Midweek Vinopolpick 6-9-20

Whenever we have the chance to buy properly aged, single-vineyard Washington Syrah from top producers, we jump on it.  When we can offer it to you at a huge discount? Well, these sorts of opportunities are rare and we act accordingly.  Today’s offer of the 2013 Owen Roe Chapel Block is a stunner in that regard; it’s seven-years old Syrah at up to $20 off what we originally offered it at four years ago.

We first sold the 2013 Owen Roe Chapel Block Syrah four years ago for $49 per bottle—and Suzanne wrote this note:

“This new vintage of the Chapel Block Syrah from the Red Willow vineyard shows poise and balance.  There are overtones of dark chocolate and dark roast coffee layered with sweet spices and a hint of new leather on the finish.  Unabashedly New World, the palate offers ripe berry and floral notes with a lingering chocolate taste.  It has an excellent grippy texture to keep the rich body in check.  I would cellar for at least 2-3 years before opening, though ideally this baby could go for 7-10.”

Well, here we are—nicely four years after that tasting note and with a price that would have been unthinkable then.  The 2013 Owen Roe Chapel Block is just $33 per bottle—or $29.92 on a case purchase.  This is a fantastic wine in a great point in its development and you’d do well to stick a case in your drinking queue.

In Stock Now:

Owen Roe Red Willow Vineyard Chapel Block Syrah, Yakima Valley 2013 750ML ($59.95) $33 special
Case-12 Owen Roe Red Willow Vineyard Chapel Block Syrah, Yakima Valley 2013 750ML ($719.95) $359 special (that’s only $29.92/bottle!)
Stephen Tanzer–Vinous 92 points “Bright medium ruby. Musky, earthy aromas of raspberry, roasted strawberry, smoked meat and charred oak. Fat, sweet and deep, with good spicy lift to the very ripe flavors of plum, blueberry, dark chocolate and spices. A very rich, tactile Syrah with sexy sweetness but plenty of ripe, dusty tannins to support a graceful evolution in bottle. Ultimately richer than the Union Gap Syrah but also more tannic.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price in any vintage is $49.50
The average listed price across all vintages is $55

Bonus Owen Roe deal—just arrived:

Owen Roe Sharecropper’s Merlot, Yakima Valley 2015 750ML ($19.95) $14.50 special
Case-12 Owen Roe Sharecropper’s Merlot, Yakima Valley 2015 750ML ($249.95) $149 special (that’s only $12.42/bottle!)
Winery note “This new bottling of Sharecropper’s Merlot shows aromas of cranberry, tart cherry, violet and spice. Dazzling flavors of black cherry, currant, plum and hints of pepper are nicely balanced with bright acidity and firm tannins, finishing with a hint of baking cocoa. Vineyard Sources- Elerding, Outlook, Red Willow and Union Gap. Barrel aged in 14% new oak for 10 months.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $18.99

 

 

 

Kelley Fox makes some of the prettiest and most captivating wines in all of the Willamette Valley—fresh and delicate with a palate-pleasing intricacy.  Her hands-on approach to farming and use of whole-cluster fermentations mean that the wines have a dialectic of fresh and savoriness coupled with an energy that has vaulted her into the stratosphere of Willamette Valley producers.

The vineyard that she’s best known for is Maresh—a top site in the Dundee Hills.  We’ve secured a few top back vintages of her “Maresh Vineyard” Pinot Noir (2014 and 2015, to be exact) in limited quantities and are excited to offer them alongside some of her more contemporary releases.

These are true Willamette treasures: hard to find and worth the hunt.

“Anyone who avers that New World Pinot cannot match Burgundy for finesse and complexity has clearly never tried anything from this small, impressively consistent producer. Kelley Fox cut her winemaking teeth at Eyrie (and that influence shows very clearly in the wines she produces under her own name), followed by a 10-year stint (2005 to 2015) as winemaker at Scott Paul. She launched her own winery in 2007 and now produces around 2,000 cases a year of lithe, mineral-driven and strikingly pure Pinots from two of the Willamette Valley’s most highly regarded and meticulously farmed vineyards, Maresh and Momtazi. Native yeasts are used for all of the wines, and anywhere from a third to three-quarters whole clusters have been used since the beginning, but as of the 2015 vintage Fox will be using all whole bunches. She started out by using about one-third new oak for her first three vintages, used a bit for 2010 and 2011 and now uses none at all because she wants her wines “to be as pure and unadorned as possible, and oak can get in the way.” As approachable as Fox’s wines are soon after release, they have the balance to age and, as a bonus, they deliver exceptional value for their quality.” – Josh Raynolds, Vinous (12/2016)


In Stock Now:

Kelley Fox Wines Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2014 750ML ($119.95) $99 special, 10 bottles in stock now

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Kelley Fox Wines Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2015 750ML ($119.95) $99 special, 6 bottles in stock now
Winemaker’s Note “The Maresh 2015 is a selection of 6 barrels of my Long Rows (planted in 1970) and 2 barrels of my Old Block (planted in 1970). I do much of the farming of the canopy in these blocks personally each year (along with Block 8, which is entirely in the Mirabai). All of my wines in 2015 were 100% whole cluster. The colour is more blue-hued and a slightly deeper light red than the Mirabai. It is multifaceted and transparent like a well-cut gem. The nose has a different kind of minerality than the Mirabai, and has that lovely Maresh fruit with a faint hint of healing herbs and a certain wide-ranging purity. It is very different from the Mirabai. If the Mirabai has high energy and hummingbird wings, this wine has a sweeping, soaring energy and the feeling of silent, vast movement like in a dream of flight. While the Maresh is utterly clear in its transmission, it also has impenetrable depth. The texture is the classic silk of the Red Hills of Dundee and more specifically, of Maresh, and one can feel the airy, silky drape almost in folds.”

Kelley Fox Wines Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2018 750ML ($89.95) $69 special, 11 bottles in stock now
Winemaker’s note “The Maresh bottling is one I feel very deeply bonded with each year, and more so with each vintage. These vines planted on their own roots in 1970 in both the Long Rows and my half of the Old Block I have worked in since 2008. This time spent each year working in these blocks has changed me. I have the utmost love and respect for these vines, and the 2018 from them is something to behold. The Maresh 2018 is a medium, youthful and noble blue-red that is full of light and gorgeous transparency. It is certainly deeper in colour than my 2017. It’s my Maresh. Of course the nose is full of Hood strawberries warmed in the sun with the freshness of rain and the Pacific Ocean in the spring air, along with spices and other delicious notes that are difficult to articulate. The texture and length are also classic Maresh: silky and drapey without heaviness and more of the wind for its heft. As I write these notes, I find that this bottling is more coiled than the Red Barn Blocks 2018. It is both haunting and elusive.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $90

Kelley Fox Wines Maresh Vineyard Red Barn Block Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2018 750ML ($119.95) $95 special, 9 bottles in stock now
Winemaker’s note “2018 is my last bottling of the Red Barn Blocks. I am deeply thankful for the gift of being able to produce wines from these blocks over the years. To be released later, most likely in early 2020, is the Maresh Vineyard Royal Ann Block, and I’ll write about that when the time comes. I’ll say now that I couldn’t be more happy about that block and the 2018. I worked with that block for ten years as the winemaker for Scott Paul Wines. The 2018 Red Barn Blocks is almost identical in appearance to the Maresh 2018, except it is slightly deeper. It, too, has the classic Maresh nose of Hood strawberries and some spice (perhaps from the 50% whole cluster). But the nose is a bit more open and has the freshness that evokes the ozone-filled air after a spring thunderstorm. The mouth is juicy and mouth-watering, This wine has splendour, and is a real beauty.”


Also Available from Kelley Fox:

Kelley Fox Wines Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Blanc, Willamette Valley 2019 750ML ($39.95) $33 special, 19 bottles in stock now
Winery Note “The Freedom Hill 2019 is brilliantly clear and is pale, youthful gold with the slightest hints of peach. This wine was whole cluster pressed on the day of picking and then racked to a stainless steel tank for primary fermentation, after which it was racked to neutral French tight-grain oak barrels for élevage and malolactic fermentation. 2019 was very, very good to this block of vines, though the yields were down. The nose reminds me of some Puligny’s I’ve had. Not literally, but of the feeling I have often have. It’s hard to articulate, but it’s this delicate wild vanilla and creamy fruit type of aroma, without it being from barrels. The mineral nose has a roundness or curves to it that is not all soft. The mouth has plenty of acidity to carry this delicious, bone-dry Pinot blanc through to a long finish, and the more I try to write about this wine, the more elusive it becomes. It feels alpine and pristine but also has warmth and feels warming to the heart.”