Art of the Table -- Notes from Mike
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Ken Wright's Pinot Noirs

Ken Wright started in Oregon Pinot Noir in 1986 as the winemaker for Panther Creek. In 1993 he established Ken Wright Cellars and began a path of bottling only single vineyard Pinot Noirs.

From 1993 to 1996 he served as winemaker at Domaine Serene while he built and established his own winery.

Ken's Pinots always emphasize elegance over power; and he achieves this by having very close relationships with his vineyard owners and their workers, and thus yields are very low and concentrated. Ken's philosophy is that winemaking revolves around working with nature to fully allow the vines to express their quality of fruit and place.

He mentions, "human beings are not responsible for the wine we enjoy, the qualities the grapes posses are inherent, we don't inject them." He views his role as to "simply try to have the purest expression the fruit is capable of, brought all the way to the bottle and evident in the glass of wine." Because of this philosophy, it's no wonder that Ken feels "pinot noir has a far greater ability than any other variety to express the qualities of place, and that's magical!" Needless to say we're excited to have been able to grab a few bottles of the 2005 Ken Wright's Pinot Noirs. These will be fantastic gifts for the collector for the holidays, as they age well for 8 to 15 years.

Following, a breakdown of the different single vineyards:

Ken Wright 2005 "Nysa Vineyard" Magnum (1.5 Liter) $142
This vineyard was planted in 1990 of Pommard and Wadenswil clones on their own rootstock. Located in the heart of the Dundee Hills between Domaine Drouhin and Archery Summit; these grapes exhibit aromas of mixed strawberry, pomegranate, blackberry and black plum with hefty notes of anise and spice. The wine is always forward, textured and elegant. 350 cases made. We have one bottle.

Ken Wright 2005 "Elton Vineyard" Magnum (1.5 Liter) $142
Planted in 1983 to the Pommard clone on its own roots, this is located on the east side of the Eola Hills above Hopewell at an elevation of 250 feet. Grown in shallow volcanic soil, this encourages early ripening of the fruit which possess very ripe acidity and notes of black cherry, plum and cassis. Firm and very ageable, 140 cases of this were produced. We have one bottle.

Ken Wright 2005 "Shea Vineyard" Magnum (1.5 Liter) $142
Planted in 1989, the fruit is sourced from three small blocks planted to the Pommard clone, the Dijon 114 clone, and the Dijon 777 clone. They range in elevation from 450 to 600 feet, and feature complex notes of red and black fruit, particularly blueberry, spice and earth. 725 cases produced. We have one bottle.

Ken Wright 2005 "Abbott Claim Vineyard" (750ml) $72
This site is a portion of the original John F. Abbott Donation Land Claim and lies in the middle of a sedimentary ridge east of Carlton . As expected from a vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton, the wine is very dark, dense and lush with notes of plum, cassis and cocoa, and hints of leather and freshly turned earth. Lower acidity means this wine will be more lush and drinkable in its youth. We have four bottles left.

Ken Wright 2005 "Canary Hill Vineyard" (750ml) $72
This vineyard is located at the southern end of Eola Hills and was planted in 1982 and 1983 to the Pommard clone. Elevation is 450' to 550', and the soil is shallow and a mix of igneous rocks. Wine from this vineyard is very forward and ripe, with notes of black cherry and cola. 625 cases produced. We have six bottles.

Ken Wright 2005 "Meredith Mitchell Vineyard" (750ml) $72
This vineyard was planted in 1988 to Pommard on its own roots and is located just south of McMinnville in the Coastal Range foothills. Soils are shallow with basaltic mother rock only 20 inches above the surface. Producing small grape clusters, this vineyard renders wine that is intense and structured with more tannins than some of the other vineyards, thus aging is recommended with this guy. 310 cases produced. We have six bottles.

I recommend the Canary and the Abbott for earlier drinking, the rest I suggest cellaring for several years to reach a more drinkable stage. We're excited to have these special wines available for you all!

Portions of this mention were taken from "Ken Wright: Pursuing the Pure Expression of Oregon Pinot Noir", by Cole Danehower, Oregon Wine Report.