A fresh dry Pinot Blanc – honey & floral aromas followed by lemon zest and pear on the palate with a touch of tangerine. Crisp and bright with lots of richness & body in the mid-palate that lingers on the finish with clean minerality.
“…try any one and know that they’ve got the essence of Oregon captured in all of their wines…” – Twin Cities Statement Magazine (September 1, 2009)
Vintage
Vintage 2012 will go down as one of the finest in Oregon history in terms of quality of the raw materials. Mother Nature really smiled on us with not only a rain-free harvest season but perhaps more importantly with tiny berries and clusters. The small fruit size allowed us to effortlessly and gently extract the concentrated fruit and ripe tannins of the perfectly ripe grapes. Those beautifully small clusters and berries were lighter than normal, so yields were down and these wines will likely sell out at a brisker than usual pace.
According to owner/winemaker Adam Campbell “The wines from 2012 remind me and my folks of classic vintages like 1998 and 1994. Small clusters and berries give us an amazing skin-to-juice ratio, allowing us to be incredibly gentle through fermentation and still come up with powerful concentration and ripeness of fruit. It’s also great that 2012 wasn’t a super hot vintage, so we were able to produce very ripe but varietally correct wines with freshness of fruit and lower alcohols, most in the 13% range”.
Early reviews of the 2012 vintage use descriptors like “Stunning”, “Amazing” & “Epic” making Oregon winemakers giddy that 2012 could go down as the best vintage in our 50 year winemaking history.
Vineyard
The fruit for this Pinot Blanc is hand-harvested from select hillside vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley, including our Five Mountain, Mount Richmond and Estate vineyards.
Winemaking
The Willamette Valley has an ideal climate for Pinot Blanc, a delicate grape variety – enough sunlight and warmth for ripening, with cooler night temperatures that help retain varietal character. To preserve the freshness, our Pinot Blanc is whole-cluster pressed then fermented at very cool temperatures in small stainless steel tanks, all of which accentuates aromatics and enhances the richness and viscosity of the wine.
Viticultural & Enological Data
Vine Age 10-20 years
Yield 4.26 tons/acre
Harvest Sugars 22.5 Brix
pH 3.17
Vatting Whole-cluster pressed and cold fermented in small stainless steel tanks.
Cases Produced 1,353
Food Pairing
Adam’s Crab Cakes
It’s our post-harvest tradition to rent a boat and go crabbing at Kelly’s Marina. While we don’t always make it to the coast to go crabbing ourselves, sitting around the table shelling cooked crab from the fishmonger is also a great way to catch up while anticipating the great meal ahead, usually while savoring a glass of what we in the Campbell family call “cooking wine” (wine poured for the cooks). Dungeness crab season in Oregon runs from December to August.
These crab cakes pair beautifully with our Pinot Blanc. Cheers and bon appétit!
RECIPE
For the cakes:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
3 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
4 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
ground black pepper to taste
1 pound cooked blue or Dungeness crabmeat
2 cups panko bread crumbs (divided)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Skillet:
2 tablespoons (or more) butter
2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil or grapeseed oil
For the salad:
salad greens of your choice
3tbs olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dijon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
serve with crusty bread & hot sauce
In a large bowl, whisk ingredients the first 10 ingredients together. Mix in crabmeat, and break it up into a rough, chunky texture while feeling with your hands for any remaining pieces of shell. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup panko with the cayenne then fold into crab mixture. Let stand while panko soaks up the liquid from the crab mixture. Place the remaining panko in a flat bottomed bowl or tray. Form crab into patties about 2.5 inches in diameter (about 12) then press both sides of patties into the panko. Chill the formed patties for 1 to 4 hours in the fridge.
To fry, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook crab cakes on both sides for about 4-5 minutes until they are browned, adding oil as needed to the skillet.
Make a vinaigrette with any remaining herbs, tossing lightly into your greens and serving alongside your favorite crusty bread. Season if desired with lemon wedges and Louisiana-style hot sauce – Crystal is our favorite but Tabasco or Texas Pete work equally well. Cheers!
