2005 Wooldridge Vineyard Zinfandel ($25.00 each)

TASTING NOTE

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION

VINEYARDS

FERMENTATION AND AGING

2003 VINTAGE
2005 in Oregon will be remembered by viticulturalists around the state as one that required constant vigilance in the vineyard, but that resulted in wines of great balance and intensity, characteristics of Oregon at its best. The winter of 2005 was one of the driest in Oregon climate history, leading to an early bud break around the 1st of April. This was followed by one of the wettest springs in history, causing extra vegetative growth and a poor fruit set due to shatter and necrosis. Harvest’s ideal conditions were threatened by a soaking rain of 1.6 inches between September 30th and October 3rd, but this was fortunately followed by cool and dry weather, resulting in a balance of flavors, sugars and great vibrancy of acidity.

WOOLDRIDGE CREEK VINEYARD
The Wooldridge Creek Vineyard is located in Southern Oregon near the town of Grants Pass in the Applegate Valley Appellation. It is a hillside vineyard planted with an elevation of 1800’. The vines are densely planted at 1200 vines per acre, running north to south to allow for maximum exposure to the sun. All the vineyards are planted on Josephine soil, a soil type known for its excellent drainage. Approximately half the fruit was green pruned (thinned at the time of veraison) to assure low yields and concentration of flavors. We closely monitored each vineyard block as harvest approached, and the picking dates were chosen based on taste. All grapes were harvested in ideal conditions at 25º Brix.

VINIFICATION
This wine was hand-crafted to achieve a fully extracted and complex style. 10% whole clusters were used to enhance the spiciness of the wine. Cold maceration preceded fermentation, which was conducted in open-top, Burgundian-style tanks. The wine was allowed 23 days of skin contact and daily punchdowns before being gravity fed directly to barrels. 100% malolactic fermentation occurred during a 9 month period. The wine spent 16 months in French oak (25% new) from a variety of coopers. A small amount of Merlot was blended in to add some flavor complexity to the wine. It was bottled unfiltered and lightly fined.