Beaux Frères
Mike Etzel told me that when he got started here, back in the late 1980s, he'd use "anything available to make the biggest, richest, inkiest and most kick-your-ass wine possible: enzymes, heavily toasted new oak, ridiculously low yields, whatever. But people change and I've evolved, and so have our customers. We want to showcase what makes pinot unique, and that's power without massiveness, red fruit and not black, delicate and not inky. Basically, finesse." Etzel describes 2008 as a cross of 2007 and 2006, "with really good density but also freshness. The clusters and grapes were tiny so there's real structure, which will make them age really well." Etzel has immersed himself in biodynamic practices but believes that the most important move he has made in recent years is to move the wines as little as possible. "They sit for about 11 months in barrel on their gross lees and we move them with a Bulldog Pup [a gas pressure device that is the most gentle tool available for transferring wine from vessel to vessel] to preserve freshness. Because there's so little movement of the wines before bottling they really need a lot of air if you open them young." If you plan on drinking any of these '08s any time soon, Etzel advises opening them, pouring off a touch (to drink, of course) and recorking them to drink the following day, a regimen that I can vouch for here.
From Oregon Pinot Noir (Jul 2010) by Josh Raynolds
2008 Pinot Noir The Upper Terrace Ribbon Ridge
Release Price: $90
Color: Red
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2008 Pinot Noir The Beaux Freres Vineyard Ribbon Ridge
Release Price: $80
Color: Red
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2008 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
Release Price: $50
Color: Red
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