Beaux Frères' 2003 Vintage Oregon Pinot noirs
by Jean Yates
Michael Etzel, partner and winemaker at Beaux Frères, summed up the view of many winemakers during the 2003 harvest when he commented that the fruit possessed "intense and sweet flavors, round and sweet tannins, big aromas, and scary black color in the fermenters."
But to an equally important degree the high quality of the 2003 Beaux Frères wines can be attributed to the right winemaking choices. 2003 was a vintage that required the proactive making of the wine - a vintage where the winemaker's hand was essential in achieving top-quality wine. All else being equal, most winemakers don't like to add or subtract anything from the grapes - but in 2003 all else was decidedly not equal: the natural imbalances in the grapes required the winemaker to intercede.
In their attempts to compensate for the nature of "what the grapes gave us," it was either tempting or required to add acid, as well as to work hard to keep the alcohol levels down and tannins restrained. The wrong decisions could easily have produced wines with excessive extraction, overpowering alcohol, inordinate concentration, and unreasonable tannins.
Given the advantage of great flavors, the challenge for Beaux Frères in 2003 was primarily one of making the right winemaking decisions to allow the fruit character to be fully realized in a balanced wine. In 2003, the most successful winemakers found ways to create symmetry between fruit, tannin, and acid out of the imbalance that nature delivered.
Record heat, on numerous occasions exceeding 100° F, combined at first with excessive dryness and then with the ambiguous benefits of spots of rain to make the 2003 harvest one of the most challenging winemakers had ever seen. The unprecedented summer heat dramatically accelerated the speed of grape ripening at Beaux Frères, and tended to cause imbalanced ripening unless carefully managed. When rains did come, they were often relatively light and brief, followed by renewed heat.
From the winery: "The 2003 growing season screamed along. A drier than normal winter allowed us to spend quite a bit of time up in the vineyard. Pruning began on January 6th and continued on through mid-February. Healthy pruning weights have provided us further evidence that the 2002 growing season was both balanced and healthy. Dry weather for much of the winter allowed us to get all of our flail mowing done and to continue with our straw-mulch program. This program, which was started about three years ago, involves laying straw down between the vines in order to control weed growth between the vines and as a means of feeding the soil. To date we feel that the results of this process have been very positive with the most obvious benefits being a change in the soil aggregates and significantly increased earthworm activity. We added more straw to use as mulch in vines to cool their feet as the summer continued."
"New vineyard projects included the making of our own compost. We have been using compost as a regular soil amendment for the last four years and feel that it is very beneficial and effective in providing the plants with a complex, balanced and nutritious diet. This compost was ready to use this fall and was incorporated into the soil after the 2003 harvest. We just began the compost for the following season. A dirty job, but one we feel is critical to good vine health."
"Bud break was the second week of April. After bud break we started hoeing between the vines to take out the weeds. Whew! Lots of work by hand. So, Mike did the crew a big favor and bought a new in-row cultivator to use for weeding under the straw and between the vines. A great addition to the team, another John Deere!"
"Veriason, or color change went as anticipated. There was a bit of unevenness but our long indian summer allowed for the fruit to get quite ripe. We had a dry, long, hot season. The harvest was about 10 days earlier than normal. The wines fermented flawlessly and have been pressed to barrel. Mother nature has been generous and we don't like to count our chickens before they are hatched but we'll keep you posted."
The 2003 Wines
Beaux Frères Pinot noir The Beaux Frères Vineyard 03 $67.45/$75 Dark garnet/plum color, classic Pinot nose with fresh earth, chocolate, plum, and saddle leather scents, and an intriguing hint of rose petals under the surface. Flavors are rich, expansive sweet plum, blackberry, black rasrpbery, black cherry, cola, spice, white pepper, with hiints of licorice and spice. The finish goes on and on, seductively restating and elaborating on the flavors initially perceived. Acid-tannin balance is just about perfect, there's tremendous potential for even more by cellaring 3-8 years. Tasted side by side with the 2002 Estate (Wine Spectator 95 points) I'd have to say this wine is at least its equal. -jy
From the winery: "Our 2003 Beaux Frères reveals a classic Pinot Noir perfume of black fruits (a common characteristic of our finest vintages) in addition to forest floor and floral notes. We use about 80% new Francois Frères Barrels and it was interesting to see how easily the oak was absorbed in this wine. This medium to full-bodied, concentrated (yields were again very low), deeply colored Pinot Noir should have a minimum of ten to twelve years of aging potential. While not as broad or powerful as the 2002 Beaux Frères, it is richer than our highly successful 1999, and more accessible and forward than many of our cuvèes, before they round into shape. As usual, this wine has been bottled with neither fining nor filtration and extremely low levels of sulfur. Anticipated Maturity: 2006-2018 Case Production: 1675 cases."
Wine Spectator 95 points: "Subtle and graceful. Remarkably generous with its many layers of flavor, offering currant, raspberry, cherry, violet and mineral notes that keep echoing as the finish sails on. Tannins are present but should polish up with cellar time. Drink now through 2015." - H.S.
Beaux Frères Pinot noir The Upper Terrace 03 $67.45/$74.95
Scents of black cherry, spice, and saddle leather lead to hugely concentrated flavors of sweet plum, cherry, chocolate, and spice, lots of depth and complexity while sustaining a fresh, lush quality. The flavors of plummy chcolate continue in the long finish, with a hint of white pepper rising from fine grained tannins. The complexity, balance and sophistication of this wine makes it a world class Pinot noir and a candidiate for cellaring for 5-8 years. Remarkably good in the face of a difficult vintage, this 2003 wine sets a high standard for others to match. -jy
Wine Spectator rating 94 points: "Amazingly supple, graceful, and focused, balancing raspberry, blackberry, plum, and spicy, smoky elements into a seamless whole, all wrapped in fine tannins and lingering on the finish beautifully. Drink now through 2013." H.S.
Beaux Frères Pinot noir Willamette Valley Belles Soeurs 03 $40.46/ $44.95
Wine Spectator 93 points (5/1/05): "Supple, silky, and generous. Not a huge wine, but has enormous flavors, from raspberry to cherry to smoky spice and weaving in floral and mineral notes, persisting on the long, long finish. Tremendous refinement. Drink now through 2015." H.S.
Dark color, intense and succulent aromas of black raspberry, blackberry, clean earth,hints of rose petal. Flavors of sweet plum, blackberry, black raspberry,cherry, and earthy spice, a bit fruit forward, but balanced with a surprisingly fresh, crisp finish with nicely balanced tannins. No problem at Beaux Frères with the tempermental 2003 vintage, there's not a trace of heat, just a long, spicy finish with white pepper, pie spices, and continued echoes of juicy black plum and berry. Delicious, complex, sophisticated, and promising even more with a bit of cellaring.-jy
Made by Mike Etzel for Ana Vineyard
Ana Vineyards Pinot noir 03 $35.05/$38.95
Intriguing foresty, herbal notes in the nose, like the scent of a forest floor on a warm day. A delicious, medium to full-bodied Pinot noir with loads of fruit. It has a dark ruby color with sweet black cherry aromas and has a lovely soft palate with fine tannins. 200 cases were made by Mike Etzel (Beaux Frères).
In 2001, vineyard manager Andy Humphrey purchased the oldest portion of the Weber Vineyard, a Red Hills of Dundee site with 28+ year old vines. He renamed it Ana Vineyard. Andy possesses a deep understanding of vineyard physiology and works to optimize the growing conditions to produce excellent fruit. The beautifully focused Ana wines are currently made by friend and winemaker Mike Etzel of Beaux Frères.
The 2002 Vintage
From the winery: "With the 2002 vintage, a confluence of factors - a mature and healthy vineyard, ten years of experience with the site, great weather, great fruit, and a sunny warm harvest season - resulted in wine that reaches a new level of excellence for the winery, and for Oregon Pinot noir. Harvest proceeded at a relaxed pace, with plenty of time to hand sort the fruit under delightful working conditions- sunny days and cool nights, perfect for ripening Pinot grapes. What a contrast to some years spent standing out in the cold on the crushpad, sorting grapes in the rainy Oregon fall drizzle."
"A hotter than usual August and September, coupled with drying east winds led to a slightly early beginning to harvest. The growing season was terrific and the vineyards experienced some unbelievable Indian Summer days kept the temperatures in the 80's."
"We began picking the young vine fruit at our new property on September 23rd and continued from there into The Beaux Frères Vineyard finishing on October 9th. With only a brief rain in the middle of that time period harvest took place under warm and sunny weather that lasted until the end of the month. All of this sunshine and warmth resulted in very high sugars with many lots coming in between 25 and 26 degrees brix, with one lot reaching an astonishing 27.5 degrees brix. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Oregon these are numbers attained only once or twice a decade."
"A further benefit of all of this fine weather was that we were able to spend extra time evaluating each vineyard block and to harvest at a relaxed pace. Fermentations were steady and clean, most being conducted using native yeast. Upon completion of fermentation the wines were pressed to barrel were they will spend a total of ten months before being racked out for bottling. Tasting the wines in barrel we are very pleased with the vintage and have high hopes for many of the lots. The 2002 vintage had a cool, slow malolactic fermentation, just how we like it. As they are now emerging from slumber they show promising results. We are quite excited about the new wines. This month they will move their only time from the individual barrels to the bottling tank, as we prepare to harvest 2003."
The 2002 Wines
Beaux Frères Pinot noir Beaux Frères Vineyard 2002
Wine Spectator 95 points
Wine Spectator says: "The Beaux Frères Vineyard is a big, ripe wine with mouthwatering acidity to bring harmony to a wash of plum, blackberry, cherry and dusky spice flavors, which persist on the fine-grained, not terribly tannic finish. It's the best yet from one of Oregon's great estates. The 24-acre vineyard covers steep hillsides on Ribbon Ridge, fast emerging as a golden spot in the Chehalem Mountains in Willamette Valley. Drink now through 2012. H.S."
Beaux Frères Belles Soeurs Pinot noir Shea 02
Wine Spectator rating 94 points
Wine Spectator says: "Belles Soeurs is the label Beaux Frères uses for its wines made with purchased grapes. The Shea Vineyard is powerful, rich and seductive, a plush mouthful of fresh plum, blackberry and subtle spices, amazingly ripe and supple right through the extraordinarily long finish. Tannins are beautifully integrated, but enough to carry this one a long way in the cellar. Best from 2005 through 2012. From Oregon. - H.S."
Beaux Frères Estate "Upper Terrace" Pinot noir 02
Wine Spectator rating 91 points
Wine Spectator says: "Planted entirely with Dijon clones, closely spaced one hilltop over from the home vineyard, Upper Terrace has owner-winemaker Michael Etzel grinning in anticipation. The first vintage's lithe, supple style has a meaty edge to the dead-ripe blackberry, strawberry and plum flavors, beautifully balanced with fine-grained tannins as it lasts on the finish. Drink now through 2010." - H.S.
The Beaux Frères Estate Vineyards
reprinted with permission
The Beaux Frères Vineyard is located on an 86-acre farm atop Ribbon Ridge in the Chehalem Valley near Newberg (Yamhill County, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA). Tall and stately Douglas fir trees cover nearly 50 acres of the farm, with homestead and winery buildings occupying another 6 acres. The vineyard is situated on 30 acres (24 of which are planted) of steep, contiguous southeast, south and southwest facing hillsides of Willakenzie soils at elevations of around 400 feet.
Planting began in 1988 with Pinot Noir vines planted tightly spaced at a density of about 2200 plants to the acre. Currently the vines range in age from 3 to 12 years and are a mixture of own-rooted Pommard and Wädenswil clones and various of the new Dijon clones on phylloxera-resistant rootstocks.
Upper Terrace Block: This adjacent parcel is located on the crest of the next hill north from The Beaux Frères Vineyard. The 'Upper Terrace' vineyard is ten plantable acres of southeast-facing hillsides of Willakenzie soils at elevations similar to those of The Beaux Frères Vineyard. Eight of the ten acres are currently planted to various of the new Dijon clones of Pinot Noir. We look for good things to come from this new parcel beginning with the 2002 vintage.
