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 The crocus, azalea and tulip blossoms are putting on their annual show, and it is truly a wonderful thing to see the plants slowly return to the land of the living. (But of course it's snowing as I write this!) All’s quiet in the vineyards at the moment, but sap will be stirring and bud energy moving before we know it. It is time to stretch our limbs and climb out of the cave after a long winter’s nap. (What nap? Somehow there simply isn’t any “down time” any more…)
The 2006 La Paulée has been resting comfortably in bottle since August, and its' time has come. Succulent, lush, bursting with ripe fruits, this wine has evolved nicely in bottle and is now showing complex aromatics to go along with the pretty fruit.
As always, our La Paulée cuvée is a selection of the best lots of the vintage in our cellar. The 2006 version is culled from four different vineyards and four separate AVA's - from our blocks of Shea Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Ribbon Ridge Vineyard in the neighboring Ribbon Ridge AVA, Stoller Vineyard in the southern end of the Dundee Hills A VA and Momtazi Vineyard (our first year working with this fruit) – a biodynamically farmed site in the McMinnville AVA. Each of these parcels brought their own unique characteristics, but it is indeed the whole that becomes greater than the sum of the parts. |
Maresh Vineyard Block 10 |
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The 2006 La Paulée offers earthy red and black fruits on the nose, with a core of delicious black  cherry and raspberry on the palate. The texture is silky on the entry, turning to velvet on the mid-palate as the expressive ripe fruit flavors fan out to the elegant and persistent finish. In keeping with the fruit-forward nature of the vintage, it is ready to enjoy right now – though it should continue to gain in complexity over the next 5-7 years. |
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Momtazi Vineyard |
You’re invited - please plan to join us in Carlton for our Release Party & Open House on Saturday April 12th from 11 to 4 – the new La Paulée will of course be open for tasting, along with a selection of yummy Burgundies from our Scott Paul Selections portfolio, and we’ll have some delicious cheeses and charcuterie as well. And for large-format aficionados, for the first time we have a good amount of Magnums of the ’06 La Paulée available – get ‘em before they’re gone! Click here to access your secure order form…
As we’ve been hinting around in our blog for a while, this spring we are planting our first estate vineyard – a spectacular little 10-acre parcel in the Chehalem Mountains AVA. (It’s adjacent to Adelsheim’s Bryan Creek vineyard, if you know the area or have a vyd. map.) The vineyard will be named “Azana”, after the granddaughter of our partner, dear friend and mentor Cameron Healy.
We’ve been looking for nearly seven years, and  are thrilled to have found this exciting piece of land. It sits high on the steep south slope of the mountain at about 750 feet – facing due south, with a commanding view of the entire valley. The soil is 100% Jory – the same volcanic soil that is found in the Dundee Hills, with fist-sized rocks mixed in throughout the topsoil. The site looks over the Dundee Hills, with views to the Amity Hills and the Eola Hills further south.
We’re planting 100% Pinot Noir – four different clones on two different rootstocks, but will be mixing the clones randomly in the field rather than planting discrete blocks of individual clones. (Many of my Burgundian friends believe this to be one of the keys, and I’m inclined to believe them.)
We’ll be farming the site Biodynamically (more on BD below) from the beginning, and have sourced all of our plant material from the biodynamic nursery at Momtazi Vineayrd outside McMinnville. By mid-May the vines will be in the ground, and we’ll harvest our first tiny crop in 2010. It will be fascinating to see how the fruit develops and what we’re able to produce from this site. By the time the vines are truly mature, however, I’ll be retired!
After the highly-touted (and truly amazing) 2005 vintage, I am excited to say that the 2006s are another big success. In fact, most of the 2006s will deliver more pleasure much sooner than the ‘05s – to which I say “hallelujah!”
Many of the ‘05s are now starting to close up and go into their sh ells for a number of years – and we need yummy burgs to drink while waiting for the ‘05s, ‘01s, ‘99s and ‘96s to come around, right? I’ve now tasted nearly six-hundred 2006 Burgs, red and white, and have been absolutely thrilled with the lovely fruit character, the balance, and the approachability. (I’m also happy to report that the 2007s are lovely as well, and will be another early-drinking vintage. More on these soon.)
Here’s the word on 2006 from the man with the last word on Burgundy – Allen Meadows, Burghound.com – Issue 29/January 2008:
“… a very fine vintage that produced classically styled wines of superb purity and transparency that will deliver much pleasure, and sooner, than the more consistent 2005. Indeed, I would go so far to say that in some cases, the 2006s actually surpass their 2005 counterparts…”
“… the ‘06s are indeed classic burgundies that are exceptionally aromatic and elegant with the best transparency to the underlying terroir since the 2001s, all wrapped in admirably persistent finishes with fine detail and a more pronounced sense of minerality than most vintages possess. They really are gifted in terms of their transparency, indeed the finest examples are what I would call crystalline and because they are moderately concentrated, neither light nor dense and moderately ripe, neither surmature or under ripe, there is relatively little to get in the way of this clarity…”
The first of the 2006s will start to arrive in late May. The weakness of the Dollar versus the Euro makes the prices a bit higher. But as the French would say, “c’est comme ça” – or simply “that’s just the way it is”. There is, however, some silver lining in this cloud:
We are direct importers, and in most cases purchase direct from the producers. In this manner, there are no middle-men or others taking markups before we get to the wines. Our direct imports go straight from the producer’s cellar to our warehouse in McMinnville, Oregon, and then direct to you.
Another point in our favor in this dollar-darkened cloud is that our producers generally sell their wines at reasonable prices – often half of what their more “famous” neighbors charge. (Lucien Le Moine and François Lamarche are indeed pretty high – but they have such massive world-wide demand for their production that they can charge whatever they want, it seems.)
A Chambolle-Musigny from Taupenot-Merme at $46 or from J-J Confuron at $55 is a lot more interesting to me than one from de Vogüé at twice the price – especially when the wines are earning the same scores from Burghound! Same goes for a Gevrey-Chambertin from René Leclerc at $40 or Taupenot-Merme at $46 compared to similarly scoring wines from Dugat or Rousseau at nearly double the fare. You can have the prestige of the “label”, or you can have the same quality wine for a lot less. For me, it’s an easy choice…
For the first time, we are expanding our portfolio outside of Burgundy, to bring in two exciting new small producers in Champagne. My two true loves in the wine world have always been Burgundy and Champagne, and as always, our portfolio follows my passion. There is more and more interest every day in the small “Grower Champagnes”, and I’m excited to have found a couple of small family operations that are producing gorgeous stuff at great prices. (Not to mention that it keeps my wife and the whole Scott Paul team very happy!)
Champagne Marc Chauvet
 They’ve only been at it since 1529 – give them a little more time and they just might get the hang of it! Winemaker Clotilde and her viticulturist brother Nicolas are the current generation of Chauvets at the helm of this estate in Rilly-la-Montagne, a tiny village south of Reims. Their wines are pure, refined, precise and delicious. Watch for their two NV cuvees this summer, and then the vintage stuff in the fall.
Champagne Prevoteau-Perrier
A relative newcomer, the Prevoteau-Perrier family is now on the third generation, with young Delphine and her husband Christophe Boudard taking control. They work with 42 acres in Damery, a lovely village just west of Epernay. We’ll have their delicate Brut Tradition and Brut Grand Reserve soon, and then their tête-de-cuvée offerings in the fall. Yum!
Quite simply, we’d like to be a tiny part of the solution rather than continuing to contribute to the problem. The delicate balance of nature is, in our eyes, clearly threatened. It seems obvious that working in harmony with nature is the only informed choice we could make.
 Going forward, we will not be working with any vineyards that are not organically or biodynamically farmed. This means letting expire contracts we’ve had for many years at a number of fine vineyards. All of the vineyards we farm ourselves (Maresh, Azana) will be farmed according to biodynamic principles. The vineyards where we purchase fruit (always on a per-acre basis, and always from our designated blocks & rows) will be biodynamically or sustainably/organically farmed. In addition to all of the environmental & ecological reasons to do this, there’s another big plus – we feel it contributes to better quality wines!
Certainly the organic/biodynamic principles and practices alone do not make wine inherently better. But we believe that using this approach at minimum brings the winemaker and viticulturist into closer and more regular contact with the vines, and that this attention in the vineyard can only lead to better raw materials. (Then our job in the winery is to just not screw it up!)
The goals of organic and biodynamic practices are to return the soils to their natural and healthy state of balance, where they are teeming with life from millions of living things - the micro-organisms that toxins and chemicals used in conventional farming simply destroy.
Biodynamics is often called the original organic farming system. Named and organized in the 1920’s, it pulls together the wisdom and practices of ancient and old-fashioned agriculture, the way previous generations farmed before the advent of chemical/industrial farming.
It’s a very simple concept – treat the soils, vines and grapes holistically, as part of a self-sustaining, self-nourishing system. The practice requires that we approach our winegrowing tasks with a lot of intention, and that we continue to be students of this fascinating field.
So what does this mean in practical application? Let’s start by stating what we don’t do –
- No Herbicides
- No Fungicides
- No Pesticides
- No Insecticides
- No Chemical Fertilizers
What DO we do?
- Apply organic compost to our soils
- Apply organic sulfur sprays
- Apply homeopathic doses of biodynamic “teas”, which are prepared from our compost and organic plants (examples include Chamomile, Stinging Nettle, and Yarrow.)
- Whenever possible, our operations in the vineyard (plowing, pruning, spraying, treatments, harvest) as well as all actions in the winery (racking, topping, blending, bottling) are timed according to the lunar calendar. The energy of different phases of the waxing or waning moon has been shown to favor certain activities on certain days.
or more information on Biodynamics visit www.demeter-usa.org.
Memorial Day Weekend Open House
Join a few thousand of your closest friends for the annual bacchanalia in wine country! We’ll be open Saturday and Sunday May 24 & 25 from 10-4 with a great line-up of Scott Paul Pinot and Burgs to taste – your $10 admission fee is refundable with a purchase of 3 bottles or more, and includes a selection of yummy cheeses, patés and charcuterie. We’ll also be open regular tasting room hours on Monday the 26th from 11-4. We look forward to seeing you then (if not before!)
IPNC
We are honored to have been chosen again this year as a featured winery for IPNC – the International Pinot Noir Celebration – the Pinot world’s biggest and most prestigious event of the year. This year’s event, the 22nd annual, happens July 25-27, and as always takes place in McMinnville, OR on the gorgeous campus of Linfield College. Registration and ticket information is available at http://www.ipnc.org |
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Jean-Marc Millot |
Two of our producers from Burgundy will be joining us for IPNC this year. Jean-Marc Millot will be showcasing his ethereal and elegant wines from Vosne-Romanée, and Thiébault Huber from Domaine Huber-Verdereau in Volnay returns for his 2nd appearance (he was here in 2006 and couldn’t wait to get back!) |
| Thiébault Huber |
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Burgundy Seminars
We’re excited to continue our series of Burgundy seminars this year, with classes for both beginning and advanced Burg-lovers. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about one of the world’s finest (yet most confusing) wine regions – these seminars are for you. Places are still available for the May 10th (beginning class) – call Kelly Karr at 503 319 5827 to book your seats and for more information.
Other Scott Paul News
NEWS FLASH: We are featured on the new edition of Grape Radio - a popular
podcast that is available at http://www.graperadio.com/ or also available
at iTunes.
New Tasting Room Manager: Many of you have met Emily Freiler in our
tasting room over the last year and a half, and you’ll be seeing a lot
more of her now as she just signed on as our full-time Tasting Room
Manager. Welcome Emily!
As always, thanks for joining us on our amazing journey!
Martha, Scott, Kelley, Kelly & Emily - the Scott Paul Team
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