Brads Top 10 wines of '09, 5 & 6

Photo Credit: David Owen

5. 2008 Genius Loci Cuvée Desireé – One of the fun things about working with Michael is seeing how what he does differently from Illahe affects his wine. In 2008 he began using oak to age his pinot gris. Is it the oak that gives it the broad, accommodating mouthfeel, while still allowing for a strong pillar of acid to support the tent of happiness it creates on the tongue? That can’t be the only answer; one answer is excellent attention in the vineyard, a nice, warm spot for pinot gris, and wise choice of yeast. I’m sure that Michael’s time with Brian O’Donnell at Belle Pente helped him understand the different methods of gris-making, since Brian uses a traditional Alsatian method, and Michael something in between that and a modern stainless method. Michael coddles this wine, giving it a high self-esteem and a can-do attitude that springs forth with flavors of peach, apple, and truffle.

6. 2001 Cristom Marjorie – Cristom never ceases to amaze me. 2001 was supposed to be an off year, yet this wine, eight years out, was packed with deep flavors, in the prime of its life, and was downed at a party in about 20 minutes. I was the only person at the party. No, not really, it’s just a popular wine in a heavy bottle and it continues to be what Oregon pinot noir is all about—complexity, depth, and style. Cristom always seems to me to have a raspberry or blackberry jam aroma that is very pleasing. As we work with native and whole-cluster ferments, Cristom’s wine reminds us that everything’s going to be okay. Let’s keep small domaine wines as an important part of ecotopia, please.

Brad's Top 10 Wines of 2009, 3-4

3. 2001 Henri Gouges Les Pruliers, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy – This wine had everything a Burgundy should have and enlightened me further about old world/new world wines. The flavors of the area are hard to match, and I would never try, because we simply have different grapes and different programs. I particularly loved this bottle because after a two-hour tasting in Christian Gouges’s cellar in 2006, it took me two bottles to get back to something as great as I had tasted there. He whipped out a 1973 that was powered with mincemeat, spices, and dirt. Earth itself doesn’t migrate into your wine according to the best evidence I have, but earth flavors exist in these wines and are nice in the deux mille un mixed with aromas of raspberry and delicate small flowers in the spring air. Surround in a bit of oak (neither Gouges nor many of the Burgundies I know are powered by oak) and wait 8 years, and you get wines like this. The real thing.

4. 2004 Evesham Wood Seven Springs –Speaking of aging, if there is one winemaker that looks forward to the magical 5-10 year window of pinot noir maturity, it’s Russ Raney. And, lo, I just happened to have a 5-year-old sitting around. I remember 2004 since it was the first year I made wine. I was making Illahe (which wasn’t called Illahe) at Vitae Springs Vineyards in South Salem, and Forrest Klaffke came by on a warm day. He looked at my brine bins with crushed pinot in them and I asked his opinion of the vintage. He said “Normal.” So, in a normal vintage, Russ produced this spectacular wine—easy to drink after five years, with an aroma of ash wood, a box of nails, ferns, and strawberry compote. That’s true complexity. He harvests earlier than almost anyone, following the heuristic that 105-110 days after bloom is the sweet spot, and this always seems too early until five years later. Buy cases!

Brad’s Top Ten Wines of 2009

I was lucky in 2009 to get to visit Bordeaux, and so my first three wines remind me of that trip and the serious culture of winemaking over there. The culture starts out serious, anyway, and relaxes during a tasting. The wines aren’t in order of greatness—that’s just too difficult. Here are the first two with more to come.

1. 2005 Château Franc-Cardinal, Côtes de Francs, Bordeaux – Thanks to friend Peter Holdorf (see next wine) Bethany and I got to meet winemaker Philip Holzberg, who gave us an extensive tasting of his château’s wines. Franc-Cardinal is on the eastern edge of the wine-growing area of Bordeaux, not far from St. Emilion and Pomerol. In this area, Cabernet Sauvignon is planted much less often, and Philip’s vineyard is mostly merlot, with cabernet franc and malbec to support the blend. Philip’s wines bear little resemblance to the maligned merlots of California, except that they do have deep black, blue, and red fruit aromas. Aside from the differing terroir, the Franc-Cardinal has a good upbringing in a variety of oaks that define its final character. Philip has accomplished local coopers to choose from as well as a few Burgundian coopers he also likes. One of his local coopers makes him an NAV barrel with alternating staves from Nevers, Alliers, and Vosges. (He could just blend three barrels together, right? I suppose that would defeat the purpose of knowing local coopers.) The 2005 stood out as a strong vintage that wasn’t only ripe, but interesting, yet all his past vintages were wonderful in their own way. Franc-Cardinal is well-priced and I would highly recommend buying a case if you can find it.

2. 2005 Château Peter Holdorf, Peter’s Garage, Petit Palais, Bordeaux – Peter was our host in Bordeaux in June. He manages to make a great wine with no knowledge of SO2, no destemmer, and really no modern winemaking equipment at all. He uses old barrels, and I think he tops them up every once in a while, though we did notice that a common practice there is to tight-bung a barrel and turn it to 2 o’clock and leave it for a year. I don’t remember what he uses for yeast, but I’m going to imagine that he uses indigenous yeast and lets malolactic fermentation happen naturally—probably a lot easier in Bordeaux than Burgundy because of the heat. The wine is rich and layered, though it doesn’t have the oak contribution of the rest of Bordeaux’s boutique wines. I was left wondering why his wine tasted better than so many other bottled Bordeaux, and I think it might be because Peter picks his grapes by hand. He has a good relationship with his neighbors, and they allow him to glean their vineyard after the mechanical harvesters drive through and bash the grapes into their hoppers. One more point for natural winemaking.

Wine Press Northwest Reviews!

Illahe Vineyards & Winery

2007 Pinot Noir

Willamette Valley, 1,700 cases, 13.5% alc., $20

Excellent. Named after a tribal term that the French would refer to as terroir, this operation in Dallas, Ore., once sold grapes to Cristom and Joe Dobbes. This entry-level release features aromas of Cherry Garica ice cream, blueberry, tar and leather. There's a follow-through of flavors with nice leafiness, a nice blast of acidity and assertive tannins. The cherry candy finish will play nicely with pork tenderloin that's rubbed with herbs de Provence or pasta tossed with cherry tomatoes.

Illahe Vineyards & Winery

2007 Reserve Pinot Noir

Willamette Valley, 200 cases, 13% alc., $38

Excellent. Co-winemakers Brad Ford and Michael Lundeen showcase 50% new French oak, but the program still allows for fresh aromas of a nice Hawaiian Fruit Punch to emerge above mint and allspice. It's an easy drink of raspberries and cherries with a bit of grip at the end.

Food Day

A big thank you to Katherine Cole of the Oregonian for not only mentioning Illahe, but the Salem-Dallas-Richreall corridor in the lastest Food Day "100 things we love." We are nestled in the hills of Dallas, Oregon, along with Amalie Robert, Freedom Hill, and Croft Vineyards.


"Wines from the Salem-Dallas-Rickreall corridor: Talk about a wine country sweet spot! There's no denying that the Salem area has tons of top vineyards, with Bethel Heights, Cristom, Evesham Wood, Seven Springs, St. Innocent, Temperance Hill and Witness Tree among the standout producers. This year, my tastebuds have been dragging me slightly westward to the Dallas/Rickreall region's producers, such as Amalie Robert, Illahe Vineyards and Johan Vineyards. Blame it on the Van Duzer Corridor, which channels cool Pacific winds through these vineyards at the end of hot summer afternoons. It's only a matter of time before this quality swath of the Willamette Valley gets its own official subappellation." Katherine Cole



http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2010/01/what_were_drinking.html

Illahe Vineyards

Illahe Vineyards


Another great review! Check it out.