King
Estate Winery

Lorane Grapevines

Viticulture

Food and Wine pairings

2001 Harvest

The King Estate is located southwest of Eugene, Oregon near the town of Lorane. The 820 acre estate provides a spectacular mountain vineyard site with elevations ranging from 800 to 1,100 feet and cool, prevailing northwest winds that moderate vineyard temperatures.

The majestic winery, which reflects the architectural tradition of a French chateau, encompasses approximately 110,000 square feet. Total production capacity is 400,000 gallons.

King Estate is home to orchards, gardens, a traditional cottage and acres of rolling vineyards. King Estate has also developed Lorane Grapevines, a state of the art vine propagation facility. Lorane Grapevines, Oregon's largest producer of grafted grapevines, operates as a separate business producing vines grafted on various phylloxera-resistant rootstock. Lorane Grapevines provides rootstock for planting King Estate's vineyards and markets grafted vines to the U.S. wine industry as well. The Estate is owned and fully funded by the King family.

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King Estate makes several higher end single vineyard and reserve wines that are not widely distributed, including their Pinot Noir Croft Vineyard, Pinot Noir Pfeiffer Vineyard, and their Pinot Noir Domaine. They also make limited amounts of an ice wine, King Estate Vin Glace, and a Vin Gris. We are fortunate to be able to offer these wines to you.

The King Estate Pinot Noir Oregon Domaine 98 received 93 points in Wine Spectator. Harvey Steiman said: "Supple, generous and incredibly long, smooth and creamy in texture, with abundant black cherry, exotic spice and toasty flavors mingling effortlessly on the finish. Tempting already. Drink now through 2008. 200 cases made."

The King Estate Pinot Noir Reserve 98 received 91 points in Wine Spectator and was a Spectator Selection. Harvey Steiman said: "The polished style of this supple Pinot emphasizes its pretty black cherry and violet-petal aromas and flavors, which linger effortlessly on the round finish. Has a nice tinge of pepper as well. Drink now. 2,500 cases made."

The King Estate Pinot Noir Pfeiffer Vineyard 98 received 91 points in Wine Spectator as well. Harvey Steiman said: "Round and velvety, with pretty violet-scented red cherry and raspberry flavors, finishing with spicy vanilla notes, all of it riding on a razor's edge of bright acidity. Delicious already. Best from 2002 through 2008. 200 cases made."

The King Estate Vin Glace Ice Wine 99 received 90 points from Wine Spectator. Harvey Steiman said: "Rich, unctuous dessert wine layers its honey, melon and pineapple flavors on a beautifully rounded frame, balancing with just enough citrusy acidity to keep it from being cloying. Drink now through 2005. 150 cases made."

King Estate's mission is to produce varietal wines of consistently exceptional quality through meticulous fruit selection, impeccable winemaking practices, and judicious blending. Wine production at King Estate focuses on three main varieties, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay, and features the small lot, hands-on winemaking techniques essential to produce the finest wines. When growing conditions are ideal, King Estate has been known to produce a Cabernet Sauvignon and old vine Zinfandel.

Harvest 2001

Mother Nature gave us one of the most unique growing seasons in 2001 we've experienced in Oregon. The overall drought-like conditions, tracking at 50% of normal rainfall, gave us the opportunity to use innovative and unique vineyard practices this year. On approximately 18 of the 225 planted acres on the Estate, we picked the fruit on the west side (morning sun) of the vines, and then, four to six days later, picked the fruit on the east side (afternon sun). The fruit from this new harvest process will be kept isolated in separate tanks for close evaluation throughout the winemaking process to determine if the extra effort will benefit wine quality.

At King Estate, we also remove half of the cover crop so the vines don't have to compete for moisture. These decisions paid huge dividends, as the vineyards showed very little sign of drought-related vine stress during the key berry ripening process. Using judicious vineyard management practices, we were able to achieve average to slightly above average yields with extremely high quality fruit. The harvested fruit had no mildew or botrytis, displaying deep color and flavor intensity.

Harvest at King Estate began on October 1st with a beautiful "harvest" moon and concluded with the picking of our Pinot Gris Vin Glacé fruit on Octoer 18th.

"This year the unique characteristics of each vineyard, clone, block, rootstock etc. are accentuated by Mother Nature giving less rainfall and lots of sunshine," notes Brad Biehl, King Estate's General Manager.

High-pressure weather patterns provided warm days and cool nights, triggering the transition to Fall. A diurnal window gave us a 50º temperature variation, with temperatures ranging between 35º - 85º. On October 21st the typical Oregon rain set in and put us in full Fall mode.

"2001 harvest was interesting, yet very nice - the next phase of winemaking will be fun, and I expect we will release our 5th consecutive vintage of outstanding wines," sums up Brad Biehl.

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