Ken Wright Cellars
By Condé Cox
Typically, autumn in the Willamette Valley is warm and dry, but in 2007, the season took a decidedly soggy turn. As a result, that year’s grape harvest tended to produce thin, watered-down wines—but one Oregon producer, Ken Wright Cellars, bailed out its yield with admirable aplomb. Using a special low-temperature vacuum, Wright boiled away excess water from the grape juice, preserving the delicate berry scents of pinot noir without imparting any stewed-fruit flavors. Rather than merely surviving the weather, these wines thrived under Wright’s deft hand. Here are two pinot noirs from the winery’s recently released 2007 vintage.
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2007 Ken Wright Abbott Claim Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir $50 Made from fruit grown in Wright’s estate vineyard located on Savannah Ridge, just west of Carlton, this bottling bursts with black-cherry and boysenberry flavors typical of the high levels of marine sediment in the ridge’s soil. |
2007 Ken Wright Carter Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir $50 This wine balances fruitiness, acidity, and oak flavors. Its red-cherry and raspberry scents bespeak the volcanic soils of the Carter Vineyard, located in the Eola Hills just north of Salem. |
Published: August 2009
