2007 Willamette Valley Plaisir à Trois

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TASTING PANEL COMMENTS
This unique blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Gamay Noir offers aromas of black cherry, blackberry and raspberry followed by hints of freshly ground coffee, bacon and white pepper.  The flavors follow the aromas with the addition of some red fruit notes, while spice and vanilla tones are carried on the long finish.  Rich and juicy, with good concentration balanced by bright acidity and firm tannins.  The wine will improve in the cellar for the next 1 to 2 years and age well for 5 to 7 years from its release date.  We recommend that you open it half an hour before serving

Pair with full-flavored foods such as shepherd’s pie, grilled meats, or chicken satay

 

 

VINTAGE
The 2007 vintage in Oregon will be remembered as a challenging one, requiring skill and dedication in the vineyard and winery in order make great wines.  Bud break occurred around April 8, but the vines did not start developing until late April due to cold rainy weather.  Bloom took place around June 12, followed by a good set.  Veraison did not occur until mid-August because of a very cool summer.  High temperatures never exceeded the low nineties, and some nights in September were unusually chilly (36ºF!).  A cool growing season is great for Pinot, since it is a cool climate grape.  Unfortunately, the rains came in early, continuing steadily through the harvest with breaks between downpours.  We started harvest in Terres Basses on September 27 and picked at 24.5º Brix.  We finished harvest after 5.5” of rain on October 26.  Most of the vineyards were harvested between 23º and 23.5º Brix.  With good sanitary conditions in the vineyard due to very careful viticultural practices, we elected to wait as long as we could before picking to ensure tannin ripeness. We also made extensive use of our state of the art cold storage facility to dry and dehydrate the grapes before processing them.  We are extremely pleased with the results.  The wines show great concentration, ripe tannins and lower levels of alcohol.  Both winemaker Thibaud Mandet and vineyard manager Daniel Fey rose to the challenge and demonstrated that knowledge and skill always pay off.

VINEYARDS
WillaKenzie Estate has 68 acres Pinot Noir, 3.2 acres of Gamay Noir and 3.6 acres of Pinot Meunier.  The vines are planted at 1200 vines/acre, running north to south to allow for maximum sun exposure.  All the vineyards are planted on Willakenzie soil, known for its excellent drainage.  The plants are grafted onto phylloxera-resistant rootstock and trained into an upright, double guyot trellising system, except for the Gamay which is cordon trained.

Yield:  2.9 tons per acre / Brix:  24.0° / pH:  3.5 / T.A.:  6.0

WINEMAKING
We made the 2007 Plaisir à Trois in our gravity-flow winery with the goal of achieving a wine that is a unique expression of WillaKenzie Estate’s varietal diversity.  A cool maceration preceded the open-top, Burgundian-style fermentation that averaged 21 days of skin contact with daily punch downs.  Following fermentation, the wines were blended with the press wines in tanks where they settled for several days before being racked to barrels.  After aging for a total of 10 months in French oak (40% new) from a variety of coopers, the individual lots were blended to obtain a wine that is fresh, fun to drink and approachable when young.  WillaKenzie Estate bottled 100% of the 2007 Plaisir à Trois with screwcap closures.

Alcohol:  13.8% / pH:  3.75 / T.A.:  5.8

 

 

To see tasting notes from previous vintages please visit our Trade Toolkit