Newsletter November 6, 2002

northwest wine

Avalon Wine Newsletter December 6, 2002
- Ken Wright 2002 Futures--Shea 2001 Home Run!--Willakenzie winemaker leaves
Newsletter archive

Ken Wright
2002 Pinot Noir
Futures
$35 (reduced price
from last year)

Read Tasting Notes

Here is our take on the Ken Wright 2002 single vineyard pinot noirs, our tasting notes from barrel on Dec 4, 2002, along with information from Ken and Dale about the vineyards, ageability, the 2002 vintage, and more.

We have reduced our price from last year, reflecting the tougher business climate and our need to keep going in a slow and competitive market. The wines are better than ever and our price reductions have nothing to do with the quality of the wines. As a matter of fact, we are more excited about the 2002 wines than we have been since 1994. These wines may even outdo the wonderful 99 vintage for longevity and quality.
READ MORE...

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Jean's
Kitchen Sink
Picks of the Week

What's on the kitchen sink this week? Lots and lots of bottles of new vintage wines. I'm trying everything I can, learning about the 2001 vintage, checking on the progress of the 2000 wines, and deciding what we are going to send in the next Wine Club shipment.

Yumm, Apogee is back, although there's not much of it, and this vintage the grapes used to make the Borfdeaux style blend are all from the Pepperbridge Vineyard. A huge and dynamic wine, not for turkey, this one needs prime rib or venison. Last year the wine received 93 points in Wine Spectator, I'll be interested to see what they have to say about this vintage, as it is more complex and a potentially better wine with aging than the 99. I found myself reaching for this wine when the cave aged Dutch Gouda came out, and it was a delectable if unusual match with a pot of split pea soup made with the leftover smoked turkey carcass.

We got a little bit of the Cadence 2000 wines and I've been testing them very thoroughly (ha- what an excuse!) Call or email me if you'd like some and I'll let you know whether I had any left over after I finished "testing". They're not on the website, just not enough of them... those of you who have put up with my ramblings to this point are now rewarded with the inside track on the Tapteil, Spring Valley, and Reserve 2000.

And given the quality and low price of the Kiona Cab 99, I got a bottle of the new Kiona 2000 Cab to try. The 99 just made the Wine Spectator top 100 wines of the year list for 2002.... and the verdict? Will drink as well or better in a year, or let it breathe for a full day before drinking and see it blossom in flavor and scent if you must drink it right now. I think the layers of fruit, spice, and dark roast coffee bean flavors are a little richer than in the 99, while the balance of tannins and acid make this wine as ageworthy as many $60 California Cabs.

Check out the tasting notes on Patty Green's 2001s, Ken Wright's new 2002 wines in barrel and the Shea wines just released- went to Ken wright and Shea to taste on the same day and had one of the better days I've ever experienced... at the end of the day I just had to shake my head in wonder at the improvements in what I already thought were two of the best wineries in Oregon. The Shea "Homer" 2001 (made by Patty Green) and the Ken Wright McCrone 2002 in barrel were just about as perfect as they get-- well, maybe the PGC Balcombe 1B 2001 as well- I dream about that wine...

All the best, Jean

News from Avalon-

The store is packed with new arrivals, from Daedelus to Runaway Red, from Cadence to Woodward, there are new wineries, new vintages, new winemakers, lots of exciting new wines. Come on in, call or email, check out the website (lots of new articles). Let us help you try some great new wines!

Jean, Ann, Carl,
Teresa, and Christina

Willakenzie winemaker
Laurent Montalieu leaves
read it here

A "Homer"
from Shea Stadium
Tasting Tour with vineyard owner
Shea, winemaker Tannahill shows fabulous wines

By Christina Kelly
Avalon Editor/Writer

If you haven't tasted any wines from Shea Wine Cellars, now is the time. As Austin Powers would say, "Yeah Baby!"

The popularity of this wine is only going to increase and, Au contraire, you won't be able to resist it.

After a tasting tour this week with owner Dick Shea and winemaker Sam Tannahill, I say put on your sunglasses mamma cause the future is bright and the wine, both in the bottle and in the barrel is smashing.

For the previous six years, Tannahill crafted premium Pinot Noir at Archery Summit, drawing high praise and very high wine scores. But Tannahill wanted to make his own style of wine, using less oak and allowing the taste of the vineyard to shine through.

Dick Shea grew grapes for more than ten years on a 200-acre estate in Yamhill County, supplying some of the best winemakers with fruit, including Ken Wright Cellars, Beaux Freres, Patricia Green Cellars, Westrey Wine Company, Panther Creek Cellars, Raptor Ridge and St. Innocent. About 140 acres produce grapes, although 50 acres are young vines.

In 1996, Shea decided to start his own winery, and asked some of the state's top winemakers to help in the process. ("They were all friends, producing wines from my fruit, so why not?" Shea says) He started out with Michael Stevenson, winemaker from Panther Creek, who produced Block 21 in 1998. In 1999, Stevenson produce a Chardonnay for Shea and Ken Wright crafted the Pinot Noir.

By 2001, David Autrey, from Westrey, produced the Chardonnay. Stevenson produced one block of Pinot Noir and Patty Green produced another vineyard block.

"We signed Patty to a two year contract and were very pleased with her style of wines," said Shea. "Then we learned that Sam Tannahill was available and decided to go with a full-time winemaker-our own employee."

The team of Shea and Tannahill clicked. For Tannahill, the opportunity to put his own signature on wine he produced was important to both of them.

"There is consistency now," said Tannahill, referring to all the previous Shea wines with different winemakers. "If there is one thing I bring, it is consistency. The style will be consistent."

Although Tannahill and Patty Green "are more alike than different" in their winemaking style, Tannahill says he will add a little more structure and tannins to his wines. He describes the Patty Green wines as a little softer, but lovely.

About 30 percent of the 2002 wine, still in barrels, is the work of Patty Green. Tannahill produced the reminder.

Shea says he has great respect for Green and Tannahill and believes them to be similar in style.

"If I had to compare Sam's style of winemaking, I'd say it's similar to Patty's, but they both have their differences," Shea said. "The wine shows through the vineyard, and that's what we were looking for. We didn't want a lot of new oak."

The hit of Shea's offerings is the 2001 Pinot Noir "Homer." This the finest Pinot produced by Shea for the 2001 vintage, blending the vineyard's six best barrels. Shea, a big baseball fan, said the winery "hit a home run" with the '01 Homer, and thus, the name. He also conceded that his wife says he sometimes acts like Homer Simpson.

There are a tremedous number of different blocks of Shea vineyard from which Dick has wines made. In fact, when Patty Green produced the Homer blend, she had a huge room of Shea barrels in a specially built annex of her winery and called the area "Shea Stadium."

If you really want a big Pinot Noir that coats your tongue and fills your mouth with big fruit, Homer is it. During this week's tasting, I sadly had to spit out the Homer, thinking it was a sin to allow such a wine to leave my mouth without reaching my tummy.

Besides the Homer, I tasted the Shea Vineyards 2000 Pinot Noir, the '01 Block 32 and the '01 Block 23. All of those vintages were bottled. The great news is the barrel tasting of the 2002 versions showed that next year's releases are as good or better.

Block 32 has succulent fruit and hints of mocha. My notes show that the finish lasted a very long time. Although drinkable now, I'd cellar that puppy for a couple years and stun your mouth with the elegance and finesse this wine will exhibit.

Patty Green made Block 23 and it is quite the showcase. All I could think of was classy, with a multitude of layers rising on the palette for new discoveries after each sip.

This is a winery coming into its own, after a plethora of hands at the helm. Now that Shea has his own winemaker, and that winemaker has the green light, the future is bright indeed.

If you'd like to try some wines made from the Shea Vineyard, here's a list of available wines:
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