The Championship Bottle PB too!
I’ve found I like Kelley’s best in the first 2-3 years after release, while the CB is just as good once it hits 3-5 years after release (snd can gracefully age longer).
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And that Marcus guy makes a pretty good one too!
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Eyrie PB a worthy bottle as well
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Had a fun his and hers side by side on Saturday.
2022 Kelley Fox Maresh Vineyard Golden Crowned Sparrow Block - This was showing some carbonic spritz on open, so gave it a serious shake, got a nice pop on pulling cork back out, let fizz go away. Then it poured a lovely bright light ruby. Lively nose of cranberry and black raspberry, rosemary and thyme, blood orange, hint of spice. This is bright and has a nice acid backbone paired with just delicious red fruit, with a hint of green herbs on the finish. Gorgeous bright acid-driven pinot noir. Lovely all the way.
2022 Patricia Green Cellars Notorious - Really big nose showing blackberry, red cherry notes perfumed with a hint of licorice, oak toast, and potpourri. This is a different beast altogether, but despite major oak treatment, is pretty and fairly light on its feet. Aromatically intense and giving, with more bass notes. Just a faint hint of bitter from the oak, but a dead serious wine that is likely to improve with age, quite possibly into something really tremendous. A joy to drink now though.
While different, both were absolutely top tier.
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Great notes. As you likely know, Notorious is kind of a PGC outlier in seeing 100% new oak while the KF sees only neutral oak. It would be really fun to try a more apples-to-apples tasting where he and she sourced from the same vineyards (Hyland, Durant, Freedom Hill, Shafer).
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Durant: 2022 is the same fruit. I begged off on last 2.5 tons as I was over run at the winery. 2023-2025 she gets a different but nearby block (to my Bishop Block which is what this is about).
Freedom Hill: Her Freedom Hill bottling is the same block as my Freedom Hill Pommard bottling.
Shafer: I’m not 100% sure where her fruit comes from. I just have a 2021 and 2024 bottling. She also has 2023.
Hyland: 2017 we simply shared the fruit from an entire block so it’s all co-mingled. 2018-2019 we had separate sections of the same 2017 block but they were adjacent.
Weber: My block is at the top of the hill. She has the same block (and others) and that is at the bottom of the block. In 2023 we had nearly the entirety of the block with only a handful of rows in between.
That’s quite a bit of crossover!
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Feel like there is a great Berserker Day bundle here…
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Thanks for the extra info. I can’t believe that I forgot Weber. It is one of my favorite vineyards (certainly for that AVA) from both wineries.
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I had the 2015 KF Star of Bethlehem Flower Block pinot tonight. I was a bit surprised about the color, which is fairly translucent, but had a definite brown tinge to it. Surprised because it the closure was screwcap. Fresh red fruit with some green herbs and resin. The fruit started off a little sweet, gradually turning sour with air. This wine was basically fruit and acid, with the featherweight delicacy that is characteristic of KF pinots. It was enjoyable, but I’m not certain this was a representative bottle.
This was the first KF wine I purchased, and the oldest I have had. I wouldn’t have called it tired, but I’m not sure this was right.
Chris,
It is tough to say from afar if the bottle was off. I had my last bottle of the 2015 SoB last year and found it to be terrific. Lacking a bottle to check, I opened a bottle of 2012 Mirabai - an older bottle and a lower tier also under screwtop. KF always lean light in color, but I have never seen one showing brown. Look at the attached photo (and excuse the horrible water marks). Did it look like that or do you consider that brown? I’d say that is a fairly typical color for a 10+ year old OR PN. This wine still had a remarkable display of red fruits that did not ever turn sour. In fact, it was still fresh on day two. Your fruit and acid comment is interesting. I guess I could say the same thing since the tannins were fully resolved and the wine is at peak. But I am pretty impressed that the fruit outlived the tannins as it is often the other way around. I don’t know if this is of any help other than that I would not describe this bottle with the same uncertainly as you did yours. Cheers.
Just as a reference point, I had a 2915 Momtazi that was still fresh and vibrant, though that was about a year ago. I have a couple more, so I’ll open another one soon (for science).
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That looks red to me. Mine was definitely browner.
My comment about fruit and acid was a reference to the flavor profile and structure. Even the note about “resin” was more about the “sappy” texture of the fruit, rather than an additional flavor note. Their just wasn’t much more there.
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In that case, it does seem like it was a faulty bottle for some reason. It least it does not match any KF PNs that I have had.
A his and hers Chardonnay tasting. No formal notes, so pretty trite impressions.
KF - Very light on its feet, elegant, restrained yellow fruits (more apples and pears than anything citrus). Requires attention. Nothing reductive about it. More Chablis-like.
PGC - Bigger and bolder. Not quite lush but with really nice texture. Some oak, but perhaps mostly noticeable in contrast to the lack of such in the KF. Also not reductive. More likely to get the attention at a party. More Côte de Beaune?
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2022 Weber PN
Crystal clear in the glass. A medium ruby hue.
On the nose the wine fairly leaps out the glass with spicy, red fruited Pinot tones emphasizing cranberry and raspberry. Obviously this is quite young but there is some bitters and mulchy, loamy character if you hunt around.
On the palate the wine is quite silky and the tannins are powdery and fairly light. The body is on the light side and the overall impression is extremely light on its feet, with the wine racing across the palate and fanning out to the back of the mouth. The flavors emphasize the crunchy red fruit and spice. The finish is fairly long.
This seems to have time in hand, and is a fantastic wine at the BD16 price point. At full market a harder call but a genuinely lovely bottle that disappeared fairly quickly.
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I resisted the temptation to try this side by side with the Dux, preferring to rely on my memory of this for a future comparison.
2023 Kelley Fox Wines Chardonnay Lark Block Durant Vineyard
Medium lemon appearance. Medium intensity nose of green apple, pear. Citrus is also here with ripe lemon, lemon curd, but also a slight orange character. Subtle stone fruits (peach, nectarine). This is quite floral with blossom, honeysuckle, and even some Jasmine emerging on day 2. Vanilla pod but certainly not sweet in the sense of essence. No noticeable reduction on this.
Medium+ acid. Medium alcohol. Medium body. Medium+ flavour intensity. There’s some noticeable extract which collects around the cheeks (almost like a lightweight version of Tempranillo tannin?!) . Very long finish that reflects the superb balance - fruit, acid, and structure coat the palate with complexity derived from the minerality. Almost a slight beer note to this on the finish - like a crisp German pilsner with the dry savoury implications.
Very good quality on day 1 revised to outstanding on day 2. Evolution with air has been a consistent finding for me with these Kelley Fox Chardonnay so far. As with the Willamette Valley, I felt it needed an hour to open up with the improvement continuing into day 2. I don’t typically experience that to a noticeable extent with Chardonnay but here the evolution was stark. After popping and pouring, I experienced it as a thought provoking wine that required reflection (certainly not approachable or crowd pleasing). After an hour, I really started to enjoy it. On day 2 the deliciousness fully emerged and it was hard not to glug.
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What’s the abv on Kelley’s Weber Chardonnay?
Sounds like I need to track down a few bottles…
12.5-13.0% across vintages and vineyards.
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Thanks for the note! I just received an email offer for this wine from a small shop in Indianapolis. First time KF has appeared in Indiana. I ordered 3 bottles. Your tasting note was the clincher.
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Hope you got a good price. This was on sale at the winery for $30 plus club discount this summer. I got most of a case.