2007 Bryan Creek Vineyard Pinot noir
2007 Bryan Creek Vineyard Pinot noir
Buy Now: $75.00
“This 2007 Pinot noir is a very representative example of Bryan Creek Vineyard, particularly with its brambly, spicy wild red raspberry and black tea aromas. It is a lithe, intellectual wine, pretty and bright in color. The wine has a firm texture with enough tannin for 10+ years of aging. It would be the perfect accompaniment to pastas with meat sauces, osso bucco, duck boeuf bourguignonne, or any hearty dish.” Dave Paige, winemaker.
Wine Background
- In 1988 we approached our neighbors Joy and Jess Howell about leasing us 20 acres to plant grapes. Their 60-acre property is directly across the road from our original estate vineyard at Quarter Mile Lane.
- They agreed and planting began the next spring at what we named Bryan Creek Vineyard.
- By 1998, the oldest plantings began producing wine rich and complex enough to warrant a single-vineyard bottling.
Growing Season
- The growing season started out with a warm but somewhat late spring. Bud break occurred in the last week of April; bloom at the end of June.
- Temperatures cooled in mid-September and rains came at the end of the month, continuing on and off for three weeks.
- Leaf-pulling and other vineyard management practices allowed the fruit to continue to ripen even in these conditions.
- The Pinot noir grapes for this wine were picked on October 14.
Vineyard
- Bryan Creek Vineyard is situated high on the southern slopes of the Chehalem Mountains AVA (American Viticultural Area), on basaltic-origin, clay-loam soils that store enough moisture to get the grapevines through our annual summer droughts.
- The 700+ foot elevation approaches the upper limits of where we like to plant, but the direct southern exposure provides some compensation. The grapes ripen later than at most of our other sites, but this long “hang-time” can lead to incredible complexity and intensity of flavor.
- This wine comes from Blocks 3, 4, 5 and 12, all planted to clone UCD 5 (Pommard) in 1989.
Winemaking
- Bryan Creek was one of our last Pinot noir sites to be harvested in 2007.
- Upon delivery to the winery, the grapes were carefully sorted on our sorting table, then gently de-stemmed into open-top, temperature-controlled fermenters. The fermenters were punched down once daily during cold soak and 2 - 3 times each day during primary fermentation.
- After pressing, the wine was transferred to small French oak barrels (30% new), where malolactic fermentation occurred over the winter.
- The wine was bottled on August 19, 2008.
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