Hello from Jean at Avalon Wine -

Just a note about Oregon's 2004 vintage Pinot noirs, and specifically, the Shea Wine Cellars Pinot noirs. Less than 250 cases of each of the four designated Shea Pinot noirs were made, and for quality of wine, quality of vintage, and rarity, the Shea wines stand out from all other Oregon Pinot noirs.

The 2004 Pinot noir vintage in Oregon is shaping up to be as good or better than the 2002, although quantities are down 30% on average from 2002. For example, Beaux Freres usually has about 8500 cases of Pinot a year, but for 2004 they have about 1500. Yow. Similar low yields from most vineyards in 2004 make the vintage one that will disappear quickly. The small amount of 2004 Pinot noirs are balanced, big wines on a par with the 2002 vintage in quality and ageability. Their rarity make them an obvious choice for wine collectors, and we may see more resale and auction activity with the 2004s than we've ever seen for Oregon wines before.

Several elements combined to make 2004's Oregon Pinots so good:, low yield, excellent fruit, beautiful balance, and sugars almost as high as the 2003, but with much better levels of acidity and tannins. Combined with talented winemakers with decades of experience of Oregon's particular climate and soils. Add in vineyards planted to clones that really work in Oregon, planted long enough that the vines are mature, and producing first rate fruit. Then include vineyard management that uses organic, biodynamic, carefully researched methods. All these elements add up to a small amount of the best Pinot noirs Oregon has produced.

Of the 2004's, the world class wines are few. Shea Wine Cellars made four designate wines, in quantities of under 250 cases of each. Soter did not make a 2004 Beacon Hill Pinot noir, their flagship wine - they felt the wine was more "a killer $30 bottle of Pinot than an underperforming $50 bottle" - Chris Poulos, Soter National Sales Manager. Beaux Freres, as mentioned previously, made a fraction of the wine they usually make- the yield from Beaux Freres' Estate vineyard was particularly low in 2004. Bergstrom's 2004 Pinots are already sold out. Sineann's range of single vineyard 2004s is gone, except for a bit of Resonance Vineyard 04, but importantly, the Sineann 2004s, while rich, viscous, unctuous, and very California in style, are not in the same class as Shea, Beaux Freres or Soter.

Of the top tier 2004's, the wines I am most excited about are the Shea Wine Cellars Pinot noirs. Think about it- most every highly rated winery in Oregon has a single vineyard or reserve bottling made from Shea fruit - Bergstrom, Beaux Freres' Belles Soeurs label, Broadley, Francis Tannahill, JK Carriere, Ken Wright, Penner ash, Raptor Ridge, Scott Paul, St. Innocent - just a partial list of wineries whose Shea Pinots garner high ratings and customer loyalty each vintage. Now, think about the possibility of choosing from the entire Shea Vineyard, all 125 acres of it, to make the very best Pinot noir possible from the site. And you have the wines of Shea Wine Cellars.

Owner Dick Shea has gradually reclaimed some of the leases for the very best blocks of fruit from his vineyard, including the block that Sin Qua Non used to make their 2002 Shea Pinot (it received 96 points from Robert Parker). Those blocks are now reserved for the Shea Wine Cellars brand's Wadenswil Pinot noir 04.

Add to the best selection of Shea Vineyard's fruit the winemaking skills of Sam Tannahill, the maturity of the vineyard, much of which had to be replanted in the 1990's, and a permanent winery location, and you get the ultimate expression of the Shea vineyard terroir, the best possible Pinot noirs that can be made from the vineyard, and some of the best of Oregon and the US. The four single Block Pinot noirs from Shea Wine Cellars are, imho, the most collectable wines of the Oregon 2004 vintage. Shea's "Homer", Wadenswil, East Side, and Block 23 represent, at the least, four of the top ten or so Oregon Pinot noirs from the vintage.

HOMER ------ Shea Wine Cellars' "Homer" is the wine Shea makes each year to represent the best of the vineyard. It's a blend of the best barrels from Block 25 and the Oak Block, and sometimes includes selected barrels from a few other blocks' fruit. The 2004 Homer has a smidge more structure than the 2003, and a palate of scents and flavors that exceeds the 2003's many charms.

The Shea "Homer" 04 $67.45/$74.95 has an intricate and extraordinary range of flavors. Tasted this week, the wine shows flint, fresh turned earth, violets, roses, jasmine, smoke, an array of berry notes – blueberries, huckleberries, blackberries, loganberry, black raspberry, red raspberry, black cherry, tart pie cherry, and spices including cinnamon, clove, Five Spice Blend, white pepper, minerals, and that unusual note of molasses that comes from several blocks of Shea's vineyard. The wine is sappier and more concentrated than many Pinots, with an exquisitely drawn out, complex and seamless finish.

WADENSWIL ----- The Wadenswil clone fruit used to make Wine Advocate's (Robert Parker) highest rated Oregon Pinot noir ever, the 96 points Sin Qua Non 2002 Shea, is now in the hands of Shea Wine Cellars, and Shea's winemaker Sam Tannahill made a remarkable Shea Wine Cellars "Wadenswil" Pinot noir 04 $43.16/$47.95 from the fruit. It's a remarkable wine, and I can't help but compare it to the notorious Martinelli Pinot noirs and other California cult wines made with Wadenswil fruit.

There's a fairly comprehensive description of the Shea Wadenswil 04 in this article:

http://www.avalonwine.com/Shea-Wine-Cellars-2005.php

but I'd add, after retasting this week, that the wine is even more multifaceted than it showed in barrel, with dominant flavors of blueberry, black plum, blackberry, loganberry, black raspberry, rose petal, red plum, and creamy strawberry pie. Best of all, it's clearly still young and is not showing anything like its full potential.

BLOCK 32 is now East Hill ------ Shea Wine Cellars has offered a highly regarded Block 32 Pinot noir for several years. Now that the Block is heavily infected with Phyloxera, the fruit from it has been combined into a more general Shea "East Hill" Pinot noir 04 $37.76/$41.95. The bulk of the Shea East Hill is made from 777 clone fruit from Block 5 of the East Hill, rounded out with the older Block 32 fruit. The phyloxera in 32 has reduced yields, and the small amount of fruit harvested in 2004 was intensely flavored, bringing a special richness and nuanced structure to the wine.

The wine starts with aromatic notes of toasted coffee bean, toasty oak, cedar, and five spice blend. Flavors begin with a hint of barnyard, wonderfully soft and buttery five spice notes, and fruit flavors of tart cherry pie, black cherry, blackberry, and just a hint of blueberry. The finish echoes more spice and black berries, with ripe fruit re-emerging as this wine shows its excellent balance of fruit, acidity, and tannic structure.

Last year, these grapes made wine with all of its fruit and flavors upfront, and low acid and tannins. The 2004 shows a dramatic evolution (oh what a difference a year makes!) with perfectly ripe fruit flavors supported by lively acidity and fine grained tannins.

BLOCK 23 ---- The Shea Block 23 2004 $43.16/$47.95 is the first of the Shea 2004 wines to be released, and will start shipping in early November, 2005. It's from another block of the winery suffering from phyloxera, and low yields caused by the mite make for concentrated and complex fruit flavors. The Block 23 has always been the first Shea wine to be released each year. It's the most fruit forward, and although the 2004 will continue to improve for years, it'sdrinking beautifully now, and is an indicator of the vintage, already showing the beauty of the 2004 Shea wines.

There were fewer than 250 cases of each of the four Shea Wine Cellars wines - Homer, Wadenswil, East Hill, and Block 23. Over half are already sold as futures. I strongly encourage everyone who wishes to purchase some of these glorious wines to order now. The wines will be released to customers by the winery over the next eight months- Block 23 in November, 2005, followed by East Hill in January 2006, and the Homer and Wadenswil in May 2006. I believe that the 2004 vintage will go down in record books as one of the best of the period 1995 to 2005, and that it will also be remembered for the rarity of the best wines of the year.

The Shea Wine Cellars 2004 Pinot noirs can be purchased on Avalon's wesite here:
http://www.northwest-wine.com/shea-wine-cellars.html

Or give us a call and we'll help with an order. For sheer pleasure, not to mention value and rarity, these wines are worth consideration by serious Pinot noir lovers.

Just in case you missed it, my tasting notes on the 2004 Shea wines are here:
http://www.avalonwine.com/Shea-Wine-Cellars-2005.php

and there's a tour of the Shea Vineyard and a story about the 2004 bottling day here:
http://www.avalonwine.com/Shea-Wine-Cellars-vineyard-tour.php

http://www.avalonwine.com/Shea-Wine-Cellars-Bottling-2005.php

Please feel free to contact us if we may help with an order.

My direct line is 541-424-8004 - I'll be out of the office today until 4PM but then back in the rest of the week. You can email me at jean@avalonwine.com as well.

Marcus will be at the store all day today and tomorrow at 541-752-7418 or marcus@avalonwine.com.

Thanks for your support -we appreciate your orders and your suggestions. Our customers always give us our best ideas!

Jean

Avalon Wine
201 SW 2nd Street
Corvallis OR 97333
541-752-7418
www.avalonwine.com
store@avalonwine.com