There's something very Zen about a winemaker who works with the same small parcel of land and the same grape varietal, year after year. Certain strictures are laid out and adherred to, foremost the commitment to this one site, and one grape (pinot noir), in an effort to produce the purest expression of the vineyard. Such is the practice of Michael Etzel, whose Beaux Freres Winery celebrates its 11th vintage with some of the highest scores ever given by Wine Spectator for Oregon Pinot noirs.

As the years have passed, Michael has revisited his vineyard thousands of times, following the rhythm of the seasons, cycling through deeper and deeper knowledge of the soil, the weather, the vines, the local wildlife, the sum of ingredients that are described in the wine world as the expression of "terroir" in the wine. To taste through the vintages of Beaux Freres is to follow a journey of discovery, each vintage illuminating more facets of the vineyard.

In the Lab, December 2003- evaluating cuvees

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.

The 2002 Wines

Beaux Freres Pinot noir
Beaux Freres Vineyard 2002
$75
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."

The Beaux Freres Winery, November 2003 ------------------c©Jean Yates 03

The Beaux Freres Estate Vineyards

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.

The 2002 Vintage

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 our 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 Freres 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.

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Archive-
Tasting notes and articles about older vintages of Beaux Freres Wines