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What We Say 2007 Sunnyside Pinot Noir
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Mission Codename: The Sun Always Shines on the Sunnyside
Operative: Agent White
Objective: Investigate the rumors of a great single vineyard Pinot Noir from Amity Vineyards
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: Amity Vineyards
Wine Subject: 2007 Sunnyside Pinot Noir
Winemaker: Darcy Pendergrass
Backgrounder:
Oregon’s Willamette Valley, just south of Portland and along the Willamette River is well known for Pinot Noir and other Burgundian varietals. Its deep and fertile volcanic soil, cooler climate most directly effect viticulture. Most of the vineyards in this area are planted in the valley’s and hillsides along the river.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Bright ruby red with a clear darker ruby core. Along the edges the color lightens slightly to a redish pink. When swirled, this springy wine leaves clusters of slow fat legs descend to the wine below.
Smell – Pleasant and fresh with bright aromas of red fruit including red cherry, raspberry and strawberry are integrated with notes of sweet exotic spice, smokey herbal notes and a touch of floral violet. Complex earthy and toasted and smokey oak adds to the overall nose of this wine.
Feel – Soft and supple, this smooth dry medium-bodied wine has bright but balanced acidity, medium fine tannins and a touch of spice, all that lingers into the finish.
Taste – Rich and smooth flavors of smokey spiced red cherry and other red fruit are integrated with exotic sweet and hot spice, smokey herbs, floral violets, and a touch of earthiness and oak.
Finish – Medium in length with this wines fresh spice and smokey red fruit lingers softly over a very pleasant balanced structure.
Conclusion – The *2007 Amity Vineyards Sunnyside Pinot Noir * is a delicious and fresh lighter bodied Pinot Noir that shows plenty of complexity without sacrificing its approachable and balanced structure. Fresh and light on the nose, great flavors on the palate, and clean on the finish, this wine is perfect for any summer cuisine.
Mission Report:
WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER
SUBJECT: Darcy Pendergrass
WINE EDUCATION: Hands on with a BS in microbiology
WINE JOB BRIEF: As a Native Oregonian I’ve only worked in Oregon and New Zealand
WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY: I always want to be true to the fruit.
WINEMAKER QUOTE: “Drink good wine with good friends”
FIRST COMMERCIAL WINE RELEASE: Amity Vineyards 1976 for me 2006 by myself.
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WINEMAKER INTERVIEW
AGENT WHITE: Greetings, Darcy. We are thrilled to be showing your 2007 Sunnyside Pinot Noir today. Thanks so much for taking some time to answer questions for our Operatives today.
DARCY: Thank you for featuring our delicious wine.
WHITE: Was there a specific experience in your life that inspired your love of wine?
DARCY: Not one specific event just enjoying wine with family and friends sparked my interest.
WHITE: What wine or winemaker has most influenced your winemaking style?
DARCY: Myron Redford founder and owner of Amity. I love his passion for wine, it has rubbed off on me.
WHITE: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today.
DARCY: You are featuring our 2007 Sunnyside Pinot noir, Sunnyside vineyards is one of my favorite vineyards to work with and this wine shows why. Loads of red fruit, spice, and cedar dominate the nose and follow through the whole wine. Great balance of acid and tannins make this a wine that pairs wonderful with food.
WHITE: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?
DARCY: Anything with lamb is always a favorite in my house.
WHITE: In your opinion, what makes the Sunnyside Vineyards so special?
DARCY: Sunnyside Vineyards is one of the oldest vineyards in Oregon 40 years this year. The vineyard has been farmed sustainable the whole time which helps make it a very consistent vineyard for single vineyard pinot noir and a component of our reserve Pinot noir when we make it.
WHITE: What is occupying your time at the winery these days?
DARCY: Things are pretty slow right now, but we will start working on the 2009 Pinot noir blends in the next few weeks so we can bottle before harvest.
WHITE: How would you recommend people approach your wines and wine in general?
DARCY: Wines is meant to be enjoyed and hopefully we get to share it with friends and family over a great meal.
WHITE: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
DARCY: No, just thanks for taking the time to trying our Sunnyside Pinot noir. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.
WHITE: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you – and your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The approximate location of Amity Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.
What the Winery Says
Amity Vineyards
Awards & Accolades:
90 Points – Robert Parker – Cherry red in color, it has an attractive nose of cinnamon, allspice and red fruit. Made in an elegant style, this balanced effort has a silky texture, spicy flavors, and a pure finish.
“One of the best Pinot noirs I have ever tasted” – Robert Parker
About This Wine:
Sunnyside Vineyards is our oldest supplying vineyard and consistently has been a central component of our reserve Pinot noirs. This wine is loaded with aromas of currant, red cherry, spice and violets. It is well structured with a lasting finish of cocoa, spice and cherry.
Winemaking: The fruit for this wine was harvested on the 7th and 14th October. The fruit was gently de-stemmed by our Euro Select and dumped into 1.5-ton fermenters. After a five-day cold soak and daily pump-over’s the yeasts, Melody, F15, & F83, were added to the individual fermenters. Fermentation ran two weeks with a temperature range of 60° to 80° Fahrenheit and each fermenter received morning and evening punch downs. The wines were allowed a three-day post-fermentation maceration before gentle pressing and racking to barrel. After 10 months in barrel the wines were racked off to tank for blending, cold stabilized, run through our cross flow filter, and then bottled.
About The Winery:
Amity Vineyards is located in Yamhill County, Oregon just 7 miles from McMinnville. This region has been recognized as one of the premier Pinot noir producing areas in the world-rivaling the best in Burgundy. As one of Oregon’s pioneer wineries, Amity Vineyards helped establish the area’s reputation for world class Pinot noir as early as 1985, the year Robert Parker “Discovered Oregon,” praising Amity Vineyards’ 1983 Winemaker’s Reserve Pinot noir.
" One of the best Pinot noirs I have ever tasted " – Robert Parker
Since the early days Amity has won many national and international awards. Although, best known for their Pinot noir, they have won awards for Riesling, Pinot blanc, Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, and Gamay noir. Acclaim has also come from wine critics and writers such as Roy Andries DeGroot, Harvey Steinman, Anthony Dias Blue, Coleman Andrews, Robert Parker & Terry Robbards.
Their tradition of excellence continues. Amity Vineyards’ Pinot noirs have taken back to back Gold Medals in the Oregon State Fair and the McMinnville Wine and Food Classic, two of Oregon’s premier wine competitions. In a recent tasting of over 140 Oregon Pinot noirs held by the Wine Press Northwest, Amity Vineyards outperformed all other Oregon wineries with three wines rated “Outstanding” and one rated “Excellent”. At the 2002 Northwest Wine Summit, Amity Vineyards received the “Award of Excellence”, bringing home five medals in four different categories.
Technical Analysis:
HARVEST INFORMATION:
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Clones: 777, Wädenswil, & Gamay Upright
Vineyard Source: Sunnyside Vineyards
Harvest Date: 10/7/07 & 10/14/07
Sugar: 21.5° Brix
pH: 3.25
Titratable Acidity: 7.5 g/L
WINE INFORMATION:
Alcohol: 12.75% (13.0)
pH: 3.59
Titratable Acidity: 5.7 g/L
Residual Sugar: Dry
Malolactic: Yes
Elevage: 10 Months
Cooperage: 22% new French oak
Number of Cases: 214
