Solena Wooldridge Creek Vineyard Zinfandel 06

"Elegant deep cherry color with bright jammy flavors intensified with red berry. Fresh and spicy nose that leads into an elegant floral finish. The wine has a fresh and spicy nose that gives way to elegant floral undertones. The tannins are soft and well-integrated. A small amount of Merlot softens and elongates the finish." - the winery

Previous Vintage Tasting Notes

The 2003 growing season was very unusual for Oregon. The winter of 2002-2003 started with below average temperatures and had viticulturalist and winemakers anticipating a harvest well into November. A very cool and wet spring gave way to an incredible turnaround in late May and a heat wave in early June. The months of June, July, August and September were the hottest ever recorded in 40 years! The second half of September was uncommonly warm with high temperatures reaching 95 degrees. The 2003 growing season saw abnormally dry conditions with little or no rain until October 7. We were fortunate to have picked all of our Pinot Noirs before the October rains came. The record levels of heat in 2003 produced fruit with exceptionally high sugar levels with ripe tannins. The 2003 wines show intense fruit with a supple body.

DOMAINE DANIELLE LAURENT - The 80 acre estate vineyard is located in Yamhill, Oregon, adjacent to Shea Vineyard and a stones throw from WillaKenzie Estate. The vineyard is planted with a diversity of the new clones from Burgundy 114, 115, 667, 777, and 828 and also the traditional Pommard clone. Densely planted; 2600 vines per acre with 1.80m (6ft) rows and 0.80m (2.5ft) in between vines. The soil type is Willakenzie, known for its excellent drainage. The soils are edimentary over fractured sandstone. Expressing the distinct characteristics of our soil is our goal. Viticultural practices that allow us to minimize the usage of pesticide and materials that can jeopardized the life of the soil. The blocks were closely monitored as harvest approached, and the picking date was chosen based on taste. All grapes were harvested by hand under ideal conditions.

VINIFICATION - Our wines are fermented in special rotary barrels. We are the only American winery to experiment with this innovative technique that has taken the Bordeaux region over. Fermenting the grapes inside barrels which rotate on special wheels allows us to carefully extract the color and tannins with a method that is more gentle than the traditional daily punch downs. Cold maceration preceded the fermentation for a total of 28 days of skin contact. The rotary barrels allow us to ferment our wines in small lots, giving us better control over our final blend. The wines were hand-crafted to achieve a fully extracted and complex style. The juice was gravity fed directly to barrels. 100% Malolactic fermentation occurred for an eleven month period. Aging took place for 13 months in French oak (70% new) barrels from a variety of coopers. The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined.