2022 Coulee Case Special

97 Points, Paul Gregutt

The 2022 Coulee Vineyard Pinot Noir will turn out to be a one-off. This will be the only year we bottle a wine from this vineyard. The 2023 is an utterly delicious wine that deserved to be bottled on its own but we elected to stop purchasing fruit from this site after the 2023 vintage and decided the best path forward was to simply have the single vintage of Coulee Vineyard in our portfolio. 

Tasting Notes:  The 2022 Coulee Vineyard Pinot Noir is a pure Eola-Amity bottling. The Wadensvil clone gives the high-toned red fruits one would expect, the 100% whole cluster fermentations add dimensions to the wine’s texture and structure and the pure nature of this AVA shows up in the forceful yet supple tannin structure. For some this may be a strong wine that will require time and patience they simply do not have. This is, admittedly, as structured a Pinot Noir as we have ever made and that is saying something. However, there is a wealth of richness of fruit that offers a push and pull with the tannic structure. This is a unique beauty in our lineup. It may not be the poster child for Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noirs but it is true to this AVA and is a wine that will certainly reward long-term aging.

This is our first Eola-Amity Pinot Noir since working with Anden/7 Spring Vineyard back in 2006. This area can produce either very gorgeous wines with a unique quality of dusty tannins or wines that can be over-ridden by their tannins and become too hard and shrill for their own good. To this end all of the Coulee fermenters saw minimal intervention. The Wadensvil fermenters were only pigeaged a small number of times (less than 5) over their nearly 3 weeks in fermenter.  Even pumpovers were sparse with alternate days of intervention being done to ensure the most generous tannin profile available. Cold soaks were 4 days. Full fermentation from beginning to pressing was at 18 days. 24-48 hour settling prior to being racked to barrel. All wines on full lees until assemblage for bottling. Bottled without fining or filtration.

Picking Dates, Tonnages, Tons/Acre: October 14th; 4.94 tons (3.09 tons/acre).

Vinification: For this bottling there were 3 fermenters all of which were done with 100% whole clusters.

Barrels: For this 10-barrel bottling, 2 new barrels which were Tonnellerie D&J and Tonnellerie O (both of which are new to Patricia Green Cellars in 2022 but are fantastic barrels that we are going to use moving forward). Past that the wine was a combination of almost exclusively neutral barrels with a couple of once used barrels round it all out.

Site History: This vineyard was originally planted in 1999 northwest of Salem by Mimi Casteel. She engaged in not just organic or biodynamic farming but regenerative farming. This style of farming is done with the intent of not only being good stewards of a complete farm (as opposed to just a vineyard) but to restore soil and plant health and vitality. Mimi Casteel is part of the winery-pioneering family that began Bethel Heights Vineyard and Winery a long time ago. In 2021 the vineyard was sold to former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe and his partner Josh McDaniels and the name changed from Hope Well to Coulee.

Site Characteristics: This is a steeply pitched site, rising from the roadside into a near amphitheater like shape with the top of the vineyard towering hundreds of feet above the flatter spots. Soil types range from marine soils at the bottom to volcanic soils at the top. The vineyard has multiple blocks with different clonal plantings, aspects and elevations. The site is warm, sunny and clearly a place meant as a whole farm structure and not just a vineyard site.

Farming Practices: While no longer farmed according to the regenerative beliefs and practices of the original owner, Mimi Casteel, the vineyard is still engaged in 100% organic farming.   

The Block: We chose 3 blocks to work with in our inaugural go round with this vineyard; a small block of Dijon 777 in the flatter part of the site, a west sloping block of Pommard that reaches the upper-tier of the vineyard’s hillside and a very steep, south-facing block of Wadensvil. After considering multiple possibilities we ended up choosing barrels solely from the Wadensvil Block for this bottling.