Zach,
Thank you very much! That is a fantastic compliment.
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Had this recently as well, it was incredible! I’m sad I only bought 2, I might need to check if there is more.
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Glad to see this. We’re looking at getting a few tons again in 2023.
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I had a glass last night, will have another tonight. Just incredibly enjoyable to drink right now. Love the acidity, and it does have a textural element from the time in the (acacia) barrel and/or maybe some lees.
-Al
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After BD, there are 16 cases left. While we didn’t make much of it, we also never released this to retail.
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I would love to purchase more but I’m completely out of proper storage space and have about 100 bottles to drink before my basement gets too warm in the late spring. I can do it!
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I support that, and good luck!
The case count was more intended for Chris, and no pressure on anyone.
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Of course! It’s all your winemaking!
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Absolutely and I didn’t feel any pressure. I would just really love to have some more but can’t!
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I completely zoned out on the Rick Allen BD offer (1sr time I didn’t buy some of the Berserkers) but I think I did pick 5 of these up on the holiday offer.
2012 Matello Fool’s Journey Syrah - Opened last night and finished tonight. Never reached the heights of the 2008 and 2013 vintages of this wine, but still a delicious, restrained wine with years remaining. Definitely a Syrah for fans of the N Rhone rather than WA or CA.
2015 Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay - On PnP showed some heat and the palate and nose were somewhat muted. After being open 2+ hours, rounded into what I’m accustomed to for this bottling with some age - medium+ body, medium acidity, slight matchstick, green apple, lemon and obvious salinity, plus medium+ finish. Thankful for the Diam closure (5) as I’ve had terrible luck recently with Chardonnay from other OR producers (17 and 19 vintages) using cork. Those wines were terribly advanced and subsequently dumped, compared to this bottle which has years to go.
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Great to see the notes Scott, thank you!
The 2012 Fool’s Journey description is in line with mine as well. I think it’s still surprisingly youthful, so I’m interested to see whether it gains more nuance as it finally(hopefully) adds some tertiary flavors. The 2010 bottle we opened last summer was absolutely locked up though, so where the actual best drinking window is for the small cluster/low yield vintages is anybody’s guess. Weird to say that but there’s no other track record for 100% whole cluster Willamette Valley Syrah except for Todd Hamina’s and those seem to still want some time as well.
I’m sorry to here about the 2017 and 2019 experiences. I could see both vintages being in a dumb phase but advanced is worrisome.
I feel that there are some choices in acidity levels with picking that I am concerned with in our region. I’ve had 2-3 conversations with friends over the past few years tasting Chardonnays with pHs up around 3.4. The wines have reasonable perceived acidity when released, but are beginning their lifespan with “pleasant” acidity. And, IMO, would he questionable for aging very long.
In general, it feels like many regions are seeing warmer weather and the opportunity for riper wines, that may lack the necessary acids for durability, is becoming more common. I hope that in Oregon the late year in 2022 gave producers across the board the impetus to bring in fruit with more classic acidity. The opportunity was definitely there and the vintage is exceptional.
Thanks, Marcus. I’ve got one remaining bottle of 2012 and will hold for awhile to see if it develops further in line with the 08 and 13, which I loved.
Interesting notes on the picking and acidity levels. The common theme I kept running across when drinking OR Chardonnays is that those using Diam enclosures have held up well while those that use cork have not. Too small a sample size and almost certainly other factors at play, but it was really disappointing as the Chardonnays were two of my favorites in OR. The color was very advanced across multiple bottles/vintages and I’m completely turned off by still Chardonnay that develop strong bruised apple/honeyed characteristics. I won’t be buying those Chardonnays anymore unless I’m prepared to drink them in the first year after release. Fortunately, not a problem for any of your Chardonnays!
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I recently had what should have been a top notch 2016 that was exactly as you described those bottles. FWIW, it had a natural cork.
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It’s unfortunate, because cork worked for aging many white wines for centuries. There was a definite degradation of cork quality from my first vintages to when I switched to Diam, but our experimentation with different levels of density of Diam showed corks as typically being somewhat similar to a Diam 5.
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2020 Willamette Valley Chardonnay - Despite rarely drinking this bottling in prior vintages sticking mostly to Durant and Richard’s Cuvee, was impressed with this at a young age. Punches above its weight for price and entry-level status. Definitely upside remaining and helps allay any concerns for 2020 as no discernible smoke notes. Thx for the bottle, Rick.
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Opened an 08 Matello Winter’s Hill last night to blind a few friends on
Open and giving out of the gate, it’s in a really lovely place now. A touch rustic and darker fruited than the typical Goodfellow cuvees, with the alcohol noticeable, but not intrusive or distracting. Blackberries, sage, terracotta, underbrush. Very good depth and concentration. Glad to finally start digging into some older wines from Marcus and Megan
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2021 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Gris Whistling Ridge Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (2/13/2023)
Lemon, lemon rind, pear, beer foam, minerality, some slight resinous notes. Phenolic bitterness on the finish. Blind I might have called this Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige, but only because those I associate some of those traits with that more so than Alsace Pinot Gris. Stylistically, I'm not sure if that's what Marcus was going for, but that's what I'm getting at this point in time. Lovely bottle of wine. (91 points)
Posted from CellarTracker
I’ll also note that this was bottled under Diam 30, not sure if there was any particular reason for that.
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Thanks for the note Rodrigo.
2008 was a funny year, it was a very late start with a lot of rain and cold weather(similar to 2022 but without the freeze in April). Everything ripened late but we had a stellar, and warm, October. We had no real weather pressure to pick, and I waited like everyone else. There had been a lot of worries about whether the fruit would get ripe, but the wines were bigger than I expected. That vintage really marks where we started pushing for lower sugars in the fruit(though 2009 was a ripe year still,).
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Chris,
We bottled that wine with Diam 30 because I think it has the phenolic density(the pith and sinew aspect to it) to grow and evolve for quite a while. I also think it will be wotth keeping 3-4 bottles around for a decade. The 2010 Clover PG we tasted last year was really amazing, and there are some similar qualities in the 2021 Whistling Ridge.I know that PG isn’t something people rush to cellar but I have always admired the wines of Vie de Romans density and 2021 gave us some tremendous raw materials.
Cheers,
Marcus
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