Domaine le roc des anges, roussillon
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OREGON There is a north west passage to the intellectual world – Tristram Shandy
No people require maxims so much as the American. The reason is obvious: the country is so vast, the people always going somewhere, from Oregon
apple valley to boreal New England, that we do not know whether to be temperate orchards or sterile climate. Edward Dahlberg
Evolution white was created out of the desire to make a fun wine, one that would accompany the modern predilection for yoking different kinds of food together. It is a blend of nine grape varieties (I’ve come over all Mas de Daumas) to wit: Müller-Thurgau, white Riesling, Semillon, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Muscat Canelli, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner. And a soupçon of kitchen sink. It is a beautiful mosaic with, as they say, snap, spice and zing, very much more than the sum of its very disparate parts. The label will also give much pleasure to the diehard traditionalist. As for the red allow me to quote the literature of the winery: Introducing Evolution red. This Syrah-based blend (with some Montepulciano, Sangiovese and the nine Evo white grapes) reveals aromas of cherry and red plum, notes of ripe raspberries, a hint of cinnamon, and has a finish that’s long and juicy. It contrives, without apparently contriving, to be pleasurable and serious, the sort of wine designed to light your (barbecue) wine. It’s a friend to grilled meats, barbecued chicken, Italian red sauce dishes, pizza, cioppino and even a fine ratatouille. The label alone is worth the price of admission. The grapes for the Pinot Gris are not de-stemmed, but pressed as whole clusters and given a slow, cool stainless steel tank fermentation lasting about a month. This is followed by an extended period of lees contact prior to blending and bottling in February the following year. The result is a wine with a firm, focused steely backbone and a creamy lushness. Now, at about 14 months post-bottling, while still exhibiting the primary fresh fruit characters of apple, pear and citrus it is just beginning to show the complex secondary earth, mineral and spice flavours and aromas that will continue to develop over the next few years. The mid-palate is fleshing out and the finish is beginning to lengthen. Pinot Gris is a versatile food wine and is particularly good with shellfish, chicken, quiches, goat’s cheese and smoked fish. Pinot Noir thrives at Sokol Blosser and the exceptional red (volcanic) jory soils of the Dundee Hills provide a good home. The vines range up to 30 years old and careful hand-sorting of fruit ensures that only perfectly ripe fruit makes it to the fermentation stage. Winemaker Russ Rosner (now succeeded by Alex Sokol Blosseer (uses an original technique for producing full-flavoured wines allowing for a post-fermentation soak of up to three weeks resulting in soft, supple tannins and a more complex wine. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels for approximately sixteen months followed by a further year in bottle. Aromas and flavours of black cherry, liquorice and mocha, smooth and supple, long and elegant. This fragrant wine would be pleasant lightly chilled and served with salmon, pork or mushroom risotto. The Estate Pinot Noir is a formidable wine, made from a mixture of old vineyard blocks and young vines and low yields. The wine is fermented in large open top fermenters punched down three times daily and receives the same post-fermentation maceration as the Dundee Hills. It is 100% barrel-aged (60% new, 40% once used French oak from Allier, Bertranges and Vosges oak) and is unfined and unfiltered. The fruit is rich and heady with thick black cherry and blackberry flavours and a hint of secondary earth and truffle character. NV
EVOLUTION SPARKLING ~ 9 aromatic white varieties Sp
NV
EVOLUTION WHITE 18 th EDITION ~9 aromatic white varieties W
NV EVOLUTION RED 4 th EDITION – Syrah, Sangiovese, Montepulciano + 9 aromatic whites R
2014 WILLAMETTE VALLEY PINOT GRIS W
2014 EVOLUTION PINOT NOIR R
DUNDEE HILLS PINOT NOIR R
2014 ORCHARD BLOCK PINOT NOIR R
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“Our native soil draws all of us, by I know not what sweetness, and never allows us to forget.” ― Ovid, The Poems of Exile: Tristia and the Black Sea Letters
KELLEY FOX WINES, Dundee Hills & McMinnville – Biodynamic Kelley Fox Wines is a small winery producing Pinot noir from self-rooted, dry-farmed, old vines of the historic Maresh Vineyard in the Dundee Hills, and the Demeter-certified biodynamic Momtazi Vineyard in the McMinnville foothills since 2007. So much for the dry and dusty history for this is a story of a woman and the very special places where the vines grow and the wine is made and mediated. Kelley Fox has been a full-time, on-the-floor winemaker for over sixteen years. Most of the canopy work in her blocks at Maresh she does personally and in solitude, including the biodynamic sprays. The wines are touched only by Kelley, but they are not a personal expression as she always says.. “No stylistic intentions are imposed. They are silent, living songs of these beautiful farms.” She writes: “Ovid wrote in his “Metamorphoses” that we have entered the Age of Iron, “that hard age of baser vein” (I. line 128), but farms like Maresh and Momtazi are tended with such deep respect for nature that they feel more like the previous Ages of Silver or Bronze. Maresh Vineyard is in the Dundee Hills AVA with its reddish-brown trouser-staining volcanic jory soils. The own-rooted vineyard has been farmed organically since planting in 1970. Kelley personally stirs and sprays the biodynamic sprays with a copper backpack since 2008. The pruning is done with with a crew, but the suckering, shoot-thinning, head-thinning, leaf removal, and fruit selection post-veraison in solitude. Momtazi Vineyard is in McMinnville A.V.A. (“American Viticultural Area”) on primarily uplifted marine sedimentary loams and silts with alluvial overlays. Beneath is a base of uplifting basalt. Clay and silt loams average 20-40 inches in depth before reaching harder rock and compressed sediments, shot with basalt pebbles and stone. The uniqueness of the soils for winegrowing is in the 20 to 40 inch depth. Pinots tend to have a great backbone of acidity and tannin to balance the dark fruits, spice and earth. The Momtazi Vineyards are biodynamically farmed and have a brilliant energy. The place is bright and full of life. The 2014 Mirabai is utterly transparent and full of light with a youthful red that is delicate to the point of bordering on dark pink. This happens to be my favourite look for a red wine. This thirteen-barrel cuvee has twelve barrels of old-vine Maresh fruit and one barrel of Momtazi. The nose is classic Maresh: red fruit and soft minerals. The texture is weightless and silken in a way that is pure pleasure. There is serious structure in this wine-yes-but in the way of hidden tensile strength. Kelley Fox is highly attuned to the song of each vineyard. She would make “spirited” wine, of course, wherever she was farming. Her approach is subtle and responsive; for her grapes are matter waiting to release the energy of the vineyard, and the wined are the liquid containers of that energetic potential. She is a humble exponent of the personal give-and-take of b iodynamics, the notion that the entire process of winemaking involves tapping into a primal cosmic energy; a process that is sharp and painful in that it often takes over your whole life, the love in your body, your integrity, and your perception of the nature within you and without you. Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little she achieves her work ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson For growers such as Kelley (and there are not many like her) nature itself is the real sublime artist, whilst the vigneron, the natural artisan vigneron, labours to capture its indifferent beauty. Like the artist in Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist… she never puts herself at the forefront of the enterprise, remaining within or behind or beyond or above her handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence. Of course, she is a sensitive and sensible editor, makes myriad choices and has the technical savvy to respond to the needs of the wine. She speaks eloquently, however, about liberating the story of the wine, part of the process of channelling of the energy of the vineyard, and, that the once the wine is born, it no longer belongs to her (and becomes its own free spirit). This returns us to the notion of humility and respect, that farmers are stewards or guardians of the land. What they take they also need to give back, which is why this form of vine growing is not just physically demanding as the process of endless nurturing inevitably is, it is equally spiritually demanding. The process is two way; the vineyard can be a healing place also. Momtazi has an initial exoticism on the nose (say Turkish delight – is this associative) leading into deeper aromatics of cool, crushed minerals. The wine had a fine depth and cutting edge with saline crunch and beautiful shape and whooshes with sour crunchy black cherry fruit. It is kinetic, salty, sappy and tonic, bursting with life. When I say is, I mean was. The wine does not obey human rules and will always have the last laugh. Wines will move in the glass, both the wines will keep something back. With their tautness and coiling energy they straddle the divide between abrasiveness and elegance. Maresh is different, more feminine perhaps. I get wild briary fruit interwoven with crunch of souring rhubarb and orange as well as background aromas of mint, wild herbs, earth, fennel, peppercorns and smoke. The herbal tannins lend a medicinal note and the beautiful natural acidity creeps up on you. 2015
MIRABAI PINOT NOIR R
2015 AHURANI PINOT NOIR R
MOMTAZI PINOT NOIR R
2013/14 MARESH PINOT NOIR R
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Not a profile as such, nor an in-depth analysis of the wines but a transient personal feeling about Kelley’s wine. The first sensation (what I smell, when I taste) is the strength of the terroir. There is a Gaelic expression Is Blath an Fhuil – “the blood is strong” – and I feel the sanguine vitality of the respective vineyards pulsing in the wines. Kelley Fox disappears into her wines (for want of a better expression); hers is a reclusive, generative presence – she understands her wines whilst detaching from them. Meanwhile, the taster needs to approach with an open mind and an open spirit; in other words, not burdened by preconceptions of what Oregon Pinot Noir might or should be. When you drink a bottle of Momtazi or Maresh you should embark on a journey – these wines embody everything that is wonderful and intriguing (and occasionally frustrating) about Pinot Noir. They carry the darkness and light equally in their souls, sometimes they are temperamental and sometimes they beam with pure energy. What I love most of all is their opaque transparency. The oxymoron is justified; the wines are limpid, sans veneer, whilst the fruit is dark, volcanic, throbbing. There is deep-rootedness, but not heaviness, textural completeness but not obviousness, flowers, herbs, earth and sky, all rolled into a whole. Three wines – Mirabai, Momtazi and Maresh. All authentic and true to themselves. The truth is in the tasting. In lieu of knowing the wines, you can certainly “feel” them. Once the wines are made, Kelley detaches from them. As the Georgians might say “she put them on their feet.” She might deprecate the notion of being a winemaker. She is a combination of artisan, a translator, a midwife, a sensuous individual. She feels and understands natural beauty; she is brilliant, charismatic (yet reserved), loyal and respectful. The wines reflect that – they make no concessions and are not polished to an easy sheen. They are what they are and isn’t that the essential message of terroir?
GOLDEN CLUSTER, JEFF VEJR, Willamette Valley North From own rooted vines that were planted in 1965, this is the second vintage of the 100% Sémillon made from the original block that was once known as the Charles Coury Vineyard. Today, it is called David Hill Vineyard & Winery. Charles Coury planted the first Sémillon vines in the Willamette Valley back in 1965. Coury believed in the potential of Oregon’s cool climate regions, and planted these vines on their own roots in the hills above Forest Grove. The grapes come from that original block, making them the oldest known Sémillon in the state. The vineyard is dry farmed, thje vines on own rootstocks on laurelwood soils at 160 m altitude. The grapes are hand harvested and undergo 4 days of skin contact. Indigenous yeast ferment in 225 litre barrels. Unfiltered and unfined the wine spends a year in bottle before release. This Semillon tantalises the palate and toys with expectations with its golden appleskin segueing into honeydew undercut by ripe acidity. We love the typiciy and the sheer mineral verve of the 14 even more than the dry botrytis style of the previous vintage. There’s a leesy lift to the green-edged fruit and the wine seems more composed – the low SO2 frees the wine even more. Bravo!
2014 GOLDEN CLUSTER COURY VINEYARD SEMILLON OLD VINES W
2016 GOLDEN CLUSTER COURY VINEYARD SAVAGNIN ROSE W
GOLDEN CLUSTER DION SYRAH R
MINIMUS WINES, CHAD STOCK, McMinnville Minimus Wines are divided into Numbered Series with the # prefix or the Dictionary Series. The first is experimental and the experiments are never repeated. Here Chad will trial an idea – using brett in conjunction with Viognier, Sauvignon aged under a veil of flor over an extended period or examine the way a format - chestnut or amphora – influeces the flavours and the textures of the wines. The Dictionary Series is an attempt to produce pure versions of a single grape where the variety shines. The biodynamically farmed Johan Vineyard provides the fruit for such grapes as Gruner Veltliner, Pinot and Chardonnay, whilst other grapes are sourced according to where they might perform best throughout Oregon (and even Washington). Each might incorporate lessons learned from the Numbered series, but the goal is a pure expression of that variety and the site it comes from as opposed to experimentation.
2015 MULLER-THURGAU “VITAE SPRINGS” PET NAT Sp
2015
GRUNER VELTLINER JOHAN VINEYARD W
2015 SM2 AMPHORA SAUVIGON BLANC W
FLOWER STELLA MARIS ~ Sauvignon under flor W
2015 BLAUFRANKISCH “CECILO VINEYARD” R
ROCKWELL BLEND R
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BECKHAM ESTATE, ANDREW & ANNEDRIA BECKHAM, Chehalem Mountains - Organic In 2004 Andrew, a ceramics artist and High School ceramist teacher and his wife Annedria purchased land in the Chehalem Mountains AVA in Sherwood, OR to build a studio for Andrew’s budding art career. They were inspired by their neighbours with 20 year old vines to begin growing Pinot Noir. In late winter of 2005 they began clearing 60 year old Douglas Fir trees and began to plant the first 2 acres of self-rooted and dry-farmed Pinot Noir vines. Each year they made progress and to date they have 28 acres with 6.5 acres planted to 4 clones of Pinot Noir and a further acre planted to Riesling. Another 7 acres of North American rootstock were planted in 2014 with plans to graft to Chardonnay, Gamay, Trousseau and Savagnin. In 2013 the “Amphorae Project” began as an attempt to marry Andrew’s two passions–making wine and making art. Drawing inspiration from Elizabetta Foradori of Italy, Andrew began experimenting with producing wine in amphora. The terracotta amphorae are incredible insulators. The fermentation in amphorae has been much cooler and more prolonged compared to conventional fermentation vessels. Fermenting in amphorae means natural temperature control. Primary fermentation takes around three weeks to a month for completion. Largely because of the cool and prolonged fermentation the wines coming from amphorae are bright, high toned and very compelling. Ageing wines in the vessels has also yielded some incredibly interesting results. There is a common textural component similar to dusty brick. There exists an iron-driven earth tone regardless of varietal. The A.D. Beckham Amphora wines are fermented with native yeasts, no commercial inoculation and are unfined and unfiltered. The Pinot Gris is from manually harvest grapes which are whole berry fermented on the skins in amphora for 30 and 40 days. Indigenous yeast, no additions. Pressed and 50% aged in amphora and 50% aged in two acacia barrels. Natural malo, no filtration, no fining and no sulphur. 2015
AD BECKHAM PINOT GRIS W
2014 AD BECKHAM PINOT NOIR CRETA R
AD BECKHAM MALBEC R
2015 AD BECKHAM GRENACHE R
AD PINOT NOIR CRETA - magnum R
Husband and wife team Scott and Dana Frank have experience all sides of the wine industry. From working in restaurants, to retail, to wholesale, they’ve gained plenty of knowledge and experience over the years. They recently embarked on a new project producing wines under their own label Bow and Arrow and are taking Oregon wines to new heights! You often hear about Oregon Pinot Noirs being compared to the Pinot Noirs of Burgundy. And for good reasons, they share a similar cool climate in which Pinot Grapes thrive and produce wines of higher acidity and lower alcohol. The Willamette Valley, formed long ago by repeated glacial flooding, is abundant with fertile and rocky vineyard sites. It is also situated along the 45th parallel, which coincidentally runs through Burgundy and the Loire Valley. And despite Oregon’s constant comparisons to Burgundy, it’s the Loire Valley that inspires Scott and Dana’s wines. They only started bottling in 2010 but have quickly earned a reputation for bringing a bit of the Loire to the Pacific Northwest. They source fruit from vineyards planted by some of Oregon’s earliest ‘wine pioneers’ that were planted with grapes like old vine Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cabernet Franc, and Melon de Bourgogne – all typical Loire Valley grapes. These carefully sourced grapes are treated with the greatest care and minimal-intervention winemaking techniques. Their resulting wines are a breath of fresh (French) air from Oregon, lighter in style, lower in alcohol, and extremely food-friendly. Gamay Noir is a dead ringer for a light style Gamay from Touraine. In fact, iconic Loire producer Clos Roche Blanche’s winemaker Didier Barrouillet served as a casual ‘over-the-phone consultant’ for Frank and Dana’s Gamay Noir. Soft red fruit flavours and an earthy and granite-based minerality are all well-integrated into a medium bodied and tart finish. Rhinestones. A blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir, this red is inspired by Cheverny, a typical Loire valley red of the same blend. Ripe, juicy black cherry aromas lead to a mid-weight palate full of flavours of tart blackberries, earthy moss, and snappy acidity. It’s great on it’s own but is a perfect food-friendly red for any occasion. Air Guitar is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Borgo Pass Vineyard located in the foothills of the Coast Range just outside of Monroe along with 40% Cabernet Franc from Johan Vineyard. Given the grape varietals, it's easy to think of this wine being done in a larger Bordeaux-like style but the style here couldn't be more different. For those that love aromatic, soulful and sensual wines it should not be missed. A stellar nose of baked cherry, sandalwood, jasmine, and spicy herb notes build from the glass followed by red cherry, and mineral that blitz the palate, with fine flavor intensity. The long, complex and savoury finish keeps you coming back for another glass. Commencing with minerally scents and undertones of flint, this Melon then draws more complexity from lemongrass, melon and lime tones for enhancement. Brisk and mouthwatering on the palate with fine intensity and length, this is a wonderful match for a plate of freshly shucked oysters. 2015
MELON BLANC W
2015 GAMAY NOIR R
AIR GUITAR ~ Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc R
2015 RHINESTONES ~Pinot Noir, Gamay R
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