2006 - The First Vintage from Zenith Vineyard!

We are thrilled to announce the release of our 2006 Pinot Noirs - the first-ever vintage under the Zenith Vineyard brand. These are also the first vineyard-designated wines from our site since the 1998 St. Innocent O'Connor Pinot Noir.

Zenith Vineyard made two Pinot Noirs in 2006. Our total production was 515 cases - 465 cases of Pinot Noir and 50 cases of Tempranillo.

It's been a long road... right back to where it started. Kari and I were simply fans of Oregon Pinot Noir and particularly fond of the wines by Mark Vlossak at St. Innocent. We started buying St. Innocent wines back in the early nineties and in particular were drawn to O'Connor Vineyard wines. At a dinner party in early 2002, at our home in suburban Chicago, we remember opening a double-magnum of 1991 St. Innocent O'Connor Pinot. The wine was sublime. I wrote Mark Vlossak a note to say how much we enjoyed it! Six months later in a phone conversation with Mark, he recalled that I liked O'Connor. Mark asked "why not buy the O'Conner Vineyard?" It was about to be offered for sale. An outrageous, dreamy, unrealistic suggestion, to be sure... Three months later, we found ourselves vineyard owners and Oregon-bound. It is the fulfillment of our wildest dreams.

Being a vineyard manager was easy in 2006. We enjoyed beautiful fall weather that allowed the fruit to ripen at a measured pace. We harvested at our leisure and made wines of optimum fruit and acid balance. It was the type of year vineyard owners and winemakers dream of.

Mark Vlossak on the 2006 Zenith Vineyard wines:... "The Zenith Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noirs both come from blocks that did not exist when I was making the St. Innocent O'Connor Vineyard wines (the vineyard's former name). These new blocks incorporate all of the lessons learned on growing great Pinot Noir over the last three decades. The real question in my mind was would the new wines reveal the same terroir, but with greater concentration, focus, and clarity - the rational for making viticultural choices that are much more costly to plant and more labor intensive to farm. When I tasted the first wines I produced for Zenith Vineyard, the answer was an unequivocal Yes!"

2006 Zenith Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir

The 2006 Estate Pinot Noir is 34% Pommard, 29% Dijon clone 115, 29% clone 667 and 8% clone 777. It was aged for eighteen months in 26% new French oak barrels. The Estate reveals Zenith's signature dark fruit and cherry aromas with highlights of smoke, cedar and spice in an accessible structure that can be enjoyed over the next five years." We produced 280 cases; 13.8% aclohol. $25 per bottle; $255 per case.  

2006 Zenith Vineyard Barrel Select Pinot Noir

The 2006 Barrel Select Pinot Noir is 48% Dijon clone 115; 39% Dijon clone 777 and 13% clone 677. It was aged for 18 months in 41% new French oak barrels. The Zenith Barrel Select was produced from a co-fermentation of Block 5C and 8A, which was the wine of the vintage from Zenith. The focus and clarity of fruit and the details of the flavor layers are fully revealed in this wine. This wine is selected from the best barrels of our 2006 production. Enjoy its exuberance now or age for up to a decade.  185 cases produced; 13.8% alcohol.  $40 per bottle; $408 by the case.  

2006 Zenith Vineyard Estate Tempranillo

Our Estate Tempranillo was aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak. It is 100% clone 2. The Estate Tempranillo is our first effort with this Spanish varietal and I'm quite pleased with the result. We think our terroir is well-suited to the Tempranillo grape and we have a shot at another credible red varietal in the Willamette Valley. The wine has bright fruit and smokiness on the nose. We produced 50 cases; $25 per bottle; $255 per case.

2006 Harvest report 

Block 5-C, Pinot Noir 777 on 3309-C - We harvested 1.1 tons from this block on October 1st at 24.0 brix and a crop of 2.2 tons per acre. This is fourth-leaf fruit - the vines were planted in 2003

Block 6-G, Pinot Noir Pommard on 3309-C - We harvested 1.75 tons from this block on September 29th at 22.8 brix and a crop of 1.6 tons per acre. This is fourth-leaf fruit - the vines were planted in 2003.

Block 8-A, Pinot Noir Clone 115 on Riparia Gloire - We harvested 2.2 tons from this block on October 1st at 23.7 brix and a crop of 2.26 tons per acre. This is fourth-leaf fruit - the vines were planted in 2003.

Block 8-B, Pinot Noir Clone 667 on 101-14 - We harvested 2.3 tons from this block on October 1st at 24.1 brix and a crop of 2.3 tons per acre. This is fourth-leaf fruit - the vines were planted in 2003.

Block 5-D, Tempranillo on 3309-C - We harvested 0.66 tons from this block on October 8th at 22.8 brix and a crop of 2.3 tons per acre. This is fourth-leaf fruit - the vines were planted in 2003.