2005 Pinot Noir
Vintage Reserve
Willamette Valley
TASTING NOTES
This wine exhibits a dark garnet color and aromas of cherry,
clove, and leather. On the palate the wine is supple and round
with integrated flavors of berry and cinnamon spice, framed by
subtle notes of vanilla and smoky oak. The wine possesses
mouthwatering acidity with spice and berry in the lingering
finish.
VINIFICATION
Located six miles south of Hillsboro in the northern Willamette
Valley, Oak Knoll has been utilizing the grapes from this
beautiful vineyard since 1992. Five Mountains Vineyard is
situated on a southeast slope with a 400-foot average elevation
and Laurelwood soil. On a clear day, five mountain peaks in
Oregon and Washington are visible from this site. Owned by Sharon
and Robert Evans, attention to detail is the focus of their
vineyard practices. Sharon carefully oversees everything from
pruning and canopy management to spray programs and crop
adjustments. The close proximity of the vineyard enables the
winery to quickly receive the grapes and reduces the amount of
"juicing" in the picking bins. The delivery of consistently
superior quality grapes is the top priority of both the grower
and the winery. The vineyard's older Pinot Noir block is
comprised entirely of the Pommard clone. After 100% destemming,
approximately 80% of grapes were crushed. This is an exciting
vintage for us as it is the first of a new winemaking style. The
must was moved to an open top ferment which releases CO2 faster
to aireate the wine inorder to enhance fermentation. The wine was
left to cold soak for one week before fermentation to extract
flavors from the skins; this brings out the fruity characters of
the grape. After 1 week in the tanks, the yeast was then added to
begin fermentation. Two different styles of yeast were used; 60%
fermirouge, which creates more body in the wine, and 40% Ruby,
which intensifies the fruit flavors. It was then pressed,
settled, and racked into small French Oak cooperage. These subtle
changes that our winemaker has made are intended to create a more
approachable wine at an earlier age and decrease the hard tannin
that our earlier vintages had, which can take years in the bottle
to mellow. The winery relies primarily on Tonnellerie Remond and
Francois Freres for its Pinot Noir barrels. These Burgundian
coopers, along with Saury and Sansaud, are utilized to provide
the winery with predominately medium-toast barrels from the
Nevers, Allier, Borgogne, and Vosges forests.
Suggested Retail: $34.00
