Bishop Creek Vineyard
Valois Reserve 2005 Pinot Noir

"Compromises are for relationships, not wine." "That wine is hedonistic!" "Pinot Noir is the Holy Grail among wine drinkers." Probably no other grape variety draws such passionate comments that often run in diametrically opposite directions.

I am not sure whether we are on a metaphysical mission, or an orgasmic odyssey, but we do want to make the best damned Pinot Noir, or die trying. (I suppose we should live in New Hampshire, where their motto is "Live Free or Die," but our grapes grow better in Oregon.) But whatever our quest, we want to pay proper respect to the natural origins of our products, offer our wines at good values, educate our customers and ourselves, and not fall into the trap of taking things too seriously.
— R. Fish, Principal

This marks the debut of a very special wine, the Valois Reserve (pronounced val-wah). This is a blend of the 5 very best barrels in the cellar and represents the pinnacle of Pinot Noir expression from the Bishop Creek Vineyard in 2005. A dense wine, the Valois will not be revealing all it has to offer for at least another year or two, but if you cannot resist, open it and decant the wine before you drink it. The nose shows dark brooding fruit over dense earth notes and subtle oak spice. While the aromatics are not explosive yet, there is no mistaking the concentration. The palate layers dark fruits of black cherry and blackberry, exotic spices, red earth, loads of texture, and a very firm tannic structure. This rich, dense wine will slowly evolve into a stunning beauty akin to Clint Eastwood in his spaghetti western days, but with performances in Bird and Million Dollar Baby still to come.

In order to highlight complexity, a number of winemaking changes were instituted in 2005. We picked each section of the vineyard separately and each lot was fermented individually in small 1.25 ton fermenters. Naturally occurring cold soaks of up to 8 days ensured good concentration and all ferments used indigenous yeasts. Caps were punched down twice daily for the majority of fermentation, slowing to once daily as the wines approached dryness. Racked to primarily neutral barrels, and only about 15% new barrels, the wines went through malolactic fermentation, and rested undisturbed until being racked just once more prior to bottling in early September, eleven months later.
The 2005 growing season in the Willamette Valley was, yet again, a unique set of challenges. After beautiful early spring weather, we were deluged with heavy rain during bloom. Because of this, pollination was impeded and a poor fruit set resulted in a very small crop. However, after that first soaking we were rewarded with a near perfect summer and early fall. Warm days and cold nights in late August and early September provided great flavor maturity, while restraining sugar levels. A fit of poor weather as the grapes approached readiness required some patience before picking, but it was patience well rewarded. The resulting wines have a sleek elegance and the compact structure of dancers rather than the lush muscularity of the 2003 or 2004 vintages.