About Oregon Pinot noir
Vintage times
in Oregon wine country
by Andy Perdue, Wine
Press NW
Although written in 2001,
this article continues to provide one of the best overviews of Oregon winemaking
and the importance of vintage we have to offer. -JY
Oregon's fickle lover is smiling these days.
Pinot noir, one of the most difficult grapes to manage, has been Oregon's steady romance for a quarter-century. It's a most alluring wine in great years and can be heart-achingly mediocre in difficult vintages. And after three tough years from 1995 to 1997, Oregon vineyards have enjoyed one of the best stretches of pinot-growing conditions in recent memory.
Beaux Freres Winery in Yamhill County
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Hype for the 1998 pinots was at an ear-splitting pitch a year ago when many of these wines were being released, thanks primarily to the hunger that lovers of Oregon wine had after three years of what can generously be called "challenging." The good news is that for the most part, '98 pinot noirs lived up to the publicity. The better news is that the '99s that consumers are beginning to see are even more delicious. And the '00s are shaping up to be absolutely incredible.
1995, 1996, 1997 Were Tough Vintages Despite the buzz about Western Oregon pinots, the past three years have been nail-biters for vineyard managers and wineries. The 1998 vintage didn't start out optimistically, as spring rain left the vines in dismal shape. Summer and fall were unusually warm, however, leading to a dry harvest and crops in many places of less than a ton of grapes per acre (by comparison, a typical year yields 2.5 to 3.5 tons per acre for pinot noir). The 1999 vintage was a much larger crop, and a warm spring allowed for full bloom and clusters. Then, it cooled off. By Labor Day, vintners were wondering if the grapes would ever get ripe, but September heated up, and by early October, harvest began. What is roundly being called the "miracle year" is producing textured, expressive wines that are less powerful and more elegant than 1998.
"We were really blessed with three great vintages in a row," says Joe Dobbes, winemaker for Willamette Valley Vineyards, south of Salem. Joe Dobbes Makes Wine All over Oregon Dobbes, who probably makes more wine than anyone else in Oregon, not only crafts Willamette Valley Vineyards' 60,000 cases, but he also makes nearly 10,000 cases each for its other two labels, Tualatin Estate in the Willamette Valley and Griffin Creek in the Rogue Valley. Last year, he also became winemaker for Torii Mor when Patricia Green left to buy Autumn Wind, now Patricia Green Cellars. Torii Mor has a cult following and produces 6,000 cases annually, primarily pinot noir.
"We want to be known as America's top pinot noir producer," he says. To do that, Dobbes looks for quality through diversity. He experiments with various clones of pinot noir and tries yeast strains from high-end Burgundy producers. "I'm a yeast freak." Despite the amount he produces, his wines are kept as separate as possible: different clones, different vineyards, different blocks within vineyards and different kinds of barrels. He ferments separately as much as possible, sometimes driving the winery staff a little crazy. But he sees this attention to detail as the key to Oregon's success in often less-than-ideal weather conditions. "Clonal selection experimentation is higher in Oregon than anywhere else in the United States," Dobbes says, "and probably the world." Gary Andrus Helped put Oregon Pinot noirs on the Map Gary Andrus of Archery Summit knows a little about experimentation. The owner and winemaker of one of the mostly highly touted wineries in star-studded Yamhill County is a scientist by training and loves to run trials. At any one time, he is running hundreds of tests, be they various pinot noir clones, different styles and makers of oak barrels, trellising systems, fermentation styles and more, all using gentle gravity flow systems. His beautiful underground caves are filled with French and American oak barrels with wine at various stages
It's a major challenge to keep all the clones straight," Andrus says as he draws a glass tube - a "wine thief" - from a barrel and pours the captured pinot into a glass". But he doesn't seem to have much trouble. He knows as much about every drop of his 12,000 cases as humanly possible. He loves to walk through the vineyards during the growing season - he deeply believes that winemaking starts in the vineyard. And he believes Oregon's success is tied to what winemakers do with the vines. He points to 1997 as a prime example. In what universally has been politely called a difficult year, Archery Summit made what Andrus thinks was his crowning achievement. "Careful attention to the vineyard separated the men from the boys," Andrus says. "Hedging, leaf removal and dropping fruit at veraison (when the grapes turn color) was the only means of success." He thinks that the high quality vintages Oregon has enjoyed since 1998 should serve as models for when the weather isn't quite so generous. "Winegrowers, not farmers, make wine," Andrus says. He believes Oregon wineries are successful when they control their own destinies in the vineyard. This means wineries owning or leasing vineyards or contracting them by the acre instead of by weight so they can dictate that quality rules over quantity. He thinks more winemakers should spend time in the vineyard during the growing season so they can taste the fruit as it develops. Andrus also believes in sorting harvested grapes by hand to remove low-quality fruit before its juice is squeezed out. "Make no compromises" is Andrus' creed. And it shows in his final product, which is some of Oregon's best - and most expensive - pinot noir. "While I am proud and humbled by the success of our wines with our customers, with the trade and with the press, I am also excited about wineries that are newer than ours that will push all of us to raise the quality of Oregon pinot noirs," Andrus says. Andrus tips his hat to Oregon's pinot pioneers, who produced classy to great wines without the benefit of today's knowledge. "Simply put, today's vintners are more scientifically trained, have had the opportunity to learn from history, to compare results with a greatly expanded universe of wine producers, have better equipment to use in the vineyards and cellars and have the opportunity to study the many technical changes in production in the vineyards." Today, Oregon winemakers do not copy Burgundy's techniques, Andrus notes, but instead take a more global view. "We are so very blessed - or perhaps just lucky - that the study of our profession has expanded. "Knowledge is wealth, and it has led to the production of better wines," he says.
Beaux
Freres stays true to the Grape Unlike Dobbes and Andrus, who bottle many separate styles and vineyard-designated pinots, Michael Etzel focuses very narrowly on but one pinot noir at Beaux Frères, an estate nestled into the backroads of rural Yamhill County and producer of one of Oregon's most highly sought wines. All grapes that go into Beaux Frères wine come from the 25 acres of vineyards on the 86-acre estate atop Ribbon Ridge in the Chehalem Valley near Newberg. The property was a dilapidated pig and dairy farm when he and his wife, Jacqueline, partnered with brother-in-law and famed wine writer Robert M. Parker Jr. Robert Roy, a Quebec pinot noir enthusiast, joined the partnership a few years later. "We like to be distinctively different," Etzel says. "When people taste our wine, I want to have them say, 'Wow, that's Beaux Frères!' " In addition to being very particular in the vineyard, Etzel is equally meticulous in the cellar. He uses primarily expensive new French oak barrels and allows them to air dry an additional year after purchase, removing some of their "greenness." Most of Beaux Frères' 3,000 cases of pinot noir is presold to a mailing list of customers. But Etzel has expanded the vineyard in recent years, which means he is inviting new customers onto his list.
Looking at the past three vintages, Etzel sees 1998 as "a wine with longevity." A big wine that has yet to show its full potential, he suggests it be cellared for some time. In 1999, his maturing vineyard produced more grapes than ever before, and he's profoundly fond of the wine, which is close to being released. "This is the kind of wine that I like personally," Etzel says, "wine that gives more than a promise of things to come. It's wine that gives pleasure now." He also has high hopes for the unfinished 2000 vintage, which already is showing off complex aromas, vibrant fruit and refreshing acidity. Etzel's prediction of Oregon's future is it will be "a boon for the lover of fine pinot noir, America's best answer to Burgundy, with many small farms and small producers, a multiplicity of styles and vineyard characters and an increasing emphasis on high quality." Belle Pente excels with dedication to Quality and the Vineyard
"I think the future is bright for Oregon pinot noir," Brian O'Donnell says, "especially for small, quality-oriented producers. The level of interest appears to be at an all-time high, as is the quality of the wines." He began making wine in Oregon in 1992, and his first commercial vintage was 1996, in the midst of the three tough vintages. Despite this, he was able to produce top wines in '96 and '97. "Managing yields to reasonable levels is very important, especially in difficult vintages," O'Donnell says. "That was the key to our success in '97. "There is a risk that these last three years will lull us into a false sense of security. But winemakers who stick to the fundamentals of low yields and gentle, natural winemaking will be successful even in marginal vintages." Belle Pente's 1998 pinot noirs have good balance and sweet, ripe fruit, O'Donnell says. His '99 pinots have great structure but are slow to develop and only now are showing their vineyard characteristics. He believes the '99s will show more structure than the '98s but with less ripe, sweet fruit. The Belle Pente '00 pinots, he says, are evolving more quickly than the '99s and already are showing great promise. "The three current good vintages, coupled with more competent viticulture and winemaking, will clearly enhance Oregon's reputation," O'Donnell says. Kate Bolling is counting on it. The owner of Oregon Wines on Broadway in downtown Portland near Nordstrom specializes in Oregon and Washington wines by the glass and by the bottle. She typically has 30 pinot noirs available for her wine bar customers. "'95, '96 and '97, we'll call them challenging," she said, adding many wines from the '96 vintage are drinking nicely after some time in the bottle, though none will be as big and bold as the three most recent vintages. "We're looking at three really nice, ripe vintages. We're going to get really nice complexity with the '98s." She added that she thinks the '99s will have a bit more balance and will be a better wine for collectors. Her only problem with the '99s is she thinks they're being released a little too early because there was so little wine in the '98 vintage. "It's tough to show '99 wines right now." She suggests that buyers hold back on drinking the '99s for a while and instead enjoy the '96 and '97 pinots. Bolling, who has owned Oregon Wines on Broadway for nearly two years, marvels at the quality of Oregon pinots in general. "It's amazing if you consider the battle with weather," she said. "It seems that in '98, '99 and 2000, the winemakers were able to escape that, and they were able to get fruit that truly comes to fruition. Instead of dealing with weather, they have more control." That control, Oregon vintners hope, will pay off when Mother Nature's kiss isn't as kind as it's been the past three years. next -------------How Pinot noir Ages ---by Lisa Shara Hall
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This article is excerpted from Wines of
the Pacific Northwest,
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