2014 Pinot Noir, Mount Richmond Vineyard 1.5L

From Winemaker, John Abbott:

I firmly believe that if you try hard and have a passion, good things will come your way, and so came our first vintage of Mount Richmond Vineyard Pinot Noir. This wine began as a favor – a load of Syrah delivered to Oregon, a bit of Pinot Noir as a thank you, one winemaker helping out another. Fruit from Mount Richmond Vineyard is rarely available, and the opportunity to work with it is our good fortune. This began our friendship with Adam Campbell and we are honored by the relationship.

Adam and I share many things in common. To name a few, we both grew up in Oregon with fathers in the medical field (we discovered later that they went to medical school together), we both enjoy fly-fishing and navigating a drift boat down a river, and we both have a big passion for Oregon vineyards and the sense of place reflected in each individual site. Molly and I are grateful to Adam, his wine team, and his vineyard manager, Travis for working with us on their very coveted fruit.

Mount Richmond vineyard is planted in marine sedimentary Willakenzie soils at high density spacing. It is located close to the middle of the Yamhill-Carlton American Viticultural Area. This vineyard’s classic Pommard clone is often early to harvest and produces a nicely structured, deep, expressive Pinot Noir filled with complex richness and fine tannins. We are able to utilize fruit from both the estate block and a new block established with cuttings from the estate block.

The 2014 growing season was a bit warmer than normal, and from bud break to harvest the vine phenology was ahead of schedule. Two small lots were fermented with native yeast that came in on the fruit and were aged in a mix of 30% new French oak barrels. The blue fruit is intense, with nice black current and a hint of the coastal fir and earth aroma that makes me so happy. The mouth is long and generous, with just a hint of sweet oak filling out the mid-palate.

This Pinot is on the bigger side, and musically the pairings need a bit more backbone and beat. I recommend the band Blackberry Smoke. I really like their music, and blackberry smoke from a bonfire sounds like a great combination with Pinot Noir. Start with one of their more popular songs, A Good One Comin’, to see what I mean. Staying in the same vein, we need a good dose of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Mount Richmond can handle it. Crank up Stevie’s Soul to Soul album and have some fun!