• Vineyard Trio Club Collection Spring 2024

2018 Blanc de Blancs Sparkling

APPELLATION
Dundee Hills

BLEND COMPOSITION
40% Pinot Blanc, 60% Chardonnay

BOTTLED
Tiraged April 2019, Disgorged February 2023

EN TIRAGE
37 months

ALCOHOL
BY VOLUME

12%

DOSAGE
8g/L (Brut)

PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
~5 Years

PRODUCTION
278 Cases

VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The spring of 2018 was warmer than the average over the previous 10 years, and fairly dry. Bud break happened in mid-April and Bloom in early June, which can be a treacherous undertaking as the spring weather can mess up a healthy flowering. A giant hail storm descended on the Dundee Hills in early June, but luckily none of our Sokol Blosser Estate crop was ruined. The summer started like one giant furnace; July was a hot month and wehad a lot of above 90 degree days. Just when it seemed like the hot weather would not stop, August came and more moderate weather with it. This helped slow the ripening down, and even cooler weather in September allowed us to let the grapes hang longer, resulting in riper fruit without additional sugar accumulation. The 2018 vintage is our coolest growing season since 2012, and we believe it will be our best vintage since then.

WINEMAKING
The fruit was hand harvested from Thistle Vineyard on September 6th with the intention of making a sparkling wine, it was picked when the phenolics were low, the acids high, and delicate flavors were just starting to develop. The fruit was gently whole cluster pressed with a Champagne pressing cycle that uses long, light pressure, taking only the pure and best cuts of the cycle. The Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc were fermented and aged separately so we could establish how each would contribute to thecuvée. Both lots were aged for 6 months in 50% stainless steel drums and 50% neutral barrels. The final wine was then put en tirage for 37 months, and then was rested 9months under cork prior to release.

WINE PROFILE
Our 2018 Blanc de Blancs has an expressive nose with prominent notes of brioche and fresh gala apples. On the palate there is wonderful balance of brioche and toasted notes with fresh Bosc pear and apples, ending with a lovely acidity on the finish.

PAIRINGS
Our Blanc de Blancs is perfect for savory pairings such as fresh oysters, lobster rolls, crabcakes and Camembert cheese.

2021 Goosepen Block Estate Pinot Noir

APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA

BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown

CLONES
Pommard UCD4

AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 1998

BOTTLED
February 2023

BRIX AT HARVEST
22.9°

ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13.5%

PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10-15 Years

PRODUCTION
296 Cases

VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
2021 was the 2nd warmest growing season we have ever seen since 2015. We also got to add a new term to the dictionary: “Heat Dome”. Three straight days of triple digit temperatures in late June breaking heat records for the Willamette Valley. Bud break started like usual in the middle of April. We had the driest March through May that the Willamette Valley has seen through 128 years of record keeping! Bloom also appeared on time in early/mid June. While late June brought the “Heat Dome”, our grapes made it through thanks to bloom being finished at all our sites and there still being soil moisture, so they grew like crazy over those three days of hellish temperatures. While July and August turned out to be exceedingly hot and dry, September arrived with little rain which that allowed us to fully ripen the grapes. The hot and dry summer made for fruit that was extremely clean, resulting in excellent fermentations. All in all, mother nature gave us something to be grateful for on our 50th anniversary.

WINEMAKING
The grapes from this block were carefully hand harvested on September 14th. The clusters were then sorted by hand to remove any flawed bunches and 100% de-stemmed directly into three ton stainless steel fermenters. Ambient fermentation was allowed to take place naturally with cap management by punch-downs. Once the fermentation process was finished, the wine was pressed off the skins at dryness and barreled down in 100% French oak barrels with 8% new oak and 25% neutral, and left to age for 16 months before bottling.

WINE PROFILE
The nose is red fruit forward with a hint of spice. On the palate red cherry, black cherry, raspberry, and red currant. Very smooth, well rounded between tannins and fruit characteristics with a medium plus finish.

PAIRINGS
Pair with a miso-mushroom risotto, lamb or chicken gyro, and bold cheeses.

THE STORY
When Alex Sokol Blosser was growing up, this block was not planted to PinotNoir, but to Riesling. During this time Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser tried their infamous and failed experiment of fencing it in and releasing a flock of geese to consume the grass. Since then, the Sokol Blosser’s have always called it “Goosepen.” When we had to re-plant the block due to Phylloxera, it was decided that the highest and best use of that site was for Pinot Noir and not for Riesling. This was not a failed experiment. To this day, Goosepen is Alex’s favorite of our single vineyard blocks. It does not have the rich tannins of its northern neighbor, Big Tree, nor the finesse of the Orchard Block. It has fruit. A lot of rich fruit that can be heavy some years (2014) and complex in other years (2012 and 2015). Drinking a glass of Goosepen always reminds Alex that experimenting is a two edge sword; sometimes you get the goose, and sometimes the goose gets you!

2022 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris

APPELLATION
100%Willamette Valley

AVA BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Gris

AGE OF VINES
Planted in 1997

BOTTLED
March 2023

BRIX AT HARVEST
21.5°

ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13%

PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
~5–7 Years

PRODUCTION
~6,300 Cases

VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
What started as a dry winter turned into a deluge of rain in the springtime. We had the wettest and coldest April/May/June in recorded (130 years) history. Freezing temperatures on the morning of April 14th and 15th knocked back the fragile new growth, in fact, until crop estimates were done in late August, we thought our crop yields would be down across the board by 50-60%. The lesson learned is don’t second guess a grapevine. In over 51 years of growing grapes here in the Dundee Hills we have never seen a freezing event during the growing season, so we had no idea what was going to happen. The primary buds froze and died, but the secondary buds came on, produced fewer but larger clusters, and the vines made a miraculous comeback. The coldest and wettest spring turned into the 2nd warmest and driest summer on record, and then we got to October. Everything depended on good ripening conditions (dry and warm) in the month of October since bloom was much later. Fortunately we got the warmest October in Oregon history, we were able to let the grapes hang, and the rains stayed put until all our Estate fruit was in on Thursday, October 27th. The fruit got nice and ripe, and we are thrilled with the wine produced from this vintage!

WINEMAKING
The fruit for this wine was hand picked over a period of days between September 30th and October 21st. A portion of the Pinot Gris was picked with an acid focus and the other portion with a focus on higher brix and therefore more fruit weight. All the fruit was machine picked, being destemmed in the process, and went quickly to the press to avoid prolonged skin contact. The juice had long, cool fermentations in stainless steel tanks ranging from 15-20 days, using a diversity of ester focused yeasts. The resulting wines were all blended in a stainless steel tank with light lees where it was aged for about three months with lees stirring weekly for two months. As a result of the dual picking there is a weight and dimension in this wine. Additionally, lees stirring allowed the body and mid palette to build during the aging of the wine. The final product is a clean Pinot Gris with weight, dimension, minerality and aromatics of stone fruit with hints of citrus apple and pear in the palette.

WINE PROFILE
Slight notes of honeysuckle, apple blossoms, nectarines, pear, and apricots. A very complex Pinot Gris that is dry, with high acidity, and a long finish. Spring and Summer we found your perfect pairing!

PAIRINGS
Pair our Pinot Gris with stone fruit salad, Chicken Tikki Masala (Medium Heat Preferred), or spinach quiche.

SCORES
91 points – James Suckling (2021)
92 points – Wine & Spirits (2021)
92 points – Wine Enthusiast (2021)
91 points – James Suckling (2019)

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