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I just had to write about this.

Yesterday I participated in a presentation entitled “Pinot Noir Winemaking and Tasting” led by a panel, headed by Ken Winchester of Victoria, BC and owner of Ken Winchester Cellars. It was part of the Western Washington Horticulture Association’s annual conference.

We tasted five Puget Sound-grown Pinot Noirs. I thought the quality was outstanding, especially considering that many of these wines were barrel samples (and first-time efforts). Most were from the 2006 vintage, one from the ‘05. Three were commercially made, one homemade and one experimentally made.

I know that Bainbridge Island Winery and Vineyards has already released their Pinot Noir as far back, I believe, as the ‘92 vintage. That was also historic; the first. But, this tasting somehow had its own sense of history as it was a affirmation of Gerards work at Bainbridge. Literally we are seeing (tasting) the fruits of those efforts.

I thought as a group the wines were very exciting and very good. They were a bit acid. Personally, I liked that. Also all had great pink-red coloring with bright hues. They smelled like fresh fruit, not jammy, not cooked, not toasty…..just wonderfully expressed aromas of cherry and raspberry.

On the palate the fruit aromas were confirmed with the tart bite of fresh fruit. But what I really liked was the way the wines sat on my tongue….with great length; not heavy, not demanding….silky almost. Close your eyes and imagine your very first taste of raspberry right off the vine. 

All had very little tannin which surprised me.

It will be exciting to see these wines change.

The three commercial wines were Vashon Winery (Monument Farm Vineyard) and Glacier Peak Winery (from Marblemount area) and HollyWood Hills Vineyard (Woodinville).

The homemade wine was made by Bill Riley of Vashon Island from grapes grown at his home vineyard.

The experimental wine was the Pinot Noir (Precoce clone) grown and produced by WSU-Mt. Vernon.

They were as a group much more European in style with the obvious tart flavors but also with the wonderful weight of a European Pinot Noir. They reminded me of Pinot from just beyond Burgundy or even of some of Burgundies lighter versions. They could have been from Germany, or Alsace, or Morey St. Denis, or the Haut Cotes de Nuits.

How exciting to be able to watch this wine evolve.

Thanks go to Joe and Tony for planting the grapes at their farm.

I hope to release this wine (all of about 20 cases) in March or April.

Oh, the big three slowest months of the year.

December this year was decent, though not quite as busy as it felt. December is really important to the winery as that is how I am able to pay for my grapes.

Luckily I didn’t buy too many grapes this year; good for the cash flow.

In fact, I have a lot of inventory. So much that I am going to make a new blend, likely calling it Claret, to sell as soon as I get it fine, filtered and into bottle. It will be a blend of younger and older vintages, and a blend of different grape varieties. A good table wine; the kind of wine you don’t mind opening for dinner tonight.

I am excited about this coming year. I plan to bottle the 2006 Pinot Noir from Vashon grapes grown at the Monument Farm Vineyard at the south end of Monument Road. The vineyard is about a thousand feet from the Stewart Vineyard that supplies us with grapes for our Chasselas Dore wine. I will likely bottle both at the same time and release them in March; that will help the cash flow.

Also this year I am trying to expand the concerts at the winery. I am in discussions with Michael Meade, respected lecturer on mythology, and a remarkable storyteller. He will explore the Dionysian connection to wine and look at some of the Bachanalian rites that are associated with wine.

Also up is Danny O’Keefe, island singer, singing songs from his newly released CD. Danny is a terrific entertainer and draws his audience in.

I’m hoping to host a folk festival with a number of noted folk singers playing throughout the day.

And, I am attempting to bring in a poet. Last year we had David Wagoner reading in the winery. It was remarkable. I hope to repeat that great success.

The 2007 vintage wines are in barrel. It is way too early to understand the wines but the blend that I co-fermented is very interesting with a concentrated mid-palate that is nearly black in color. But the flavors are all over the palate, front, bakc and along the sides of the tongue. The Cabernet Franc is going to be good but at this point it is light and almost delicate and it drinks like a Pinot Noir. And the Semillon seems particularly good with great acidity and a nice fruitiness. This year we crushed the grapes directly into the press and I think it preserved a bit more flavor.

Oh, I have drunk a few of our wines from the cellar. I opened the 1990 and the 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon during our holiday Open House. The ‘91 was particularly good. It had a really nice crushed leaf quality with great rich ripe berry-like flavors. And it still seemed young, not showing any orange edge to. That amazed me; the wine is sixteen years old.

The ‘90 was also good. It was softer but less layered with mature flavors but without the vibrant flavors in the ‘91.

This is important to me. One of the great virtues of wine is its ability to age and I make a number of winemaking choices to increase the likelihood that our wines will age. In fact, it starts in the vineyard. I like to find cooler vineyard sites, usually near the Yakima Valley with grapes that are not overripe nor too soft in acidity.

Actually, I can’t take any credit for those two older wines as they were made by the former owners, before I even started working at the winery (in 1992).

Well, I think it is going to be an interesting year and I hope you join me for the ride. I look forward to working with some new vineyards, and like this year being suprised!