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2004 Pinot Blanc
Freedom Hill Vineyard Release Date: 9/15/2005 Retail Price $: 16.00 Production: 556 cases Production Notes Freedom Hill Vineyard is located in the foot hills of the coast range 10 miles south west of Sa lem, Oregon. The vine yard was plant ed in 1993 on a well drained silty clay loam. It has a southwest exposure at an elevation of 475' and benefits from heat rising off the valley floor. We produced this Pinot blanc in a style to accentuate texture and ripe fruit flavors. The must was fermented 25% in barrel and and 75% in tank and aged for eight months on the lees.. |
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Winemaker's Notes
Pinot blanc and Pinot gris are closely related to Pinot noir. Both are the result of natural mutations of Pinot noir. The entire Pinot family ripens beautifully in Oregon because our climate is perfectly suited to their needs. The resulting wines are blessed with ripe fruit and balanced acidity.
Pinot blanc has a complexity of pomme (apple and pear) and tropical fruit aromas that carry onto your palate. I believe Pinot blanc works differently with food than either Pinot gris or Chardonnay. It matches extremely well with shellfish and fatty fish dishes. It is especially good with mussels and tuna tartar. Pinot gris is a great match with leaner fish and other white meats.
Three-quarters of our Pinot blanc is fermented in tank, one-quarter in mostly older barrels. Five percent of the wood is new. The tank fermented wine retains the purity of fruit and the barreled wine adds a nice textural component that extends into the finish.
Tasting Notes
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.
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.