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We were blown away when we tasted the first test bottle of 1999 Brut. The nose had delicate aromas of ripe apple, nuts, and toast. It was the flavors and finish that were the most amazing. Delicate floral fruit and cocoa flavors intermingled with a beautiful fine texture of its mousse and persisted into a very long nuanced finish. Potentially our best ever.

2004 was a pleasant return to a more typical Oregon vintage. Moderate crops matured in cool conditions with a good acid/sugar balance in the fruit. The wine have ripe fruit with enough acid to balance with richly flavored foods(my favorite) and to age gracefully.

2004 was a pleasant return to a more typical Oregon vintage. Moderate crops matured in cool conditions with a good acid/sugar balance in the fruit. The wine have ripe fruit with enough acid to balance with richly flavored foods(my favorite) and to age gracefully.

Ripe pear, peach, apple, and nuances of white tropical fruit aromas dominate the nose. Layered sweet fruit flavors move across your palate with hints of spice. It has a lovely mouth filling texture, but is not heavy, or thick. The fruit and textural nuances linger into the finish.

Our Pinot blancs have been dry wines. This requires that the primary, or alcoholic fermentation, finish completely. A variety of factors can make that difficult and the fermentation can "stick" with some unfermented sugar in the wine. Our 2004 Pinot blanc would not fully complete alcoholic fermentation. The amount of residual sugar was small and I decided to bottle it without further manipulation. This small amount of residual sugar acts to increase the perception of fruitiness. The actual residual is 0.69%. Many Alsacian wines are bottled with some residual sugar; the exact amounts varies with the vintage.

The finish is long, with spice and lingering hints of dried fruit. I expect this Pinot gris to continue to develop over several years. There are no old Pinot gris from this site, however the 1998 Shea Pinot gris has remarkable complexity and purity of fruit at five years of age. It is still young and, with the dry fruit characters still increasing, I expect it to improve for at least four more years Because of Shea Vineyard's richness, the best matches are with more richly flavored shellfish and white meat dishes prepared with complex or slightly spicy sauces. Prawns, scallops, and game birds, as well as pork tenderlion, that are sauced with salsas, fruit reductions, or sauces with hints of hot peppers would be great matches.

The yields at Vitae Springs Vineyard were very low in 2004. Many of the clusters fell off the shoots shortly after fruit set, probably due to bunch stem necrosis. The low yields resulted in especially concentrated flavors, as well as very high fruit costs. The fruit and spice aromas are very intense with increased texture on the palate and a clean, lingering finish. The fruit is a mixture of ripe stone fruit and orange rind. Ripe Pinot gris gets a intriguing spice quality that sometimes has an almost chili-like heat. The 2004 Vitae Springs gris is Alsacian in charactor with especially lovely fruit.

This Pinot noir is endowed with a very deep purple-red hue. Its nose is dominated by wild, black fruits, and has significant hints of pumpkin pie spice and white pepper. At this point, our Anden Vineyard Pinot noir is still very tight with great concentration. I expect it to open significantly by Christmas 2003. This is wine for game and wild mushrooms - those wild and earthy flavors in the food bring out all the layers in this wine.

This Shea is a dark, almost opaque, ruby color. Its nose is still very tight with lavender, dark flowers, and black fruits with hints of red fruit aromas underneath. Initially almost sweet on the palate, it crescendos into a powerhouse of dark flowers, dried berries, but still maintains a persistent sweetness around its edges. Still young and a bit disjointed, I expect the '03 Shea to develop into a heady, richly textured, very concentrated wine full of red and black fruits. I tasted this wine after 5 days of open time, the tannins had softened dramatically and the fruit was bigger and sweeter than ever. It has all the markings of a great Shea vintage. I expect it to peak in 8-10 years.

Temperance Hill is a cool site and benefits from warmer vintages. The 2003 is especially complex. Red and black cherries, dried flowers, and pomegranate aromas are layered with hints of cigar. Intensely concentrated dark cherry flavors, medium-to-rich sweet tannins coat your tongue and your cheeks. Still a bit young and brawny, this Temperance Hill will open over the next six months and should peak in 5-7 years. When I fire up the barbeque, this is the wine I serve. It matches perfectly with grilled meats, vegies and potato salad (my favorite summer meal).

The 2004 Pinot noir, Villages Cuvée is a blend of grapes from Vitae Springs, Shea, Justice, and Freedom Hill Vineyards located in the northern Willamette Valley. The grapes were fermented in small tanks after one or two days of cold maceration. The wine aged for 13 months in 20% new French oak barrels and was bottled without fining and filtration.

White Rose Vineyard is our highest elevation vineyard, at 832'. It was spared the brunt of the heat wave and its effects. Picked at the peak of ripeness, it is drop dead gorgeous. It fills your mouth and nose with dark flowers and red fruits, but is less about flavor than about pleasure. Easily the best White Rose to date. This is our smallest lot of Pinot noir. I believe that it is one of the gems of 2003. Snooze and you will loose. Drink it now or age it up to 8 years.