2022 Lillies Vineyard, Pinot Noir
Site History: To be honest there isn’t much information about this site. It was planted in 2001, sandwiched in between Weber Vineyard (planted in 1978) and the old Juliard Vineyard (now Furioso, originally planted in 1987). It’s location is unique to be sure while still possessing the soil and climate characteristics of all the vineyards on Worden Hill Rd. The vineyard has long been leased by Dusky Goose Winery.
Site Characteristics: This site is located in the bowl off of Worden Hill Rd. where it lies in close proximity to vineyards such as Maresh, Arcus, Weber, the old Juliard and Clos Electrique as well as many others. The block we receive is tucked directly below Worden Hill Rd. and is slightly north of the eastern end of Weber Vineyard. Despite is proximity to Weber there are distinct differences between the two sites. Lillie’s has a sultry feel to it and is decidedly warmer than Weber Vineyard. In our first vintage, 2021, we weren’t completely sold on the site as a stand-alone single-vineyard and the wines ended up going into the Volcanic and Reserve bottlings. It was the extra year of work and walking through the vineyard on multiple different days and times that informed us on the site’s unique characteristics and what we could do to bring those out. Despite receiving fruit from just 1 block that is less than 3 acres in size we realized that we needed to split the block into two sections and pick them at different times. The Upper Block was picked more than a week in advance of the Lower Block. This allowed (and allows, going forward) to pick at the peak level of ripeness for both portions and this brought out a level in the wine we were, are and continue to be impressed by.
The Block: This block is planted entirely to Dijon 115 and is trellised on the Scott Henry trellising system. This is a rare way to trellis Pinot Noir in the Northern Willamette Valley however it is has proved extremely successful at Weber Vineyard and given that Andy Humphrey manages this site as well as Weber the oddity is a strength. The block is semi-surrounded by small hills that enclose it on its west and north borders and to a lesser extent on its southern border. This creates a small-microclimate in an area famed for its larger microclimate.
Picking Dates, Tonnages, Tons/Acre: October 3rd Upper Block 1, 3.74 tons (1.90 tons/acre), October 11th Lower Block 1, 3.71 tons (2.48 tons/acre).
Vinification: The Upper Block was done with 65% whole clusters and the Lower Block was completely destemmed. All were done is 1.75 ton open-top fermenters.
Winemaking: Fermentations were managed by a combination of pumpovers early in the process and exclusively prior to fermentation beginning as well as pigeages to ensure gentle handling, extraction and delicate tannin construction. Cold soaks were 4-6 days in length. The fermentations from beginning to pressing was 20 days for the Upper Block and 17 days for the Lower. 48-72 hour settling prior to being racked to barrel. All wines on full lees until assemblage for bottling. Bottled without fining or filtration.
Barrels: Two new barrels (Cadus) and four once-filled barrels do the heavy lifting while four neutral barrels allow the wine to flourish. Half the volume comes from both the upper section with the whole cluster and the lower section that is destemmed. Balance will be a recurring theme.
Notes: 2022 is a spectacular year in the Dundee Hills. Despite the major frost event in April all our vineyards in this AVA recovered exceptionally well and produced both bumper crops and wines of incredible concentration, focus, drive and elegance. Spread across our Volcanic, Anderson Family, Balcombe, Balcombe Block 1B, Durant Bishop Block, Durant Madrone Block, Lillie’s, Mysterious (Arcus Vineyard) and Weber we have our largest and most successful selection of Dundee Hill wines in our 23 year history. All of these wines operate at or around apex levels for each bottling. Not a vintage to be missed from this important Oregon AVA.
This is our inaugural bottling of Lillie’s Vineyard. This is an extremely exciting Pinot Noir that possesses dynamic levels of fruit and structure. This is going to be an ongoing wine that we hopes becomes a mainstay of our portfolio.
What began as a purchase of fruit done, at least in part, out of spite has quickly evolved into one of the top vineyard designated wines in our large portfolio. We were under the impression, even after very successful fermentations that had the pigeage crew raving about how good they smelled, that the best use of the Lillie’s barrels was going to be as topping wine for our more well known Dundee Hill sites. We, in fact, ended up using around half the barrels for that purpose but began realizing as secondary fermentation finished up that the 10 barrels we had remaining were special unto themselves and that we actually had a top wine on our hands. Winemaking sometimes is about removing your own preconceptions to discover what is right in front of you.
TA 5.4, pH 3.54. Bottled with about 25 ppm free SO2 and less than 75 ppm total SO2.
Tasting Note: Please be aware that I am loathe to write tasting notes on our wines. Each person has an individual palate and therefore unique experiences with every wine. Also, what a person has tasted in their life and what they enjoy informs them on what a wine is like. If I tell you a wine tastes like cherries and you either have never had a cherry or don’t like cherries what I am saying is irrelevant information. That being said I have been asked to include my thoughts on each wine (since we have so many).
The 2022 Lillie’s Vineyard Pinot Noir is our first bottling of this site on our third vintage having at it. This is ruby red all over the place! Color, aromatics and flavor. Everything is in perfect proportion in this wine. The aromatics are crystalline red-fruited, leading into an absolutely silky wine resplendent with nervy and perfectly composed cherry red Dundee Hills fruit. The tannins are present but so discreet that their work is a backdrop that is only noticed in that the wine’s shape is absolutely perfect. In 30 years of working in wineries and tasting wines I have rarely witnessed a vineyard do with fruit what Lillie’s Vineyard does not only with this 2022 but what we are seeing in the 2023 in barrel (at the time of writing this). Each sip is more like drinking from a river of strawberries. The flavor just seems to keep on coming even though the taste was small. This wine has an extraordinary characteristic to it that is borne of a small location on a hillside full of mystery and magic. Get on board. Soon.
