@ShelbyPerkins, I’m picking Meunier for BdN at the end of next week…BdB from east Eola scheduled for September 3. It’s on.
The little boost of agua and the warmer temperatures starting this weekend will accelerate ripening. #sparklingharvest
@ShelbyPerkins, I’m picking Meunier for BdN at the end of next week…BdB from east Eola scheduled for September 3. It’s on.
The little boost of agua and the warmer temperatures starting this weekend will accelerate ripening. #sparklingharvest
Wow that is soon— what’s the elevation for the vineyard? I haven’t worked with PM, does it tend to go early?
Yeah…not even halfway through veraison at my site so prob at least a week past that.
As in - I don’t think I’ll be picking anything before the 10th
Must be further inland
Yes, it’s moving. Shakin and bakin. Allison and Penny went out to take a look tonight and it’s ~70% through veraison.
Yep, Meunier is one of the last to bud out and the first to come in the door.
Whistling Ridge (now, though not Chardonnay but this delineates where we’re at a bit better than a Chardonnay photo would)
I doubt we will pick even sparkling before mid-September.
Our blocks adjacent to WR look similar to this as they slope N to NE (mostly). Over the top of the hill the blocks facing S to WSW are much farther along. One block of 1998 Pommard in particular is clearly far ahead of anything else on the property and if the scheduled weather comes to bear I could see picking that in the 3rd week of September.
Ahh, the full Brazilian.
Agreed! These temps have fruit moving quick and another hot blast on the way. I’ll probably have some Pinot Noir for base wine knocking on the door by Wednesday/Thursday! At least we’re after Labor Day this year…phew!
Which of the two vintages did you prefer?
Full disclosure, that picture was taken about 2 weeks ago in advance of my Oregon trip this previous week. We are getting ready to depart PDX following a fantastic week in the WV. The 2018 was opened a week ahead of the 2017, so it probably wasn’t a fair comparison. There is chatter about the over flintiness of the 2018 in the supreme leaders brisket thread, but I didn’t sense that with this bottle. It seemed about right to me. Tasting them side by side, my preference was the 2017 on that particular night. The 2017 is still super structured and coiled up, but that was a couple of days after it was opened as well. I still have a case of each wine, so maybe I’ll try again in the near future. Hope to meet you one of these days. Thanks…
The heat, plus the wee bit of rain to refresh the plants a couple of weeks ago has things jumping for sure.
Good luck to you! We’re hoping to get to next weekend before base wines will come in but heading to sample tomorrow.
This just came to my attention today although it published in Feb, 24 in the Wine Advocate Oregon, Willamette Valley: Walter Scott’s Freedom Hill Vineyard Chardonnay, 2014–2021 by Erin Brooks. Free to read without subscription. Some good detail on @Ken_Pahlow 's vineyard management and wine making. Curious to know how Ken feels Erin did with the piece. (I caught a couple of broader mistakes I think. Any guesses? : )
My first encounter with this wine was with the 2019 vintage last June while dining at Okta in the Willamette. I was pretty blown away, so I immediately ordered a 6 pack of the 2021 vintage which finally shipped last week. I cracked one last night because I was curious to see if it could live up to my now sky high expectations.
Toasted almonds, honey, sesame, struck flint and cool minerals on the nose. The palate asserts itself with a blast of lively acids that drive to the back and fan out delivering notes of Asian pear, yuzu, and cistrus oil that simmer towards a remarkably stony and spicy ginger finale loaded to the brim with chalky dry extract. This is a wine that deserves bottle age, but damn is it already impressive.
This once again exceeded my expectations and I actually think the 21 is more impressive than the 19. The 2019 is gorgeous in its own right, but it doesn’t have the density of dry extract that the 2021 displays. This reminds me of Paul Pillot or PYCM, and definitely one of my top Chards in the valley. Bottled under Diam 10.
Appreciate your note. Haven’t seen any comments on this yet. The pricing and 3 pack commitment on their initial commercial release gave me pause for something I hadn’t tasted or read anything about.
One question out a curiosity though. I was under the impression 2021 was the first vintage of this - surprised you had a 2019. Maybe ‘21 was just the first release to consumers. Anyone know anything about that?
So the 2019 was their first vintage, but it was never released to the public, and they didn’t bottle any wine in 2020. The head somm at Okta tasted at the winery and was offered a small allocation of the 2019 to add to their wine list. It was offered in my tasting flight and I it floored me. Head and shoulders above every other wine in the flight.
I was skeptical when the offer initially came out too to be completely honest, and I ignored their offering at first. It was still available in June after my dinner at Okta so I promptly ordered 6 bottles - no brainer.
Another thing that gave me a lot of confidence was tasting with Seth at Morgen Long. Seth was so impressed with the quality level of Craig Williams’s farming practices at X Novo and X Omni. In Seth’s opinion, it’s unmatched. My top two Chards were already Walter Scott X Novo and Morgen Long X Omni - why wouldn’t I want to try the Domaine bottled version of my favorite vineyards?
Wil: Thank you for the very kind review. Glad to know our '21 followed in the quality and stye of the '19! And I concur the '21 has more dry extract owing to '21 being a bit warmer year, although interestingly the pH is, in fact, lower. And you are correct, the '21 was our first offering to our mailing list; the '19 is in very limited in distribution.
Your words and photo are much appreciated.
Craig