vineyards every opportunity to achieve good physiological ripeness. Being extremely detailed with maturity checks and patient with picks gave me the courage to vary my extraction goals at press. The most frost impacted sites were pressed more gently than I would normally like, but yields here were quite low to begin with so the lots were small. The sites which had less frost damage were pressed more gently than normal. When press chemistry allowed, I was quite extractive and I find the best 2022’s to have ample structure, good reduction and lots of intrigue. Pink Label is angular but expressive, a blend of two puncheons which refused to complete malolactic, thus was filtered. Bright, taut, crunchy, this will age well over the next 3-7 years. Willamette Valley is tight, coiled and expressive, I think this is drinking well now but will improve over the next 5-10 years. Witness Tree Vineyard is a resounding success in 2022, despite a very challenging growing season. Full, reductive but vibrant, a quick decant is a great idea, drink this anytime over the next decade. Temperance Hill’s reduction in barrel basically disappeared in steel but remains savory, earthen and structured. Decant and drink anytime over the next decade. X Omni fared well in 2022, and while I was extremely extractive at press, very little reduction developed and the wine has it all: richness, density, depth, stucture, acidity. Decant and drink anytime over the next decade or two. The 2022 Eola Amity Hills is a blend of 67% Seven Springs and 33% X Omni, and with picture perfect minerality and a more austere structure. Decant or drink anytime over the next decade or two. The late release 2021 Eola Amity Hills is distinct from the declassified Koosah Vineyard released in 2023. This bottling was is equal parts Koosah, Seven Springs and X Omni and aged an extra year in steel, 30 months in total. Bright, structured, dimensional, decant if opening before 2027. Memorie III is much more vibrant than I or II due to a slightly higher proportion of younger wines blended with the base wine. Drink anytime.
2021
Bud break occurred during a warm week in mid-April, and May was warm and dry. After an early start to bloom, the second week of June brought cooler, breezy, and humid weather, with 1.25 inches of rain. Flowering finished closer to average timing in the second and third weeks of June. At the end of the month, a strong high-pressure system trapped extreme heat in the valley for three days, causing daytime highs to reach 115°F and causing the vines to shut down. July was seasonably warm and dry, with the heat intensifying towards the end of the month. Early August was hot and dry, reaching a peak of 105° F in the second week before cooling off towards the end of the month. September was a very pleasant month, with warm days, cool evenings, and just enough precipitation. I began picking in the Dundee Hills on August 30th and I finished in the Eola-Amity Hills on September 22nd. The wines are brilliant, crystalline and complex with well-defined site character.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 8/30/21
Fairview Vineyard - 8/30/21
Belle Colline Vineyard - 9/6/21
Seven Springs Vineyard Block B - 9/7/21
X Omni Vineyard Block 5 - 9/8/21
Seven Springs Vineyard Block E - 9/10/21
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/11/21
Koosah Vineyard - 9/15/21
X Omni Vineyard Block 4 - 9/16/21
Temperance Hill Vineyard - 9/22/21
Releasing Spring 2023
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Seven bottlings were created from the 2021 vintage: Willamette Valley, Seven Springs Vineyard, X Omni Vineyard, Durant Vineyard, Eola Amity Hills, Pink Label, and Marine. The 2021 vintage is one of the most fascinating in the history of Willamette Valley: a very hot, very dry vintage yielded amazing fruit with ripe phenolics, and near perfect acidity at 12.7-13%. In hindsight, I should have extracted more at press to perhaps encourage more reductive power, but the wines are structured, dense with incredible purity and will age well for many years. The best Pink Label yet is 95% X Omni vineyard, pure, chalky, mineral-laden chardonnay with just a hint of strawberry cream pinot musk. Drink anytime with a decant or hold for as long as you can. Willamette Valley feels steely, mineral and dense. Hold until 2026 or 2027, or decant. Durant Vineyard is a like tight beam of pure citrus rock water, lean but with just enough weight. Hold until 2026 or 2027, or decant. Seven Springs Vineyard is airy, dense and textured. It is drinking well already, but it will improve in the cellar. Decant and drink, or hold until 2027 or 2028. X Omni Vineyard is layered, complex, structured and is one of the first two Willamette Valley Chardonnays to receive a 100 point rating from a professional critic. Hold until 2029 or 2030, or decant. Eola-Amity Hills is 100% Koosah Vineyard declassified because the contract wasn’t renewed in 2022 after the vineyard sold. Broad, rich, decadent but with high acidity and lots of stucture. Hold until 2026, or decant. Marine is bright, mineral and welcoming already. Drink or hold until 2026.
Drink or hold Pink Label and Marine. Hold Willamette Valley, Durant, Seven Springs, X Omni, Eola-Amity Hills, or decant. The 2021’s will age effortlessly for a decade or two.
2020
A warm, dry spring saw bud break in mid-April, perhaps a week earlier than in 2018 and 2019. The first three weeks of June were cold and wet, which severely restricted fruit set during flowering. July started out cooler than normal but gave way to dry, warm days and cool nights, which allowed low yields to ripen evenly. The stage was set for promising quality but minuscule quantity, and I was ready to pick the warmest sites by Labor Day Weekend. On the afternoon of September 8th, powerful east winds began blowing, pulling smoke into the valley from the northeast. Despite this, the first pick in Dundee Hills was made in the dark morning of 9/9. Between September 9th and September 10th, numerous local wildfires started, and the valley was filled with smoke. Ripening halted, and conditions were grim until rain and west winds on September 16th and 17th refreshed the air. It was a tragic week and a half, as millions of acres of land burned and thousands of families lost their homes, businesses, and in the worst cases, their lives. With this in mind, I chose to remain steadfast and support my farmers. Winemaking protocols were adjusted - pressing was quick, gentle with lower juice yield targets. All the juice was browned for 12 hours before a small sulfur addition. Nearly every lot was settled with highly refined organic yeast hulls to clarify the must and drop out any possible volatile phenols. After racking off, a fermenting pied de cuve from each lot was added in tank, before fermenting must was transferred to only new, once and second fill puncheons to build structure around the wines. Ambient yeast fermentations progressed rapidly, and zero lees stirring was employed. If malolactic did not engage immediately upon dryness, cultured bacteria was added. The wines were sulfured hard after malolactic completed and racked off lees a few weeks earlier than normal into stainless steel. Blending was minimized so that I could follow each lot. Finished alcohols range from 12.4% - 13.4%. Bottled February 2022.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/9/20
The Eyrie Vineyards - 9/19/20
X Omni Vineyard Block 5 - 9/20/20
Loubejac Vineyard - 9/21/20
Seven Springs Vineyard - 9/22/20
X Omni Vineyard Block 4 - 10/1/20
Yamhill Vineyard - 10/2/20
Released Spring 2022
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Please note: I have advised drinking the 2020 wines immediately since release. There is zero reason to cellar them.
Eight bottlings were created from the 2020 vintage: Willamette Valley, Eola-Amity Hills, two from Seven Springs Vineyard, a normal label and Grey Label, Marine, Durant Vineyard, X Omni Vineyard, and Eyrie Vineyard. Much has been written about why the 2020 vintage in the Willamette Valley was not just challenging but was downright disastrous. That being said, the white wines are surprisingly delicious and while I am pleased with the wines, I advise you to enjoy the wines in their youth e.g. drink in 2022 or 2023. There is zero reason to cellar any 2020 wine. The Willamette Valley is on the steely, crisp, subtly spiced spectrum. Drink by end of 2025. Eola-Amity Hills is bright, salty, creamy, a whisper of smoky minerality. This should have been consumed by now. Drink by end of 2025. Marine is coiled with just enough plushness and a hint of smoky minerality. This should have been consumed by now. Drink by end of 2025. Durant Vineyard is vibrant but creamy, with ample texture. This should have been consumed by now. Drink by end of 2025. The normal Seven Springs Vineyard is a touch softer and looser at 13.2%, than Seven Springs Vineyard Grey Label, which is chiseled and firm at 12.7%. They are best enjoyed side by side. Both should have been consumed by now. Drink by end of 2025. I am amazed at X Omni Vineyard’s complexity, it is layered, vibrant and dense. I am encouraged by X Omni, drink over the next two years, by 2025 or 2026. I absolutely adore Eyrie Vineyard - it is weightless, delicate, coiled with tremendous density, extract and structure. Drink by 2025 or 2026 if you must cellar it. None of the 2020’s should be decanted.
Please, drink the 2020 wines if they are in your cellar. The wines are likely most enjoyable now, and I see zero upside to cellaring.
2019
Bud break took place during the second and third week of April, and was followed by full bloom around June 10th. The summer was markedly cooler than 2014-2018, with only a few days above 90ºF. Atypical summer showers and humidity built mildew pressure during the summer, followed by low-pressure systems in September and October. By all estimates, 2.25 inches of rain fell between the second week of September and the first week of October. It was a lot of rain, and yet, what could've been messy is, without a doubt, one for the ages. Pick dates were strategic, if possible, though wet weather imposes constraints. The first pick was before the rains started, on 9/7/19 in the Dundee Hills, from a block of 20-year-old Dijon clone at 20.7º Brix. I waited another 19 days to pick again. The last pick was on 10/7 in Eola-Amity, from a block with 15 distinct clones at 20.5º Brix. Native yeasts were robust, fermentations progressed rapidly. Each site’s fermentation pace and curve were unique. With such great fermentations, the compacting lees will be phenomenal, and generous in building weight, density, and texture into these charming, weightless, young wines. High levels of reduction: decant! Finished alcohols range between 12% - 13.2%, averaging 12.7%.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/7/19
Seven Springs Vineyard - 9/26/19
Loubejac Vineyard - 9/26/19
The Eyrie Vineyards - 9/27/19
Yamhill Vineyard - 10/1/19
X Omni Vineyard Block 5 - 10/1/19
X Omni Vineyard Block 4 - 10/7/19
Released Spring 2021
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Nine bottlings were created from the 2019 vintage: Pink Label, Willamette Valley, Seven Springs Vineyard, X Omni Vineyard, Eyrie Vineyard, Dundee Hills, Eola Amity Hills, Marine and Memorie II. The 2019 vintage is without a doubt the best in the history of Willamette Valley for me. There is high to extreme reduction in most of the wines - please cellar this vintage for as long as you can, and decant. Pink Label is bright pink liquid lightning. Drink anytime or hold for as long as you can. Willamette Valley is tensile, bright and firmly reductive. Hold until 2026 or 2027, or decant. Seven Springs Vineyard is pure flinty perfection. Hold until 2029, or decant. X Omni Vineyard is the best wine I have ever made, and seems less reductive than it is. Hold until 2030, or decant. Eyrie Vineyard feels closed and reticent, and the longer this is in bottle, the more reduced it seems. Hold until 2030. Both Eola-Amity Hills and Dundee Hills are phenomenal, and firmly reductive. Hold until 2029, or decant. Marine is searingly fresh, but deep and long. Hold for as long as you can, decant when you open it. Memorie II is the second bottling from a solera of every wine I’ve ever made 2014-2019. It has been matured for you, drink now, this needs no decant.
Drink Memorie II anytime. Drink or hold Pink Label and Marine, decant. Hold Willamette Valley, Seven Springs, X Omni, Eyrie, Eola-Amity Hills, Dundee Hills, and if opening now, please decant. The 2019’s will all improve with more time in the cellar.
2018
The defining feature of 2018 is the lack of rainfall we received in the Willamette Valley throughout the growing season. After a normal bud break in mid-April, flowering was protracted. Consistently warm and dry summer days were followed by cool and dry nights. As hydric stress tempered berry and cluster size, accumulation of sugar began advancing quicker than flavor development. As cooler daytime temperatures arrived in late August, physiological ripeness began to catch back up. Scattered rain showers in the middle of the second week of September were followed by a stretch of beautiful fall days and nights. The rain quenched the parched soils, though cool temperatures prevented spread of much disease pressure. Fruit was harvested with moderate acidity, moderate to high sugars with ripe flavors. While the wines were brilliant young, I now find the wines creamy, soft and generous than I prefer.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/10/18
Seven Springs Vineyard - 9/20/18
Loubejac Vineyard - 9/26/18 and 9/27/18
AlexEli Vineyard - 9/28/18
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/28/18
The Eyrie Vineyards - 10/2/18
Released Spring 2020
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Eight bottlings were created from the 2018 vintage: Willamette Valley, Durant Vineyard, Seven Springs Vineyard, Eyrie Vineyard, Volcanic, Marine, Pink Label and Memorie I. The 2018 vintage was very dry, and warm. The wines were precocious, showing well early, there is very little reductive power to the 2018 vintage, perhaps I could’ve picked a few days earlier or pressed the musts harder but the pH rose rather quickly in the press. Willamette Valley is drinking well, vibrant, chalky and fresh. Drink anytime through 2026. Seven Springs Vineyard started to soften in 2022 and shows much more creamy nuttiness than I’d like. I think it is best to drink this bottling sooner rather than later. On the other hand, Durant Vineyard is still quite tight and has plenty of time to evolve in the cellar. Shy and delicately flinty, it blossoms with air. Drink anytime through 2026 or 2027. Eyrie Vineyard is bright for how deep, rich and textural it is. Drinking quite well already, drink through 2025 or 2026. Volcanic is rocky, mineral, a whisper flinty, it opens with air. Drink anytime, through 2028. Marine is bright and fresh with some curves. Drink now. Pink Label’s pure rocky minerals cut with strawberries and cream. One puncheon topped with Pinot lees. Drink anytime through 2026. Memorie I is the first bottling from a solera of every wine I’ve ever made 2014-2018. It has been aged for you. Drink Memorie I anytime.
Drink Memorie I, Seven Springs, Marine, Pink Label, Willamette Valley, and Eyrie over next few years. Drink or hold Durant and Volcanic. The 2018’s are best to enjoy on the younger side, and are already softer and rounder five after bottling. I don’t see the 2018’s as great candidates for extended cellaring.
2017
After a cool start and slightly later bud break and flowering, June and July were warm and dry. Yields were slightly high. Some very hot days in August and early September were followed by cooler weather. In mid-September, a few days of scattered showers allowed the fruit to hang and develop more flavor, and cooler temperatures prevented disease pressure from mounting. Fruit was harvested after the soil dried with moderately high acidities and moderately low sugars. There was uneven physiological ripeness and flavors, due to surprisingly high yields. Ambient yeast fermentations were slow, and malolactic engaged early in nearly every lot. A few really challenging fermentations required intervention on my part, which allowed me to evolve as a winemaker and business owner. The wines are bright, delicate and lovely, and as they age, I love them more and more.
Picking Dates:
Durant Vineyard - 9/15/17
Seven Springs Vineyard - 9/28/17
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/29/17 and 10/5/17
Loubejac Vineyard - 9/29/17
The Eyrie Vineyards -10/2/17
AlexEli Vineyard - 10/3/17
Released Spring 2019
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Eight bottlings were created from the 2017 vintage: Black Label, Pink Label, White Label, Willamette Valley, Loubejac Vineyard, Seven Springs Vineyard, Eyrie Vineyard, and Sandi. The 2017 vintage was hot but higher than average yields tempered ripeness. The 2017 vintage is less reductive than 2016 but the wines have decent to good structure and nice acidity. I find that the 2017’s to be in their prime drinking window. Black Label is mineral, steely and delicate. If you have this in your cellar, drink this as well as the Pink Label now. The Pink Label is light with dainty fruit and florals - neither of these bottlings have the structure to age. On the other hand, White Label is powerful, textural and structured and it has showed well since bottling. It will likely continue to improve modestly in the cellar over the next few years but I think this is better sooner rather than later. Willamette Valley is coiled, pure and chalky - it is wonderful now, and it will continue to improve through 2026. Loubejac Vineyard surprises me every time I open it; while it is chalky, mineral and vibrant, there is a subtle plushness on the palate. Drink anytime through 2026. Seven Springs Vineyard’s chalky and coiled texture has softened and the minerals have become creamy. Drink anytime through 2026. Eyrie Vineyard’s musky intensity is beginning to show depth which youth was hiding. This is richer, decanting is advised. Drink anytime through 2027 or 2028. Sandi is powerful, regal and has lots of finesse. Decant or cellar with confidence through 2027 or 2028.
Drink Black Label, Pink Label, White Label now. Willamette Valley, Loubejac and Seven Springs are likely reaching full maturity, drink in 2025 or 2026. Eyrie and Sandi will continue to improve in your cellar but are beginning to drink well.
2016
In a word, phenomenal. A typical spring in 2016 became warmer earlier than both 2015 and 2014, a trend that continued into June. Bud break and flowering occurred earlier than normal, both under ideal conditions. Fruit set was just below average. Weather in July and August become more moderate, cooling off slightly, and a couple light rain events were welcomed by the vines. Wonderful weather continued in September, and fruit was picked in perfect conditions with ideal physiological maturity, high acidity with potential alcohol right at 13%. Ambient yeast fermentations were healthy and fast, everything was dry by December just as malolactic engaged. These wines are lovely, and will continue to evolve in the cellar.
Picking Dates:
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/10/16
Loubejac Vineyard - 9/16/16
The Eyrie Vineyards - 9/20/16
Released Spring 2018
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Four bottlings were created from the 2016 vintage: Loubejac Vineyard, Yamhill Vineyard, Eyrie Vineyard and Sandi. The 2016 vintage is powerfully reductive and all of the the wines continue to improve in the cellar. The still show very little evolution and are tight, youthful and coiled. Loubejac Vineyard is bright, tense and powdery. Drink anytime through 2031. Yamhill Vineyard is chalky, coiled and pure, yet is quite welcoming. Drink now through 2031. Eyrie Vineyard is quite reductive, with savory flintiness, lovely texture and vibrancy. It is beautiful now with a decant, but will continue to improve in the cellar for many years. A blend of all three lots framed by more new oak, Sandi is elegant, dense and structured. Drink anytime through 2031.
Enjoy Loubejac, Yamhill and Sandi anytime with a brief decant, or cellar them for a few more years. Deacant or hold Eyrie. Be as patient as possible with the 2016’s, I am confident these wines will continue to improve for many years.
2015
Two in a row. An encore to 2014, spring weather created perfect conditions for another early bud break in 2015, which was followed by even, clement weather through flowering. Heat spiked beginning in June, and 2015 began notching higher than average day and nighttime high temperatures, pushing ripeness for a larger than average crop, with large berries and clusters. Scattered showers and a cooler late August transitioned into a wonderful early September, with cool, dry conditions allowing harvest at ease with high physiological and sugar ripeness with moderate acidity. Fermentations were slowed by concurrent malolactic and completed late. Five of six barrels were bottled. One barrel of 2015 finished the second spring and became part of the base of the solera.
Picking Date:
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/15/15
Released Spring 2017
DRINKING WINDOWS; updated April 2025
Three bottlings were created from five barrels, based mostly on the amount of new wood. The 2015 vintage was warm with fairly high yields. While the pick date was appropriate, the wines lack a bit of structure, the fermentations were quite slow and my sulfur add was on the low side. I have found the wines to be opulent and generously fruited since release. I don’t see upside to cellaring. The briny minerals and crispness of Willamette Valley (0% new wood) has softened a bit. The firmness and vibrancy of Yamhill Vineyard (25% new wood) is certainly more rounder and smooth. Always the most textural, Sandi’s (50% new wood) decadence has become honeyed, spiced and creamy.
The 2015 wines are mature and should be enjoyed.
2014
Bud break took place a few weeks earlier than average, and beautiful weather continued throughout flowering, setting healthy and bountiful clusters of big berries. Dry, hot weather throughout the growing season allowed for a higher than average crop to finish ripening without any issue during a typically cool September with a couple light rain events that had no ill effect on the health of the fruit. In general, physiological and sugar ripeness was high with moderate acidity. Fermentation was even and completed in the spring, just as malolactic was engaged.
Picking Date:
Yamhill Vineyard - 9/27/14
Released Spring 2016
DRINKING WINDOW; updated September 2024
The sole wine produced in 2014, Yamhill Vineyard, is likely or soon at peak development in bottle, but will continue to drink well as it evolves into full maturity. As of September 2024, the wine is surprisingly lively, fresh and vibrant with good intensity of aromatics, while a softness and subtle nutty character of flavors hints towards the freshness the wine aging consistently and slowly.
Drink anytime.