Angela Pinot noir 08

From Clawson Creek Vineyard.

Made by Ken Wright of Ken Wright Cellars for this tiny winery. The Beck family, of equestrian fame, co-own the winery and vineyard. The Becks are known for their South African-based Graham Beck Wines, a pioneer in social and environmental protection.

Angela Pinot noir's grapes are sourced from the Savannah Ridge Vineyard, owned by the winery. Terribly damaged by insensitive logging and other land management practices in the 1970's, the family has spent the last six years bringing the ridge back to life.

The 2007 vintage of Angela received excellent scores and writeups. With the 2008 vintage, the years of hard work in developing the vineyard shows even better results. The Angela is a memorable example of the 2008 vintage - combine a great winemaker, superb vineyard management, and a perfect vintage, and you get the beautiful Angela Pinot noir 08.

2008 Wine Spectator - 90 points - Bright and jazzy, with a few gritty tannins poking at the supple black cherry, espresso and cream flavors, which extend into the elegant finish. Drink now through 2018. 821 cases made." - H.S.

From the winery: After careful soil preparation specifically designed to nourish the microorganisms located at the layer 30 to 36 inches below ground, where topsoil meets mother rock – the critical component which gives expression to Point Noir – the first 21 acres of the Clawson Creek Vineyard were planted in 2006 with Pinot Noir clones 777, Wadenswil and 115, with an additional 13 acres planted in 2007, totaling 34 acres.

Labor-intensive shoot positioning (hand-straightening and pinning of individual shoots) along with exacting canopy management insure that every leaf of the vine is photosynthetically active. The result of these prodigious farming efforts in an extraordinary location produces the outstanding Pinot Noir fruit that is essential in the making of Angela Pinot Noir.

2007 Vintage Tasting Notes

Angela Pinot noir 07 is made by Ken Wright, of Ken Wright Cellars, one of Oregon's most highly regarded wineries.

"Medium ruby in color, the bouquet is initially a bit restrained but soon opens up with a forward note of terroir and minerals over perfectly ripe black raspberry and blueberry aromas, along with a subtle hit of oak spice. Plush and forward, it shows surprising richness on the palate entry, but regains its balance deftly. Soft and rich dark berry flavors are tinted with colas and tea notes. This is a bolder style of Pinot with a long and lush finish." -- Michael Sorg, Voices of Wine

In their search for vineyard site that had the exceptional potential they were seeking, the owners of Angela Pinot noir had the good fortune to meet famed Oregon producer Ken Wright. Wright led the Beck’s and the Rosenstein’s to Savannah Ridge which he found to be tremendously exciting as testing and core samples had revealed an unwavering consistent soil depth of 30 to 36 inches.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Savannah Ridge was the site of thriving orchard which had been abandoned and returned the the wild with the collapse of the fruit market at the end of the World War I. Insensitive logging on the 1970s left the ridge in shambles.

Using organic and sustainable methodologies, Gould and Wright restored the environmental and ecological health of the ridge. The first 21 acres of the Clawson Creek Vineyard were planted to Pinot Noir clones 777, Wadenswill and 115 in 206, with an additional 13 acres planted in 2007, totaling 34 acres.