Appreciate the note. While I did know that grafting came later in WV than in California, it’s new to me that a significant amount of ungraded vineyards remain.
based on a solid half case of different cuvees over the last six months, 2017 Goodfellow is just catching on fire now. Everything is so well integrated and drinking just beautifully - spice, fruit, and fine texture make this just dreamy. Day 2 the spice mellowed and there was this really lovely core of sweet red fruit and earth that makes me wish I had another bottle.
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I love the vintage and completely agree that the 2017 wines are really coming into a great spot. That vintage was so tight and lean on release and now they’ve just filled in grown up.
I think these wines are one of the reasons why I am so high on 2023s right now. There’s definitely a resonance between them but the 2023s have just a bit more layering and length than the 2017s did at the same stage.
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Wife pouring the 2023 Pinot Blanc into the finest of stems for our farm tour/all you can eat oysters at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, MA. Regretfully for 0 pictures of the wine or bivalves to do them justice
ICO the exclusive oyster supplier for The French Laundry and Per Se for ~20 years!
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That looks like a fantastic afternoon!
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PSA-we’ve been meaning to check in on the 2013 Richard’s Cuvee for a few months, and today seemed like a good day for it.
At 12 years old, it’s in a nice timeless place at the moment. There’s a hint of reduction up front, struck match, crushed rocks, orchard fruits, and seashells that slowly become the foremost note.
The palate is a lovely medium weight, oceanic in the front, then almonds and orchard fruit(pears) in the mid-palate. There is a stony note in the acidity and wet stones echo after the wine is gone.
Overall-this is in a nice place, and there are lots of things that I like about it. It’s definitely aging well, but I do think we’ve evolved quite a bit since 2013. I’m excited to see the 2017s.
Edit: finishing the bottle today, and at 12 years old it’s better on day 3 than it was on day 1… 
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Been to their farm/raw bar and restaurants but tour had been on the list for a while. Great (and very educational!) experience and highly recommended for those ever in the area
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How was the 2017 Ribbon Ridge? I’m not sure if we have any bottles of that left in the library.
Bottle three from a case of Tsai BdN met it’s final fate with a couple of Goodfellow newbies last night. They were stunned at the first sip. Goodfellow strikes again.
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That Tsai BdN has been on fire lately. At the Method Oregon tasting, we had strong reactions to each of the sparkling wines we poured, with the Blanc de Gris and the Tsai BdN getting a lot of rave reviews. The Blanc de Gris has the benefit of many people either loving Pinot Gris (many normal wine drinkers do) or not expecting to like Pinot Gris (many wine geeks don’t) and then being both tasty and different. Stone fruit flavors aren’t common in sparkling wines made from the big three grapes…well the big two and Meunier, and people really enjoy the expression. The Tsai BdN has just continued to add layers, and I am glad that your friends, and you, enjoyed it!
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I am afraid that the Tsai will have no chance of aging more than a year or two in my cellar!
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We have two more bins aging in bottle(on lees) and I’ll save a few cases in the library.
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Finally convinced myself to pop a 21 Psycho Killer last night. Pretty stunning wine. Struggling to recall a better Oregon chard
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The 2017 Ribbon Ridge was fantastic and still very primary to my taste. That was bottle 1 of 4. After dinner I shared a glass with the wine buyer at the local watering hole. Likewise, he was impressed with the youthfulness of the 2017. I had opened a bottle of the 2018 Berserker Cuvee on the previous night. Very similar profiles. Spiciness with a streak of that Ribbon Ridge minerality down the middle. The diam corks appear to make these wines ageless. No hurry to drink either wine as I think better days are ahead in 5-20+ years. If anything happens to me, I’ll bequeath the remaining 3 bottles to the library. I’ll see you in a few weeks.
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Timeless is right. I was definitely surprised when we opened the 2013 Richard’s and it was better on Day 2 and 3 than day 1.
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Marcus, I know you are looking into Portocork, but it also seems like you’ve been experimenting with different Diams? I believe I’ve seen Diam 10 on several of your chards, but could have sworn I saw a Diam 30 on a 2022 Tsai Vineyard Chard recently.
If that’s correct, I’m curious the reason for the different ones.
Hi Bryan,
We have experimented with different Diam closures over the years. Some of the choices have been oriented to experimentation, and we’ve varied between the Diam 30 and the Diam 10 most frequently. The switch to Portocork’s technical closure has been nudged by a combination of sustainability and a desire to see whether there is a significant change in the quality of the wines with time in bottle under the 100% cork Cwine. But the specific choices in bottling were primarily working under the premise that a longer, slower evolution yields a more complex and nuanced finished wine. So I typically leaned more to the Diam 30 than the 10, but with lower tier wines the Diam 10 or Diam 5 can work well, allowing the wine to be a bit more accessible than the denser closures would.
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Durant BdB, first (only?) disgorgement. This remains my favorite of the original lineup of sparklers. Sea spray and steel reduction, pear, green apple, lemon, chalk, pastry crust, little touch of bitter almond. Piercing acidity, chalky grip, long lingering finish. Really nice and a good change of pace from my usual preference for broader shouldered champagnes.
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