2005 Pinot gris | Willamette Valley
In the Vineyard
Fruit for our 2005 Pinot gris was harvested over a single week, Oct. 4 through 11 from (in order of harvest) David Hill Vineyard, Meredith Mitchell Vineyard, Murto Vineyard, Yamhill Springs Vineyard, and Bellevue Cross Vineyard. Fruit quality was spectacular with physiologically ripe clusters, ranging from 22 to almost 24 brix, still balanced with good acidity. The David Hill fruit came in at 23.7 brix, 6.5 g/L TA, and 3.33ph; Meredith Mitchell at 22.0 Brix, 8 g/L TA, and 3.04 ph; Yamhill Springs at 23.0 brix, 6.5 g/L TA, and 3.25 pH; and Bellevue Cross at 23.2 brix, 7.7 g/L TA and 3.11 pH. Blended juice, pre-fermentation, was a picture-perfect 23 brix, 6.8 g/L TA and 3.28 pH.
At the Winery
Juice was destemmed, pressed and then clarified by cold-settling overnight in stainless steel tanks. To maintain fresh, floral aromas and balance acidity with sweetness, most of the resulting juice was accumulated in a temperature-controlled stainless steel tank and inoculated with CY3079 yeast. Tank fermentation was carried out at extremely cool temperatures (52 to 56 degrees F) over a four month period. No malo-lactic fermentation was encouraged. To add palate weight, complexity, and ‘polish,’ one-third of each vineyard’s juice was drained into 11-year old, neutral French oak puncheons and fermented with differing strains of yeast. Barrel fermentation was carried out over a short, one-month period with weekly lees stirring. This wine was then added to ‘marry’ with the remaining wine, cold fermenting in tank. A touch of freshly pressed 31 Brix Gewürztraminer “ice-wine” juice (only 1.3% of total volume) was added just prior to arresting fermentation. The wine was lightly fined with a bentonite and casein mixture, then filtered (coarse 7 micron, polish 2.5 micron, sterile 0.5 micron) prior to sterile filtration (0.4 micron) at bottling.
At the Table
The color of pale straw, our 2005 gris has a spicy nose with aromas of white flower blossoms, citrus, lychee and hints of honey. The wine starts broad and fleshy on the palate suggesting it will run fruity, then veers toward a racy and vibrant theme focused on minerals and citrus. A very long finish reverberates between refrains of citrus, trading off with lychee and minerals.
